Getting Educated!

As this is a journey into the world of beer I decided to go to a Beer EDU class given at the Lion’s Pride in Brunswick. When Porter and I arrived there were only two tables of people and us. Shortly after our arrival the bar filled up with fellow Beer EDU students. I took up two stools, one for me and one for my foot. Sitting next to my foot was Jim, a fellow blogger. Jim told me that he had been blogging for over two years. Before the class could get started Chris, the owner of both the Lion’s Pride and Eb’s, showed up and started talking to Jim, Porter and I about the upcoming Belgian beerfest. (It's from March 5 to the 13th at the Lion's Pride) He then told us about his planned trip to Belgium and some very exciting news. We were sworn to secrecy so I can’t let you in just yet. During this time class had gotten started and I was having a hard time trying to put what I was tasting into words and holding a discussion at the same time. I devised a plan. I would use this opportunity as an even bigger learning experience. With Jim sitting right beside me taking notes on everything he was tasting, which was exactly the same as what I was tasting, I would go check out his blog and see how he reviewed them. Next Monday we will both be at the Kate the Great day launch. For Kate I will do a review and look to see how mine compares to Jim's. I asked him what he thought of my plan and he said it would be cool. So I would love for you all to learn with me. Check out his blog and his reviews. Next week we can see how much I have picked up. I enjoyed myself immensely sitting there trying my beer and taking everything in. The lineup was filled with Belgians, as they were preparing for the beerfest. Ryan, one of the bartenders, had so much information. It was crazy. He just kept telling us all of this great information about the breweries. I will definitely be going back for another Beer EDU class soon.
As Porter said it was one of the best classes he ever has taken. He thought perhaps USM should start giving samples of beer throughout class. I think class would be a lot more fun that way.

Beer Buzz

The buzz around the beer world right now is about being diplomatic in our reviews and our interactions with others, not being harsh. We are being told to remember that beer is subjective not objective. There are specific terms in the BJCP guidelines (I don’t really know what those are but I will be sure to look into them) which are supposedly there to help review beers against each other. I want to remind you, my dear readers, that as I stated in my first blog my reviews are only based on what I like in beer. I find my tastes changing as we go, so a beer I reviewed in the beginning I could review completely different later on. Think of my reviews as something for entertainment purposes only. If you try something I tried and like it, great; if you try something I try and don’t, even better. Leave a comment to let others know what you think of it, just try not to be too harsh. Remember these beers are works of love for someone. Just like this blog and every other blog is a work of love. If you want to learn more be sure to check out my fellow bloggers posts. So with all of this said: On with the reviews!

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Remember, don't be afraid to try something new. You might just like it.

Katy Too

Cantillon Gueze #44

Belgian Lambic

Cantillon Brewery

Appearance: Golden apple juice color and bubbly!

Aroma: Mix of Hard Cider and Apple Juice

Taste: Sour, crisp and light.

Mouth feel: Light and airy.

Overall: Not a style we try a lot. We had it with sweet chicken wings and it made it mouth pucker sour.

McChouffe

Belgian Strong Dark Ale

La Chouffe

Appearance: It kind of looked like Pepsi. It had a brown bubbly head.

Aroma: Light smell, a slight chocolate aroma.

Taste: At first it has a dark heavy porter/ stout taste followed by a light alcohol taste.

Mouth feel: Just moderate.

Overall: Quite tasty.

Pannepot

I only had a small taste of this beer so I don’t have a full review but I wanted to comment on it. It was extremely dark, no light could get through. It had a light sour fruit smell to it. As for the taste: It was VERY sweet. You could taste the alcohol and a warm coco taste. It would be hard for me have a full pour of it. I think a small tasting would be nice for dessert.

Kasteel Cuvee

Cateau 10 yrs oak aged

Appearance: Dark but the light still can come through. Quite a thick head.

Aroma: (Note: It was hard to smell this as a strong perfume entered the room and kind of took over for a while.) What I could make out was a sweetness.

Taste: I could taste the alcohol in this one. There was a slight coffee taste and the oak rounds it out nicely without over powering it. There was also a very slight fruit taste at the end.

Mouth feel: Light to moderate.

Overall: Tasty.

Bier Du Boucanier Dark

Belgian Strong Dark Ale

Bier du Boucanier

Appearance: Cola shade of dark brown and bubbly.

Aroma: Chocolate and toffee (Nice start huh?)

Taste: Quite sweet up front. Slight alcohol at the end.

Mouth feel: It’s on the moderate side of light.

Overall: A nice dessert beer.