The Brew Basement

Name: Grand Cru
Brewer: Southampton Publick House
Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale
Vintage: 2007
Cellared On: January 11th, 2008
Original Tasting: February 8th, 2008
With a couple of good (and beer-loving) friends visiting over the weekend, I knew I needed to break out something good. Luckily I had an ace in the hole - Southampton’s fantastic Grand Cru.
Pouring a slightly murky [...]

Name: Victor

Brewer: Allagash
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Vintage: 2007
Cellared On: November 23rd, 2007
Original Tasting: January 5th, 2008
I’ve been wanting to give this brew a taste ever since Victor won an award in the “Best Experimental Beer Category” at last year’s Great American Beer Festival. This beer gets its uniqueness from Allagash adding a large amount of red [...]

Name: Xtra Gold
Brewer: Captain Lawrence
Style: Tripel
Vintage: 2006
Cellared On: November 30th, 2007
Original Tasting: December 29th, 2007
This past weekend I found myself facing my common problem of trying to select a beer from my ever-growing stash. I wanted one that would not only be great at kicking off a fun evening with friends, but would provide a [...]

Name: Nor’ Easter
Brewer: Captain Lawrence Brewing Company
Style: Winter Warmer
Vintage: 2007
Cellared On: November 30th, 2007
Original Tasting: December 18th, 2007
It’s funny how things work out sometimes. I had recently been complaining to someone over email that I couldn’t find any Captain Lawrence beers anywhere in the Albany NY area (The brewery is only a couple of hours to the [...]

Name: Ommegeddon
Brewer: Ommegang
Style:American Wild Ale / Belgian Saison
Vintage: 2007
Cellared On: November 3rd, 2007
Original Tasting: December 12th, 2007
Released back in June, Ommegeddon is brewery Ommegang’s first foray into the world of beers conditioned with Brettanomyces yeast. As I mentioned back in my series on Brett yeast in beer, the flavors associated with Brett yeast can take [...]

Name: La Fin Du Monde
Brewer: Unibroue
Style: Belgian-Style Tripel
Vintage: 2007
Cellared On: November 8th, 2007
Original Tasting: November 23rd, 2007
La Fin Du Monde (The End of The World) is my second tasting from the Quebec brewery Unibroue. The first was their 15th Anniversary Ale, which I enjoyed back in August.
LFDM poured a murky dark yellow, shading a bit [...]

Name: La Roja
Brewer: Jolly Pumpkin
Style: Belgian Flanders/Oud Bruin Ale or American Wild Ale (take your pick)
Vintage: 2007
Cellared On: October 19th, 2007
Original Tasting: November 17th, 2007
I decided to break this bottle out on the night of my wife’s birthday party (happy birthday honey!) to share it with a group of my beer-loving buddies. It’s always more [...]

Name: Blue/Grande Reserve
Brewer: Chimay
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Vintage: 2006
Cellared On: August 30th, 2007
Original Tasting: October 17th, 2007
I thought it would be only appropriate to follow up yesterdays post about aging the beers of Chimay with the results of my first Chimay Blue tasting.
I wasted no time in opening this bottle up. After I eagerly popped [...]

“Here, in this heaven of peace and silence where since 1850 Trappist monks have dedicated their life to God, products are made which, in themselves, gladden the heart of man” - Chimay Brewery website
Like most Americans, I would never normally associate religion with alcohol. Few churches in the US seem to have tolerance for drinking; [...]

Name: Local 1
Brewer: Brooklyn Brewery
Style: Belgian Blonde Ale/Saison
Vintage: 2007
Cellared On: September 28th, 2007
Original Tasting: November 8th, 2007
Today I finally get to talk about the first Belgian-style offering from Brooklyn Brewery, their Local 1 Belgian Blonde Ale. It always makes me happy to be able to write about a brewery that’s at least somewhat [...]