Belgica

Today I'm drinking Belgica, a Belgian-Style IPA brewed by Great Divide Brewing Company in Denver, Colorado. "So why is the beer pictured in a Newcastle Brown Ale glass then?" Excellent question! My friends from the PR firm that represents Newcastle sent it to me in a time of distress. They may have heard me cursing when I broke a similar $10 glass from Mikasa several months ago, but they for sure they heard the double- and triple-fucks when I broke my Dogfish Head glass while washing it not too far back. Thanks for coming to the rescue guys. (Oh, and they didn't charge me, if I didn't get that point across). I hope it makes the beers look sexy!

According to the side label story, Belgica is what the Romans call the Low Countries. Yeah, me too! I had to look up what a Roman and a Low Country is as well. The story continues with some American-Belgian marriage and ends with suggested food pairings. Just read them yourself below. Great, now I'm going to need to go look up Taleggio and Epoisses now too! Bottled on Jan 05 2011.

Fruity, floral and yeasty aroma. Sweet and fruity start with orange and other generic citrus flavors, a bit syrupy. Some spicy black pepper and barely hoppy bitterness come in and fight away some of the sweet. Citrus rinds are next followed by some yeasty, then more yeasty, then weird yeasty flavors. A little metallic toward the end, and the aftertaste is a dry strange bitter. The 7.2% alcohol was not really a factor except perhaps when it came to the dry finish. So a recap: syrupy sweet to start and strange bitter in the end. Despite the awkward swing in flavors, this wasn't a horrible beer, but I'll certainly grab Flying Dog Raging Bitch off the shelves 100 times in a row over this one, especially now that it's available year round.

Belgica: Webster's Timeline History, 15 BC - 2007

Newcastle Brown Ale Cotton Bar Towel

Tales of the Weirrd -- Ralph Steadman