     The Session #31 (Summer Beers)
This is our first time being a part of "The Session", a monthly post in which beer bloggers throughout the world post on one topic (which is selected and "hosted" by a different beer blog each month). This month's topic: Summer Beers. As summer winds down here in New England and in Sweden, we take a few minutes to reflect on what beer(s) made this summer so great.
When I read the subject for The Session this month, one beer came to mind (and Kelly wholeheartedly agreed). It had to be Brasserie De La Senne's Saison (see above), a 4.3% spicy saison blended with a small amount of lambic from Cantillon and then aged in barrels by De La Senne. Absolutely amazing stuff but the location and the company made it that much better. I met Kelly over in Belgium earlier in the summer for a week of casual beer trekking, something we had done once before, a couple years ago, and we had finally recovered enough to do it again. The first night in Brussels we paid a visit to Chez Moeder Lambic in the St. Gilles section of the city. I had met one of the owners, Nassim, here in the States a few months prior and wanted to make good on my promise to check his beer bar out when we were in town. We arrived to find that Nassim was not working but his partner was and he was more than hospitable. He showed us around the small, crowded beer cafe and took us down into the beer cellar. Afterwards he asked us what we'd like to drink, we left that up to him. After a few minutes we were presented with a bottle of Saison in a traditional woven basket along with two glasses.
An amazing beer for sure, one that you could enjoy throughout an entire evening with good company. We sat and caught up over this perfect summer beer before being met by a few colleagues of mine and eventually quite a few more beers as well as some amazing cheeses. As the evening progressed we were introduced to several people as they filed in and out of the bar including a very polite guy with glasses named Yvan. Yvan told us about a recent trip to the US where he went to a number of breweries and beer bars throughout the northeast. This guy had been everywhere and certainly knew a lot about brewing! Low and behold... Yvan turned out to be the Yvan De Baets, former brewer at Cantillon and now one of the two geniuses behind Brasserie De La Senne. He talked to us for awhile about his Saison that we had enjoyed earlier in the evening and his days at Cantillon before ducking inside to catch up with some friends. Something I am sure he has a lot of! It was a case of being at the right place at the right time I guess. A casual run-in with one of the most influential people in the beer world over some amazing beers in an unforgettable location. A great start to summer for sure and to a trip that was equally incredible. I think we'll be ready for another trip to Belgium by 2011.
Thanks to Peter Estanial of BetterBeerBlog for hosting this month!
Posted by Russ Labels: The Session | ||
