The hoppiest beer in Belgium, hummm… well I need to see for myself.   XX Bitter Belgium Golden Ale says right on the bottle, “the Hoppiest Beer in Belgium”.  I don’t know how many IBU’s this beer, but it has a best before day which is 2014. 2014, an IPA with a best by date 4 years away??? There must be something else going on with this beer.  After a looking at the Shelton Brothers (importer’s) website, it turns out this hopped up Belgian IPA also makes use of a bit of brettanomyces.  Hoppy and Bretty, must try!

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This beer was given to me by Amanti Vino to review and to be quite frank, it probably isn’t a beer I would have picked up to begin with.  But, with that said I go in with an open mind hoping for the best.  It is actually a pretty stupid reason why I wouldn’t have purchased this beer,  the label is a bit cheesy. 

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What happens when Captain Lawrence brings in one of their biggest supporters who happens to also be a high end food market?  You get a Abbey Ale made with Imported Italian Chestnut Honey and Jam.  I’m not even sure what “Italian Chestnut honey and jam” is, but it peaked my interest.  As a big supporter (or at least I try) of local breweries, I drove up to Captain Lawrence on Birra DeCicco’s release day to snag a couple bottles of this intriguing brew with Lee from Hoptopia.

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One of the coolest things about having a beer blog is meeting cool beer people and going to industry events.  Monday night was no different; the release party for Brooklyn Breweries latest Brewmaster’s Reserve Series beer, Dark Matter. 

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This beer will be a first for me; the first time I’ve reviewed the same beer twice. My first Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast review was in April of 2009, almost a year later and I want to see if it is just as good, better, or worse as it was last year.  I love my coffee and I can very particular about it beer.  I don’t like the astringency I find in a lot of coffee beers, but a well done coffee stout can be heaven for me.

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Having known a few Celiacs, the one thing they ask me: “Are there any good beers out there for us?”  There are a lot of people allergic to Wheat and Barley making beer unpleasant to a life threatening drink.  Lately I have seen a few Gluten free beers come to market, most barely able to live up to the flavor profile of a generic macro adjunct lager.  When I saw Green’s Gluten Free Triple Blonde Ale, I though this one may have some possibility, a 8.5% abv bottle refermented Triple Blonde Ale.

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