BTN: A few at the Trappist before a concert

The late afternoon sun still shining, I visited the Trappist in Oakland before a concert and had a few beers on tap before heading over to the marvelously restored Fox Theater. I felt the need for something thirst quenching and saw a new saison I had not tried before and I think the Géants Saison Voisin is my new favorite saison. What balance! What delicious bitterness! Refreshing, refreshing, refreshing, it's a quaffer. Can't believe it went so quickly (also surprised when I looked around on the internet what poor acclaim it has--mine was a stunner). Feeling the need to keep things light and agile, I next tried the Moortgat Maredsous Blonde 6 (evidently produced by Duvel as an abbey ale using the Maredsous name) which was a pretty classic and pretty clean Belgian blonde, good tasty yeast and refreshing and easy to drink. This is not my favorite style, but I had no problems with this beer. Finally, the Slaapmutske Tripel Nightcap veered back to the utterly refreshing, plenty of flavor and crispness with those delicious hops. A bit more heft than the previous beers, a good start for the rest of the evening.

[David M. Bueker]

You clearly like hoppy beers more than I do.

And when are you coming back east again?

I'm toying with the idea of a visit sometime in the next few months--can't miss those New England summers!

And I'm hosting a beer and cheese event over the weekend--can't wait to see what brews come together! I've got a few aged beers I'll be popping open (and am looking forward to seeing how they've developed).

Keith, I thought you might be interested in this article: http://www.downeast.com/magazine/2010/may/about-the-beer In it I found that what I liked in many Maine and other Northern New England brews is something called the Ringwood Yeast. That is what gives many of our brews our regional identity.

And I'm hosting a beer and cheese event over the weekend--can't wait to see what brews come together! I've got a few aged beers I'll be popping open (and am looking forward to seeing how they've developed).

Great idea. I hope you'll have time to post. It sounds like you're doing some fun and interesting cooking (and eating and drinking in general) over there in the Bay Area.

Keep it up!

And I'm curious to see what cheeses you chose. Do you think a beer/cheese matching has more or fewer options than a wine/cheese pairing? Or maybe it doesn't matter either way but just all depends on the specifics.