Beer 41: Duchesse de Bourgogne or Pitter-Pattery Nerd Heartbeats

Today I celebrated the 306th birthday of American statesman, printer, entrepreneur, author and inventor Benjamin Franklin.  Mind you, his birthday is actually January 17 and he's been dead for almost 215 years, but we celebrated nonetheless.  And if you follow me on Twitter (@TailgateNinja), I live-tweeted most of it!

The day started at 9:00 a.m. with a seminar entitled Franklin and Energy: Resources, Uses and Efficiencies.   Guest speakers included:

• President and CEO of PECO, Denis O'Brien
• Chief Astronomer of The Franklin Institute, Derrick Pitts
• Dean of The Pennsylvania State University's Graduate School, Henry Foley

I have the distinct pleasure of working with Denis and Derrick through our Board of Trustees and museum programming, respectively, but this was the first time I've encountered Henry Foley.  The morning was spent extolling the life and work of Benjamin Franklin, his contributions to invention and discovery of electricity, and the future of electricity and energy consumption.  I was truly in awe of these people and the vast resources of knowledge they harbored.

I'm not going to bore you with my stance on how coal and oil are bad and how alternative energies are good.  It is by no means such a black and white situation.  What I will say is that you should read up on the subject and use sources that are conservative, liberal and moderate.  You'd be surprised at the amount of agreement out there in the world - you just typically don't hear about it.

After leaving the seminar at the American Philosophical Society, it was time to process to Dr. Franklin's grave at Christ Church Burial Ground at Arch and 5th Streets in Philadelphia.  

Imagine my delight when I walked out to find a FIRE TRUCK for the parade!

Obviously any legitimate parade needs flags and banners.

Franklin Institute, represent!  Who brings the pennants?  We bring the pennants!

Christ Church Burial Ground: Here lie some old-ass dead people!

That's me!  I'm making like a tourist and tossing pennies on Ben's grave.  It's a tradition!

After processing, speechifying and some praying, we headed to lunch where the U.S. Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu was presented with the Franklin Founder Award.  Steven Chu was absolutely amazing.  I encourage you to pay more attention to his policy and efforts to identify, explore and make different alternative energies possible.

***

What better way to continue my celebration of Benjamin Franklin than with a Duchesse de Bourgogne Flanders red ale?  OK.  That's stretching it.  But that is what I drank tonight.  The best way I can explain a Flanders red ale is if an awesome oud bruin made babies with a lambic.  I poured the Duchesse into my trusty tulip glass and it was dark, dark brown with red highlights.  Gary took one look at it and gave it a "ooh, that's a dark beer."  I don't think he knew it was a Flanders red ale and one taste set him straight.  And he only got one sip because I immediately called dibs on it and attempted to bite his hand when he reached for the bottle.  (I'm only slightly exaggerating there.)

The scent was all tart cherries.  The taste was mild fruit, lots of cherry, tartness and a bit of sourness.  It was nicely carbonated and finished dry.  I'm trying to figure out how to describe the feel of the beer in my mouth.  If you can identify beers that drink with thinness or creaminess, then I would say this one has a round feel.  Hopefully that makes sense to someone other than me.

One of my favorite beers in this style is Rodenbach Grand Cru.  I think they compare favorably with the Duchesse having a bit more fruitiness.  Goddamn, another one for my top 25 consideration.  I'm off to save my last glass of the Duchesse de Bourgogne.

In honor of Ben and in celebration of our own curious minds, huzzah!

Can I get a ruling?

Beer #11: Grand Cru /Brouwerij Rodenbach, Roeselare, Belgium

I'm not a lawyer, but I've watched plenty of Law & Order.  And what we have here is clearly a question on the laws for my list of 365 beers from 365 breweries.  Grand Cru is made by Rodenbach and it is amazing, but hold that thought for a moment.  Rodenbach is in turn owned by Palm, a brewery that has been acquiring other Belgian brewers.  The concept of 'big brewer buys up a smaller brewer' happens all over the globe, as Anheuser-Busch recently acquired Goose Island, a solid craft brewer in Chicago.  Why all the acquisitions, you ask?  Easy - craft beer consumption was up 10% last year, despite the overall beer industry seeing a decrease in sales.  The beer giants of the world aren't stupid, so obviously they're going to shift their focus to markets displaying growth.  If this means awesome beer gets produced and distributed to a broader audience, then GREAT!  If it means accountants will manage breweries and optimize resource allocation rather than allowing master brewers to experiment and go for broke, then BOOOOO!

So... do I count this as my beer from Rodenbach?  Does this mean I've crossed Palm and all of their associated beers off the list?  Another Palm-via-acquisition beer is the Oude Gueze Boon, a lambic I'm rather fond of.

The ruling: I'm counting this as a Rodenbach beer only, as they continued to brew in their main site in Roeselare, rather than any other Palm facility.  However, I'll keep Oude Gueze Boon on the back burner and see if I can't find other breweries to highlight before hitting another Palm offspring.

Enough Law & Order for one episode, so let's talk actual beer, not just beer business.  The Grand Cru is a Flemish ale, also known as a sour ale.  And I am in love with sour ales these days.  Rich color with a  tart, fruit scent and taste.  Hint of cherry along the way.  A tasty enigma: light yet complex, all at once.  I wish I was better at articulating the various flavor notes, but just trust me on this one: if you're looking for something a bit different, look no further, as this beer is destined for my top 25.  No matter what corporation pocketed the money I paid for this bottle.

Thing to Think About Today:
Today is Joe Paterno's 85th birthday.  I never met my grandfathers; both had passed away before I was born.  Therefore, Joe is my de facto grandfather, and I learned rich life lessons from him on prioritizing academics, philanthropy, respect, and hard work.  Joe would be the first person to say he wasn't perfect, and he'd be right.  However, he's still done more for the university, his program, and his community than anyone before and anyone who will come after.  Happy birthday, Coach!!

Let's Talk Oud Bruin or #11 Right in the Choppers

Oud bruin. Flemish brown ale. Sour beer, if you must. Or as I like to call it...sweet Jesus, it's heaven in my glass.

I love sour beer. As in love it like a fat kid loves cake. My holy grail is Blue Sunday Sour, but I'm not writing about that one tonight because I cannot find it. Anywhere. And I look everywhere. That makes me kind of sad but not too sad that I can't find joy in this glass of Rodenbach Grand Cru.

Rich dark brown in the glass and vinegar in the nose. It hits your tongue with an oh-my-god-what-is-happening moment and that's when it sinks in...you've tasted nirvana. It starts with cherry, then comes the tartness that pinches your tongue and it finishes dry. So dry that it's almost asking you to politely take another sip.

It makes me want to write in hyperbole, it's that good. But with 350+ beers to go, I'll show some restraint...at least for now.