Just Grand

Day #652 St. Stephanus Grand Cru / Brouwerij Van Steenberge, Ertvelde, Belgium
Previously from this brewery: A lot. Seriously. Just click this link, okay?

Back home after another weekend on the road, and I can say without a doubt that I'm glad to not be getting in the car to drive to State College again next weekend.  Four weekends on the road in a row is quite enough, thank you.  Particularly since yesterday's game was played in a downpour.  I think I'm still soggy.

Sundays are for napping, but I haven't managed to get a nap just yet.  Therefore, I may be going to bed at 8pm tonight, because that's how this old man rolls.  Before I fall asleep, let's get a beer review out there. Today's selection is St. Stephanus Grand Cru, from our old friends at Brouwerij van Steenberge.  It pours a hazy dark gold, and when you take a sip you get a good caramel malt, apple, some bread flavors, and a mild bitterness.  You notice the 9% ABV when you drink it, so beware.  I bought this bottle at the brewery, toted it around all of Belgium, and then decided to drink it in Luxembourg, as I was seriously paranoid that not all of the beer I brought home would make it back safely.  As this one is now available in the States, I decided to pop it open.

I don't have a picture of this beer on my phone (sorry), so instead you get a picture of Fort Thüngen in Luxembourg.  Luxembourg was frequently the center of some war or battle, due to their location in central Europe and everyone around them not liking each other. I walked around the fort on a bright, sunny morning and snapped this picture

Fight for your right to party!

This bottle was the one thing the brewery owner's father-in-law let us purchase during our visit.  Not because he was being mean; because everything else was on the house!  This beer cost me 3 Euro, or about $4. Sigh.... won't find one quite that inexpensive in America any time soon.

Thing to Think About Today:
Something quiet for a lazy Sunday.  Bell X1 and Light Catches Your Face.  Enjoy, I'm off to bed.... I kid. A bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6IL9sfrJUU

No, No, No

Day #646 Diekirch Premium / Brasserie de Luxembourg Mousel-Diekirch, Diekirch, Luxembourg
Previously from this brewery: Grand Cru Ambrée

Allow me to diagram my day for you:

No.

In this video, I am the child, excited to buy some sugary cereal.  My sanity is the box of cereal, and Dikembe Mutombo represents, well, everything that just isn't cooperating.  Do you guys know that I'm friends with Dikembe Mutombo on Facebook? That has nothing to do with anything, but it's a cool fact.  Don't hate.

While it's not the last beer from Belgium I'll review, the last beer I had on the Beercycling trip was a glass of Diekirch Premium, which I had at dinner in Luxembourg.  In the glass, it was crystal clear gold, with a big white head.  There's a light aroma of grain, and the taste is grass, grain, and some bread and light hops.  My notes from the beer sum it up:
1. Bud "Lux"
2. Last beer of vacation.... whew.

Was this beer great?  Not really; it was a somewhat macro produced lager.  Not terribly flavorful or anything I'd fly across the globe to find again.  And that's exactly why I liked it.  After so, so many complex, unusual, rare, strong, interesting, aged, hand crafted, and altogether delicious beers, it was nice to just kick back and relax, and not have to think about flavors or aromas or much of anything.  It was just a beer.  Just a beer, drank outside, overlooking Luxembourg City.  It was cold, and looked pretty, and washed down a day. It was good, because it just was.

Looks good!

I was fairly wiped out by the time I got to Luxembourg, so I don't have much in the way of great recommendations for bars, or restaurants, or much of anything else.  I can say this:  the hop on/hop off bus is a great way to see the city, learn some info, and get from place to place without much hassle.

Thing to Think About Today:
If life pulled a Dikembe Mutombo and rejected everything I threw towards the rim today (or, in this video, the shopping cart), then we let the All-American Rejects (see what I did there?) close things out with Move Along.  Nothing to see here, Dikembe.  Move along, indeed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XleOkGsYgO8

What The Fox?

Day #641 Grand Cru Ambrée / Brasserie de Luxembourg Mousel-Diekirch, Diekirch, Luxembourg
Previously from this brewery: n/a, this beer is the first out the limo!!!

Today has been hectic, and it's getting late, so you get some quick & dirty (shut yo mouth!) today.  While I'm not done with the Belgians, I'm taking a slight detour and writing about one of the last beers on the trip, a bottle of Diekirch.  Did I know the brewery was a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev at the time I ordered it?  No, but it was the only beer from Luxembourg (Luxembourgian?) on the menu at the cafe.  While not excited (in retrospect) to try a macro brew owned by InBev, this truly might have been the only chance I had in my life to try a beer made in Luxembourg, so I went for it.

So, the beer.  In the glass, it pours a dark amber color.  There's a nice malt sweetness, with just enough hops to make you pay attention.  Some floral notes, maybe some honey, but in all fairly mellow.  That being said, it was refreshing after walking around the very hilly yet beautiful Luxembourg City.  Will I ever get to drink another one?  Probably not, which is what makes this beer very interesting in my book.

Had this in a cafe where they only spoke French.
And I made it work!  I am an international wonder.

Luxembourg is a relatively small country, but there are a number of cities.  I only visited Luxembourg City, the capital and largest town, but there are others, such as Diekirch, where this beer is from.  From what I gather, the brewery originally dates back to 1871, and is a merger of two local breweries that came together in 2000. The corporate overlords took over in 2002, and there you have it.  Progress.

Thing to Think About Today:
Luxembourg is a small country nestled between Germany, Belgium, and France.  It's really not anywhere near Norway, where the random guys who sing this wonderfully odd and awesome song, The Fox, are from.  I present Ylvis, just because I can.  I'm European like that.  Come find out what the fox says....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jofNR_WkoCE

"Ducks say quack, and fish go blub"