So I missed Steve’s going away party at the Beer Circus. I’m at the
Beer Circus and so is Steve, minus the onion breasts (thankfully).

Belgium Revisited….and not a moment too soon!

Well it doesn’t seem like a year since we were last there, but despite that I think we left it too long before revisiting.

Sure, those of us lucky enough not to live in South Carolina can buy most Belgian beers at our local supermarket, but that’s just not the same. You have to be there to fully enjoy the beer…drinking it at mid day in Grand Plas in the sunshine, or washing down shrimp croquets, tucking into the stomp, or even scoffing an occasional horse steak!

Anyhow, your corespondent has found a new favorite beer – Maredsous Triple. Its up there in the same league as Westvleteren 12.

Having discovered something so pleasant (and effective) it took great will power to to even consider trying other beers.

But my sense of duty prevailed and I tried a few other varieties, only returning to the Maredsous 2 or 3 times a day.

We also found some new friends…a contingent of similar minded guys from The Netherlands.

We got on so well we didn’t need to learn each others names….or maybe the beer just killed those brain cells… Whatever, the camera didn’t forget.

Of course we are all health conscious individuals and so in the evenings we took care to make sure we got our daily dose of fruit and vegetables.

Luckily the new Floris Garden serves magnificent mojitos…..rich in anti-oxidants they’re the ideal “detox” drink, clearing the pallet and readying one for the next round of beers.

The bar was out of jugs and so kindly served us the cocktails in pint glasses. What service! (antique phone provided to show scale).

The weekend passed all to soon. Time to start planing the next visit!

R.A.B.

I can’t believe that almost a year has passed, and not a word has been written about last year’s trip to Brussels for Belgian Beer Weekend 2006.

ColoniAL dutifully reported on the Amsterdam leg of the tour, but not a word was written about those 4 nights in Brussels.

For this reporter, I can only say that any attempt to describe the trip with words just seemed to take away from the magic.

I did take some notes at the beginning of the trip. So I know that it all began with an Orval in the lobby bar of the Ibis, as we waited to meet up with some of the early arrivals. A Westmalle Tripel followed (the selection at the Ibis lobby bar isn’t the most extensive, but in any other town it would be nothing to complain about).

Then a small contingent wandered in search of La Lunette for a lunchtime session. I remember enjoying a liter of Rodenbach, followed by at least one additional liter.

I remember many nights sitting at the tables in the alley between the Delirium Cafe and the Floris Bar. Hanging out at those bars was really the highlight of the trip. The inside of the Delirium Cafe was too crowded, but the alley way was great … as were the late nights inside the Floris Bar, where we did our best to clear their shelves of absinthe. I remember the water dispenser dripping over the sugar cube for absinthe in the French style … and I remember the flaming black absinthe. I also remember Joel, the owner of Delirium Cafe and Floris Bar giving a hand signal to the barman late one night … early one morning … initially we thought he was cutting us off, but we were pleased to learn that instead the next couple of rounds were on the house.

I remember meeting Tom Peters from Monk’s Cafe in Philadelphia at the bar in Delirium Cafe. Earlier in the day we had been enjoying a few bottles of Cantillon at the Cantillon Brewery … and we watched as the folks at Cantillon gave special attention and treatment to an American. We didn’t know who the guy was, but as they offered him samples in one room, the good folks at Cantillon would bring the left overs from the big bottles over to our table and explain to us what we were sampling. When I saw Tom at Delirium Cafe later in the day and saw his Monk’s Cafe shirt, I put two and two together … Tom is the person who convinced Cantillon to make their Gueuze available on draft for his bar in Philly. A great man indeed, and we enjoyed finishing off the samples that he was offered at Cantillon.

I remember meeting a bartender from the Poechenellekelder who had stopped in at the Delirium to meet up with a bartender from another Brussels bar after their establishments had closed. He bought me a St. Bernadus 12, encouraging me to give it another try. I had written off St. Bernadus 12 a couple of years back, when I had a bottle that was just way to sweet for my taste. But he was right … with Westvleteren 12 so hard to find these days … St. Bernadus 12, while not a perfect substitute (it is too highly carbonated), does help alleviate the craving at least a little bit. We need to make it to the Poechenellekelder this trip … it’s probably a better lunch time stop on the first day than La Lunette.

I remember the beer festival itself on the Grand Place. It was a great location from such a festival, if a bit crowded. I remember the Irish guy who was hitting on Rosie … or maybe he was hitting on Dale … I remember he kept talking about how his friends sometimes wondered if he was gay as he was the only unmarried one among his group of Irish friends who had made their way to the beer festival. I think he was trying to hit on Rosie, but he might have been distracted by Dale’s bulging biceps …

I remember Bill guarding the table full of Westvleteren Blonds that he had ordered on our behalf when he was the first one to arrive at the festival on Saturday afternoon. I remember Harrison being elected mayor of Brussels (or at least if the election was held that day, and only people at the beer festival, Delirium Cafe and Floris Bar could vote, he’d have won by a landslide).

