I purchased the other beer at the Super G Mart international grocery store. This is Kabrew Kumiho IPA. This IPA is produced near the Cheongpyeong-myeon, Sangcheon-ri, and Sangsaek-ri, with Cheongusan Mountain to the west and Bulgi Mountain to the east. This IPA is 6.3% ABV. This beer pours a deep orange color with a light one-finger beige head. The aroma is bitter, orange, hops, and malty. This smells like a more traditional IPA. The taste is orangey, light pine, bitter, and hoppy. It has an overly bitter flavor that as this beer warms that bitterness intensifies. This has a medium feeling in the mouth. This IPA has a somewhat harsh bitter finish. The aftertaste is a bitter orange that does linger. This has a harsh flavor that is not good. Kumiho IPA is a low D-. I nearly finished this beer. By the time I was 90% through this IPA, the bitterness had become too strong, and I just couldn’t finish. I really don’t recommend Kumiho IPA. Don’t drink this! Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!
Yesterday I went to Alley 51 at Super G Mart in Pineville, NC a part of Charlotte. Alley 51 is a food hall/food court with mainly Asian food. Then I went through the Super G Mart and found Seongsu-Dong American Pale Ale brewed in Seoul South Korea. Seongsu is described as the Brooklyn, NYC of Seoul. This Ale is 4.5%. I haven’t seen many Pale Ales that low in ABV. This pale ale pours a deeper shade of yellow with a two-finger thin white head. The aroma is sweet with citrus fruit, and this has a decent hop aroma. The flavor is semi-sweet, citrusy, bitter/hoppy, and has a very light bread note. I found that interesting but out of place in a pale ale. This has a lighter feel to the mouth. This beer comes to a citrusy finish with a bit of hoppy flavor. The aftertaste is semi-sweet with citrus and some hops. But this does linger before fading like a song on the radio. I’ve never had South Korean beer or craft beer. This was good and sessionable. I give this an A. I almost gave it an A+ but the bread note knocked back it just a millimeter. I would recommend this beer if you can find it. It’s good. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!
I bought this Chimay Grande Resérve from the Chimay taproom and restaurant while on a Belgian Trappist Beer tour with BBM! (Belgian Beer Me!). This Chimay is from 2019, February of 2019 to be exact. This Chimay is 10.5% ABV. This beer is aged 40% French and 60% American oak barrels. This beer undergoes three fermentation processes: cave, barrel, and bottle. Chimay does this type of beer, every year with a different barrel or liquor. This 2019 Chimay pours a deep brown with a two-finger steady beige head or cream. The aroma is boozy licorice, oak, and some dark fruits. The flavor is okay, boozy, caramel, licorice, and vanilla. This big beer is light-bodied and smooth. It has a fuller feeling in the mouth. Then this beer finishes with a sweet vanilla and caramel. The aftertaste is semi-sweet yet lightly boozy with hints of vanilla. This be is fantastic and delicious. I give Chimay Grande Resérve 2019 Oak and A+. This is a beer you don’t want to miss, I highly recommend this. It is just perfect and well-made. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!
Trappist Westvleteren Blond is a beer (and the other two) found only at the brewery/gift shop. This is 5.8% ABV and is from Vleteren, Belgium. It is brewed by the monks of the Saint-Sixtus Abby. I brought this and their other beer home from a visit to their restaurant and gift shop. This Blond is the beer that the monks drink. This beer pours yellow with a three-finger creamy white head. That head seems to stick forever. The aroma is sweet, lemon, light bitterness, and slight yeast. The flavor is fruity lemon, smooth, dry, light on hops, and light-bodied. This has a lighter mouthfeel. Then it has a dry fruity finish with some sweetness. The aftertaste is dry-ish, fruity, and refreshing. This Westvleteren Blond is very delicious and is an A. It has such good flavors that all come through/together and make one tasty beer. If you ever get to Vleteren, Belgium I suggest you have a meal with all their beers including this Blond and their ice cream made with their beer. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!
