Ale Street News Online

The Beacon Pale ale is also a good one for warm weather imbibing, as it has a noticeable hop bitterness and about 5.5%. The Tiny Tim is a spicy golden ale of 6.5%, which has buckwheat honey, rosemary and hibiscus in its recipe.

Brewer Rob Perry told me: "We now have 750 ml bottles of Le Canard, and Ozzy will be available in bottles in July. The Charm City Sour Cherry Ale just went on tap a couple of days ago, and expect draft Green Peppercorn Tripel soon!" See thebrewersart.com.

SBS Imports recently began importing a fine line of brews from the Proefbrouwerij ("taste brewery") in Lochristi, East Flanders. The "Brewmaster’s Collection" includes La Grande Blanche Imperial White Ale, which is a very full bodied, delicious wheat beer of 7.5%, and Signature Ale, which is a collaboration between Tomme Arthur of Port Brewing Co. in San Diego and Dirk Naudts, brewmaster of De Proef.

Speaking on this subject, Tomme had this to say: "Brewing with Dirk at De Proef was a great experience. Dirk’s commitment to precision based brewing blew us away. The technology they have integrated into a brewery of that size is nearly unheard of."

Other beers include the slightly sweet, slightly sour Zoetzuur; Saison Imperiale, which is described by SBS as a "mega" interpretation of the Saison style, at 8.5%; the Reinaert Flemish Wild Ale, which is brewed with brettanomyces yeast, and has a Lambic-like character; and the dark, strong Lozen Boer Abt, with 10%. See sbs-imports.com.

Brouwerij Loterbol (also called Duysters) in Diest, Flemish Brabant, only brews five or six times per year. Loterbol produces some very interesting beers, such as Tuverbol, which is a blend of Loterbol Blond and Drie Fonteinen Lambic. "Mainly, my business is distributing Trappist Ales in Belgium," owner Mark Weynants told me during my tour in December. "We only produce a couple of hundred hectos per year, primarily of the Loterbol Blond" he continued. I found the Blond on draft to be a fine, well crafted brew when I tasted it at Het Haasken, which is, incidentally, the only place you will find it on draft outside the brewery! Duysters has two brewhouses, including one with beautiful copper kettles. After the tour, Mark treated me and my colleagues to a special beer, Roodebol, which was brewed for his daughter’s wedding reception in 2006, using cherries from her backyard! See www.loterbol.be.

Brewery Het Anker in Mechelen has new packaging and a new beer. Well, two, actually! The excellent Easter beer, a slightly spicy, rich blond brew of 10%, has been renamed Cuvée van de Keizer Rood (Grand Cru of the Emperor Red) in honor of the tenth Anniversary of the dark, strong Cuvée van de Keizer/Grand Cru of the Emperor. Paul Verbruggen of Het Anker mentioned: "The new blond Grand Cru will have a red stripe on the label, and the dark Grand Cru will continue to have a blue stripe." Martin Wetten of Wetten Importers told me: "Demand has been so strong for the Easter beer the brewery wanted to be able to offer it to the beer-loving public year-round." That’s great news! The other welcome news from the brewery is the release of the new Hopsinjoor, a brew that has four different hop varieties in its ingredients: Goldings, Hallertau, Saaz, and Spalt. "Hopsinjoor has a gentle yet bitter aftertaste. It is a blond beer of 8%, which won the consumer trophy at the Zythos beer fest in March" Verbruggen told me. "We will launch the Hopsinjoor here in the U.S. in June," Martin Wetten added. I look forward to tasting it!

If you a have the chance to stop by Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, NY, in late May or early June, you will likely be rewarded. A new brew, Biere de Mars, will be sold only in the brewery store. "Biere de Mars is based on our Rare Vos recipe. It has 6.5%, and is dosed with Brett and dry-hopped. We only produced 2,000 750 ml bottles, so it will only be available here, though we can ship within the state of New York" Larry Bennett, Marketing Director for Ommegang, told me. He added: "Along the Bret lines, we’ll be releasing a new and evolved third batch of Ommegeddon in 750 ml bottles this July. It’s in the cellar, maturing as we speak. It should be funkier than previous batches."

Ah, and there is that outdoor celebration of Belgian and Belgian style beers — one of the best in the country — that will be happening again August 1-3. "Belgium Comes to Cooperstown sold out in one and a half days this year!" Larry said. "This year’s theme is The Big Lebrewski. So far, we have 45 breweries and six importers lined up!"