We came, we saw, we drank beer…

Veni, vidi, vici.  We came, we saw, we conquered.

This is the apt aphorism for last Spring’s impromptu beer run to Sint-Sixtus monastery in Westvleteren—home of the world’s rarest (and tastiest) beer, the Trappist ale Westvleteren 12.

It was amusing, it was epic, it was hilarious and burp-inducing. This is what usually happens when a small band of beer lovin’ grad students (hi, Kookie and Janet!) and a willing Japanese postdoc, all from Germany, who decided to rent a car and cross two country borders (Luxembourg and Belgium), pick up another grad student from Leuven (me!) and drive all the way to a faraway pocket of polderland in West Flanders.

We saw cows along the way.

Since it’s a Trappist abbey, no visitors were allowed inside the premises, except at the beer house (located outside the abbey walls) and the visitors’ center/café “In de Vrede” (Dutch, “in peace”, referring to being “in the shadows of a monastery”).

Instead of narrating everything, I’ll just post photos, with some captions.

The abbey in the map!

Inside "In de Vrede" cafe / visitors' center

Simple monks’ fare in the cafe

 

The abbey gate

The abbey facade

Beer drive-thru!

Lining up to claim the case of beer

 

The Westvleteren 12 was the beer produced that day. We were lucky!

The beautiful beers! Left, Westvleteren 8 (a sprightlier sister to Westie 12), and the Westvleteren blond (nicely bitter)

But one thing worth noting (aside from their beers, which you can get at the café in degustation boxes) is the café’s signature item—coupe “In de Vrede”, which is a scoop of Westvleteren 12 ice cream (yes, beer ice cream!) with chopped nuts, a tiny merangue and whipped cream, served in a beer goblet with the insignia of the abbey.  Now, before you get weirded out by the idea of beer ice cream, let me assure you—it actually works!  As I’ve reviewed this beer before, the Westvleteren 12 is a heavy-bodied beer, rich with the flavor of roasted nuts and toasted caramel, possibly a hint of vanilla.  The sweet and nutty notes meld well with milk and cream, thus making the idea “beer-flavored ice cream” a real thing.

I scream for beer ice cream!

The only tedious thing about the beer run is that it’s a 2 hour drive. Long, in Belgian standards. But for a degustation box of the rarest beers in the world, and a goblet of that ice cream…the trip’s worth it!

Goodies!

 

Santé! The PhDJ Girls conquered Westvleteren!

(Photos courtesy of Janet and myself.)

 

How I won a beer-tasting contest…and encountering Westvleteren

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

Please note that I’m using the famous line of the Confiteor in its original language since (a) it’s the most sacred of weeks in Christendom, and (b) I can’t believe that the folks closest to me here in Leuven (and the rest of the EU) has dubbed me the beer-queen.  Such dubious honor was given to me by my labmates when I won the beer-tasting contest a month ago.

Wait, a virtual teetotaller winning a beer-tasting competition?  I kid you not, I identified 8 out of EIGHT beers.  Here’s the proof:

There was the easy-breezy kriek (gueuze beer flavored with sour cherries), then the blond-type and amber ales like Stella Artois (very light, almost watery mouthfeel), Duvel (made me think of bitter lemons and hops), Delirium Tremens (there was something vaguely medicinal in its aroma) and Leffe blond (heavier mouthfeel, heavily hopped), and La Chouffe (almost like Duvel with its citrus notes, but has a heavier body)…then the two dark Trappist beers, Chimay Blauw (rich body, with a bitter, toasted grain flavor) and Rochefort 8 (also rich in mouthfeel, but with a sweeter, nuttier tone).

I wasn’t expecting to win the contest, but I swore to myself that I should be able to identify the Chimay from the Rochefort 8, since the latter is my favorite dark Trappist beer.  Yes, I prefer donker Trappisten bier than lager-type ales.

And speaking of Trappist beers: a few nights ago, I was lucky enough to have tasted the one of the rarest Trappist beers in the world—a brown, no. 12 beer from Westvleteren monastery.  It’s so hard to find in shops since the monks limit their production and sell only one case PER PERSON visiting their holdings.  This one was sold in De Bier Tempel in Brussels for 10 EUR.

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I know—you’re wondering if all the hype about this beer is worth it.  I say—IT IS!  Taste-wise, it’s almost like a Rochefort, but with a heavier texture, and a deeper, nutty taste mixed with burnt caramel, toasted grain and hops and creamy foam—it has “presence”.

And I had to open this with a Chimay bottle opener.  Well, they’re both Trappists.

I guess I’ve earned my badge as a beer expert, having specialized in one of the major food groups necessary for the health and sanity of grad students in Belgium–beer, waffles and chocolates.  And beer is “liquid bread”.

 

Oktoberfest Fare

Inside the Schützenzelt

Where: München, Germany

When: Annually, 16 days before and including the first Sunday of October

Prices

• 1 Maß beer = 8.80€
• 1/2 Bradhendl = 7.80€
• 1 Kaiserschmarrn = 12.10€

Oktoberfest brings together three of the most important aspects (at least in the eyes of foreigners) of Germany: beer, dirndls and lederhosen, and wurst (and other grilled and roasted forms of meat).  The Wiesn is one of the biggest festivals in the world, and starts 16 days before the first Sunday of October.

There are all sorts of types of food – mostly carnivorous – to try: Schweinebraten or Scheinehaxe (roast pork or roast pork knuckle), a variety of würstl (I like Käsekrainer, a cheese-stuffed sausage stuffed in a bun), Kasspatzn (Käsespatzle, see Kookie’s post here), Reiberdatschi (shredded potato pancakes), and Weißwurst (white veal sausage usually only eaten before noon for breakfast, also see here).

They roast whole oxen here...and then put up the name of the ox that they just roasted.

I think Joanna’s favourite was Leberkäs (corned beef and pork), while mine was definitely the Brathendl (roasted chicken).  These come in half-chicken portion right off the spit, and are still crispy-skinned on the outside, fatty and juicy on the inside, and really, REALLY hot.  The only real way to eat them is to just pull it apart with your hands – the stalls provide moist towelettes to clean your hands off after it’s all gone.

More than 700 million liters of beer are drunken each year at Oktoberfest.  For the occasion, the Munich breweries that participate in the festival – Paulaner, Löwenbräu, Hofbräu München, Hacker-Pschorr, and local favourite Augustiner – brew a special type of beer called Märzen.  This beer has a slightly higher alcohol content than most beers, a property that helped the beer keep for longer in the old days when there was no refrigeration and people weren’t allowed to brew beer in the summer (because of the risk of fire).

Ein Prosit, ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit!

And of course, there isn’t only meat and beer served at the Wiesn.  For those that have a sweet tooth, there are also plenty of choices available.  Crepes, chocolate or sugar-coated fruit kebabs, gingerbread hearts (more for decoration than eating), and roasted candied nuts can be found every few feet.  Our friends also recommended that we try the Kaiserschmarrn at the Schützenzelt (literally, the Shooters Tent, one of Löwenbräu’s tents), which they said was the best Kaiserschmarrn at the festival.  An Austrian dessert, Kaiserschmarrn is fried pancake bits, usually served with some kind of sauce.  Ours came in a hot pan with caramelised raisins and toasted almond slivers and a dish of pflaumen sauce (plum sauce) in the middle.  Excellent when it’s just hot out of the oven and it’s just starting to get a little cold outside.

So, after an excellent Oktoberfest this year…who wants to come next year?