Saison Dupont from Brasserie Dupont in Tourpes, Belgium is a Saison or Farmhouse style Ale/beer. This Saison is 6.5% ABV. This beer is bottle-conditioned, meaning it still has yeast in the bottle allowing it to keep fermenting. This beer pours yellow with a two-finger head that seems to stay forever. The aroma is sweet, dry, and fruity with some banana, and light lemon. The flavor is dry, sweet, tart, lemon, and light banana fruits. This beer is yeasty with a dry, and light body. This Saison has a light mouth feel. This has a sweet/tart fruity, and dry finish. The aftertaste is dry but less dry. It has a nice amount of sweetness. This beer is very refreshing and delicious. I give Saison Dupont an A+. It goes down easy and refreshing. I highly recommend Saison Dupont. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!
Trappist Westmalle in Malle, Belgium brews Trappist Extra, which is the beer the monks drink, ‘monks beer’. This beer is 4.8% ABV and is brewed by Trappist Monks. They also make cheese which I had with their flight. The flight also has really pungent and delicious mustard. I brought home two jars of it. Unfortunately, I could not get this Trappist Extra at the Westmalle shop, but it is sold at my local Total Wine. This beer pours a cloudy golden yellow with a creamy three-and-a-half finger white head. The aroma is semi-sweet, and fruity, with light bitterness/hops, and a bit of yeast. The taste is fruity with a light sweetness/bitterness, it is clean and light-bodied with some hop notes. This has a light mouthfeel. Then it finishes with a light fruit sweet yeast note. The aftertaste is semi-sweet with a clean and refreshing light bitterness. This is a beer that goes excellent with foods like cheese, fried foods, and some meats. I give this Westmalle Trappist Extra and A+. It is delicious and one that I highly recommend. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!
This beer from Bruge, Belgium is Brugse Zot Blond from Brouwerij De Halve Maan. This beer is 6% ABV. I did not bring this back from the brewery, I bought it just over the South Carolina border at Stateline Elite. I returned with a 750ml of Straffe Hendrik Wild, a wild yeast variety of De Halve Manns Tripel. That will be reviewed soon. This Blond pours a blond-orange color with a two-finger steady white head. The aroma is fruity with oranges. It has a light bitterness too. The flavor is fruity with orange, light-bodied, and light bitterness. This Brugse Zot Blond has a light to almost medium feel in the mouth. Then this beer has a tiny bitter, and fruity finish. The aftertaste is void of bitterness but has a light orange taste. This beer is good. It was a little better at the brewery. Maybe that is a fresher beer. But this example was an A. I really recommend Brugse Zot Blond. This beer is delicious and refreshing. It is different from all the beer in the US. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!
This beer is an Abby Dubbel from Trappist Westvleteren, St. Sixuth Abby. They call this beer Trappist Westvleteren 8. This Belgian is 8% abv, from Westvleteren, Belgium. This and their other three beers are nearly impossible to find outside the brewery, let alone in the US. I bought three six-packs while on the Belgian Beer Me Trappist tour. They also make a blond, and a Quad, which is the 12. These are highly rated and sought-after beers. I tried them all at their restaurant. This Dubbel pours a deep brown with a thick and creamy beige head. The head never seems to dissipate. The aroma is dark, and malty, and has a light scent of dark fruit. The flavor is smooth, rich, dark sweet, and malty. This has a fuller mouthfeel. Then it has a smooth dark and malted finish. The aftertaste is rich, and creamy, with a lighter malt note. This beer does have yeast still in the bottle. That is because its last fermentation is in the bottle. You can either pour that bit of yeast into the beer or not. I usually do. This beer was delicious and flavorful, but I don’t think it lives up to the hype in my book. It is hyped up because it is hard to get and delicious. With that said I give this an A+. This is a good beer with a meat dish, like a good steak (like I did last night) chicken, or pork. Well, this Westvleteren and any of their beers are hard to recommend, due to availability, but if you’re there in Westvleteren then have this beer. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly. Cheers!
We are back after more than a week of Belgian beers. On the internet search, my father and I found BBM Belgian Beer Me tours, run by Stu Stuart. He is very knowledgeable about Belgium and its beers. I have always loved Belgian beer, the first Belgian I fell in love with was Chimay Grand Reserve or Quadruple Ale. This was a group tour. Everyone was great. We went to four different cities, Gent, Bruges, Bastone, Malle, and Mechelen. We went to the Huyghe Brewery (Gent, Belgium) which brews Delirium and Guillotine. This is one of my favorite beers, Delirium.