It was a great time … a lot of serious Belgian beer drinking … and I’m sure if I thought long and hard enough, a humorous anecdote or two … but I’d rather not think about it too much. I’d rather just sit back and smile …

And now the time comes from for a return trip … Belgian Beer Weekend 2007 … Brussels be warned, here we come!!!

Another great evening at the Beer Circus in Croydon … and I may not be there to partake, but my spy camera did capture the following disturbing image …

Young Steve is about to embark on a year long move to Paris, and he’s been catching up on the latest fashion trends. Unfortunately, his fashion consultant is Grandpa Simpson:

“We can’t bust heads like we used to, but we have our ways. One trick is to tell ’em stories that don’t go anywhere—like the time I caught the ferry over to Shelbyville.I needed a new heel for my shoe, so, I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on ’em. ‘Give me five bees for a quarter,’ you’d say. Now where were we? Oh yeah—the important thing was that I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn’t have white onions because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones…”

The onion necklace is a 21st century variation of the style … and I understand it is taking Paris by storm.

Good luck in Paris Steve, it looks like you’re going to need it!

How many Pints do you need to see beyond the Event Horizon?

Having been hibernating for the last 12 or so months your correspondent was lucky enough to wake up just in time for the Great British Beer Festival 2007.

Our group converged from exotic places far and wide – South Carolina, North and South Croydon, Redhill….

There was a fine selection of 300 or more beers and we were determined to down a sample pint or two of most of them. The pasties were good too!

Things were going well, but by 8pm the Alcohol Induced Time Dilation Effect was already starting to kick in. Not only that, but we were witness to another stranger-than-reality quantum event…it happened like this…..

It was mid evening and having downed only 6 or 7 pints we were obviously still at the height of our observational powers when suddenly a colleague shouted that someone had stolen my beer! Outrageous! We leapt to our feet and gave chase…we caught the hapless suspect but he didn’t have a clue what we were talking about! Strange….very strange! Then imagine our surprise when we returned to our table only to find the beer glass – and contents – right there in front of us! Spooky! How could that have happened?

Of course, the only possible explanation is that the glass must have been temporarily sucked in and out of a micro worm hole (they’re getting quite common in West London, especially near bars). The virtual thief, seen by my reliable friend, was obviously some kind of phantom artifact at the event horizon. Luckily we had had enough beer to calm our nerves and we decided to carry on drinking regardless. That’s the true blitz spirit!

Next adventure: Brussels 31st August (preceded by a limbering-up session at the Beer Circus, Croydon, 23rd August).

R.A.B.

P.S. if a half drunk pint of English bitter should happen to spontaneously appear in front of you you know where it came from….don’t worry, just blink and it will be gone.

1. Everyone who used to post here has given up the drink and is now politely typing away on the Competitive Scrapbooking Blog.

2. In what can best be described as a freak occurrence, everyone has simultaneously drank their collective foot off. Police insist that the incidents are “unrelated”.

3. My dear friends and beer guzzling compatriots have FINALLY modeled there lives after Jack Nobrains and are comfortably secured within their mansions watching Brokeback Mountain over and over while trying to figure out how the Xbox 360 controller works.

Regardless of the reasons I have decided to post a cautionary tale. This, my dear friends, is what can happen if the drink speaks louder than reason. A few weeks ago, the boys in ASOF got together and had a pint or six. At some point during that conversation the fateful words “Wouldn’t it be funny if …” started a sentence … but it also started a whole lot more.

My sad, disillusioned singer decided that it would be a good idea to create the world’s only Punk Rock Britney Spears Tribute Band. And yes, it seemed like a good idea at the time. A beer here, a rehearsal there, and two weeks later we had what is now HitMeBaby – The Only Punk Rock Britney Spears Tribute Band You’ll Ever Need.

Oh, if only I were joking.

Since that time we have played ultra-fast, hyper-aggressive yet tween friendly renditions of Ms. Spears tunes to sold out crowds throughout Oregon. I am ashamed to report that it is to date the most successful thing I’ve done musically and yes, has claimed the teeny bit of credibility and dare I say – dignity – that I had left. But the money is good and there is almost always beer involved. I invite you to share in my coinciding shame and success. www.myspace.com/bangingbritney – you can also see pics from our first show HERE.

I can only hope that we are worthy of a Skippy The Lizard post. Dare I say that we may become his new favorite band.

Please drink more, and then write more. I know there are still stories to tell.