Hopefully you all celebrated St. Patrick's Day responsibly, and you're not too hungover to function on this sunny Sunday. Or, if not, hopefully you're working on some hair of the dog as a hangover cure. Regardless, the march towards 365 beers from 365 different breweries continues, and we're moving on. Survive and advance (unlike Marci's pick for tournament winner, Georgetown).
I drank today's beer outside, as we're enjoying late-spring weather here in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Listen, I get we're totally murdering our planet with trash and excessive consumption and fossil fuels and whatnot. However, if the trade-off is we get no snow during the winter and 70 degree weather in mid-March, I might get on board with this whole global warming thing. Drinking outside, one of my favorite hobbies in the world, only happens when the weather cooperates! Soon enough, I'll have beach front property and then the party will really get started.
Today's beer is a oud bruin from Brouwerij Liefmans. In the glass, it's a shade somewhere between mahogany and chestnut, with a thin light tan head after the pour. The aroma has sour, vinegar, and malt readily noticeable. With the first sip, you can pick up the tart flavor you'd expect from a beer like this, but there's a more pronounced malt flavor than I expected. Not in a bad way, however. There are earthy notes and hints of cherry and and caramelized sugars as well.
Another ancient brewery, Liefmans has roots back to 1679. The Goudenband is a mixture of aged and younger beers to maximize the flavors. If you would have told college me 15 years ago that I'd be drinking beer with an aroma of vinegar, I would have been horrified. And 15 years ago, I thought Milwaukee's Best was a pretty solid beer choice! Yet somehow, it works as a grown up.
Thing to Think About Today:
If given the choice, would you rather have 99 red balloons or 99 problems? I say: why do we have to choose? We can have BOTH!
In the spirit of our 99th beer today, let's have Jay-Z and Nena come together and share tales from Cold War Germany and the mean streets of NYC. Or something like that. Just listen, trust me. It works.
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