Don't Get Mad

Beer #338 Arabier / Brouwerij De Dolle Brouwers, Esen, Belgium
Beers to go: 28

I handle the grocery shopping in our household, and ever since the purchase of a juicer, I've been completely loading up on a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.  Makes sense, right?  Can't make juice without fruits and vegetables.  So what on earth was this person making with a cart filled with stuffed animals?

Strive for five (unicorns) a day!

Okay, so I eventually figured out that this was a display of toys on clearance sale.  But you can see why this threw me off at first.

Anyway, you're here for the beer, not for what random things I find in Wegman's.  Today's selection is Arabier, a Belgian strong pale ale from Brouwerij De Dolle in Belgium.  This beer sports a hazy light amber color, and you're greeted with an aroma of hops and lemon.  The taste is dry, with a peppery spice and plenty of hops, with lemon and grapefruit, and some honey flavors hiding out in there as well.  This is a really fantastic beer which was on draft recently at TJ's Everyday, and will hopefully be back on draft again in the future.

Looking for a picture of this beer?  Tough break, as the picture I took on my phone somehow became corrupted, and I can't email it.  Just imagine a good beer in a glass, and there you go.  De Dolle is brewed in a building that originally housed a brewery back in 1835, although production was halted in 1980.  Not quite sure when they resumed brewing at the site, although I intend to find out next summer when I'm in Belgium.  And, for the record, you might think "Dolle" is Dutch for "Doll," but unfortunately that's because you don't speak Dutch as fluently as I do.  De Dolle Brouwers actually translates to "The Mad Brewers."  Now you know.

Thing to Think About Today:
This song popped into my head the other day, and I guess there's a connection here.  De Dolle originally opened back in the day, and the cart full of stuffed animals would probably be enjoyed by someone who was a kid.  So, here we are: Ahmad singing his 1994 hit Back in the Day, a song where he reminisces about the easy life of being a kid.  Stuffed animals are on sale at the registers, if you need one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-33P6EFgEc

"Back in the day when I was young / I'm not a kid anymore / But some days I sit and wish I was a kid again."