They have a big brewery and brew beer that travels all over the world. During this BBM tour at no point did I feel like I’d had too much beer, sometimes you can’t have enough, and I didn’t feel overly tired by the end of each day. We saw one or two breweries/monasteries(Abby) and day with sometimes a ‘company lunch’. Then we had the late afternoon and evening free. We saw the Flanders American Cemetery, which was very moving and educational, not far from Bruges. Then we hit Trappist Westvleteren, Abby of the St Sixtus. They had a Blonde, a Dubbel, and a Quad which are only sold at the gift shop. I bought a six back of each. I only came home with four of each. Westvleteren 12 (Quad) is one of the most highly sought-after beers. The quad and the dubbel were excellent and the blond was just as tasty. They had an ice cream sundae made with their quad beer, which was delicious. While in Bruges, which is lovely, we walked to Brewery De Halve Maan. We had a tour of the brewery. It was a lot of climbing, and backward down some ladders. The pipe beer from there to the bottling plant through pipes under Bruges. I highly recommend eating and drinking here. They had a fabulous Wit and Wild Tripple. These two were my favorite on the tour. We also went to Chimay, near Bastogne. The beers were good, but I was a little underwhelmed. The gift shop is a place not to be missed. Lots of good barrel-aged beer and other goodies. Bastogne is small and historic due to the Battle of the Bulge. Then we saw Trappiest Abby of Rocheford. That was a bathroom stop to see their tiny display of a gift shop. We drank Rocheford outside in the parking lot. Their Tripple, Dubbel, and Quad were delicious.
Then we went to Orval and toured the Abby. We were able to sit in on the Monk’s prayer. We had lunch at Guardian Angle Taproom. Now Ovral has a really fabulous beer, one not to be missed. Then we toured the brewery. Excellent tour! Then on to Trilburg, Netherlands for Achel Brewery, where they have a bottle shop. We had lunch there and they had amazing beer. I recommend the Superior Blond and Superior Dark. You can share these with the table. Still, in Trilburg, we went to La Trappe Brewery, where I had their classic flight and thought these were okay compared to others. But they were better than most American offerings. Then the next day was Mechelen and Trappist Zundert, only ten years old. Their Quad is so good, that I bought their tenth anniversary Quad. Then one to Trappist Westmalle for lunch. I had a flight (monks beer, trippel, quad) They have the best mustard there. Don’t leave without a jar or two. I really loved the monk’s beer. The hotel in Mechelen was at the Het Anker brewery where Goulden Carouls and other beer. These beers are awesome, especially their Christmas Ale. That one is sold year-round. We had a walking tour the next day and a bottle share, which was epic. Overall Stu does a fabulous job with the tour. I can’t find anything wrong. I would say that you should bring a water bottle. Got to stay hydrated. I didn’t find it easy to get a bottle of water. But I would highly recommend BBM tours, Stu Stuart does a fabulous job! Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly!
I usually don’t drink many macro-brew beers. But this, Miller High Life from Miller Brewing in Golden, Colorado is being reviewed because I don’t want this blog to seem like I am anti-macro beer or a craft beer snob, plus I am tired of every beer being an IPA of some sort. I like IPA just fine, and they can be quite delicious. I am just what you would call burned out on them. This brewer, Miller Brewing was established in 1903, and Miller High Life, The Champagne of Beer is 4.6% ABV. This beer pours a golden/yellow color with a foamy one-finger sticky head. The aroma is sweet, metallic, and has a grainy smell. The flavor is light-bodied and full-bodied. There is a sweetness, warm, smooth taste, and a light metallic note. This has a light feeling in the mouth. Then it finishes with a sweetness, and this beer has a sweet, and warm aftertaste. Miller High Life was as bad as I expected, it was not great, but decent. I give this beer a C-. None of the flavors really stood out and nothing was offensive tasting. But I don’t think I could recommend this beer. After drinking Mill High Life it isn’t memorable. But it’s a good/better choice over other American macro beers. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!
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