Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Brugge and Lambics!

Saturday, I had a very enjoyable afternoon starting with lunch at the bar at Brugge. It was just warm enough to enjoy my favorite frambroise, some pickled herring and a chat with owner and beermaker Ted. We find we're all in agreement that the French make great beer (just as the Germans make great wine, most of the time) and I've now decided I need to seek out and find more lambics, the wonderful, dry French fruit beers. Some say the smell puts them off (very dry and cheeselike, to be honest), but it works. That's all I can say. I can't explain how, but it works.

First test, the Cantillon lambic. Dark red in the glass, cheese nose but not offputting to me, and the taste is difficult to describe. Not sweet at all, a finish almost sour but not unpleasantly, with a great sour cherry taste but not that sweet almondy cherry finish. The finish, again, not sweet, not bitter at all, and more tart, and savory like a really great hard, yellow cheese. Fizzy but not too much so, and very, very drinkable, especially on later tastes. Probably not for everyone, but I'm so glad to see some new things to try here. I'm looking forward to continuing my French/Belgian beer education at Brugge.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You've really peaked my interest in Brugge. I'm hoping to try it on Monday.

Scott
http://scotthutcheson.typepad.com