The end of 2010 is very near ... this will probably be my last post this year. Let me first start off with wishing everybody a HAPPY NEW YEAR! Have a great ending tomorrow, and an even better beginning. May all your wishes come true!
In this post I'd like to talk a little about our champagne beers. As most of us will party tomorrow-night, it's a good idea to toast to the new year with a good alternative to champagne, a champagne-beer, also called 'brut beers'.
But what exactly is "champagne beer"?
Champagne beer, or "Biere Brut" is a rather new and very interesting style of beer, which is primarily brewed in Belgium. It's not a true Belgian style beer as for example Lambic is, but Belgium is for sure the pioneer in this style (the first one ever made in this class is the Malheur Brut, brewed by De Landtsheer, here in Belgium :).
Champagne beers typically undergo a lenghty maturation, some of them are even cave-aged in the French Champagne region and finished using the "methode champenoise" to remove yeast from the bottle.
Champagne beers are usually rather high in alcohol (11 - 12% ABV) and very sparkling (highly carbonated). Colors range from very pale (just like champagne) to darker colors. Tastes and aromas are very rich and diverse, a true feast for all your senses, beer made for special occasions!
Just like champagne, champagne beers are usually only available in big bottles (75cl) and served alike: very cold in an ice-bucket, and drunk in champagne glasses.
Here, in Bier Central, we have the following champagne beers available:
Brewed by brewery De Landtsheer, this is a exclusive and rich beer, which is 3 times re-fermented in the bottle. The yeast in the bottleneck is removed using the "degorgement"-method.
Beer guru Michael Jackson quoted it as a new "World Classic"; suitable as an aperitif, dessert or digestive: strong but silky-smooth, with a powerfull, dry aftertaste and very aromatic.
Brewery: De Landtsheer, Buggenhout
Alcohol (ABV): 11%
Category: Brut beer
Malheur Dark Brut(text below is copied from the celebrator.com site, click here to read the full review) The Malheur Dark Brut, which was initially called Black Chocolate and Brut Noir, was first introduced in 2003. The base beer is the Malheur 12. Spices are added in small quantities to this brew, though Manu would not reveal what they were! He told me: "The key to using spices in a beer is adding just enough that they add to the flavor complexity of the brew, but not so much that anyone could guess which spices are used."
Additionally, the Dark Brut undergoes two weeks of conditioning in American oak barrels. While the wood is American in origin, the barrels are made in France. Manu commented: "We use the barrels to add a subtle wood taste to the beer. We tested for quite a while to see what length of time the beer should be aged in the barrels so that this process would impart the taste we wanted in the Dark Brut: perceptible, but not too much.” He continued, “The reason we used American oak is that it imparts its wood character to the beer much more quickly than French oak." (end copied text).
Brewery: De Landtsheer, Buggenhout
Alcohol (ABV): 12%
Category: Brut beer
This extraordinary and sparkling "DeuS, Brut Des Flandres", brewed with barley, is fermented and matured in Belgium, refermented in the bottle, followed by the traditional "remuage" and "degorgement" in France. Serve chilled (2-4* C) and gently into a chilled flute or chalice glass.
Brewery: Bosteels, Buggenhout
Alcohol (ABV): 11,5%
Category: Brut beer
Where-ever you have your new-year's eve party tomorrow, start your new year with something different, and try a champagne beer, I'm sure you'll love it!
As mentioned before, here at Bier Central, we have our 123party, which will be a blast for sure. I hope you will be there too, there are still tickets available! If you're not there, I wish you a very happy new year, and hope you'll be visiting this blog and/or pub on a regular basis. Cheers!
Greetingz,
Koen.
