July Bottle Share Recap – Belgium

Well the July Bottle Share has been and gone, and although it was a small gathering it was a good one as always!

We chose the theme of Belgian beers, which is something we hadn’t done before. We’ve had Belgian beers appear many times, but this was the first dedicated Belgian Share.

We started out with Bristol Beer Factory Belgian Rye (7%) which was delicious… plenty of sweet maltiness, with the rye spice and a handful of citrusy hops.

Next up was Brouwerij De Ryke Arend Blond (6.5%), a Belgian Pale ale which was floral, citrusy and sweet. Very well balanced.

Brasserie Fantome Brise-BonBons (8%) was a saison and was perfect considering the weather was unbelievably hot! It was like strawberries and cream, peppery and funky. So amazing.

Leffe Brune (6.5%) came next, with all of it’s caramel & brown sugar coated toasted bananas. It’s nice, but I do prefer the Blond.

Fifth beer of the evening was Abbaye de St Martin Blonde (7%) and it follows most other Belgian Blonde beers. That kind of malty, slightly fruity and yeasty merge.

Next was Bristol Beer Factory Belgian Conspiracy (7.5%) which was an explosion of hops along with some spiciness and an awesome Belgian yeast finish.

Our penultimate beer was De Struise/Bridge Road Imperialist (8%). It’s an Imperial Pilsner meaning it’s hot alcohol all over, but you do get the galaxy hops through too. It was nice for a small glass, but I wouldn’t have been able to handle a 750ml bottle to myself!

Final beer of the night was another of Mark’s brilliant homebrews… Clamberskull Brewing Good Shit (11.3%), it’s a Belgian style Dark Ale with plums and wild yeast… funky, acidic, fruity from the plums. Brilliant!

So that was our July Belgian Bottle Share, and what a success it was! I mean, it’s mad but there were no beers under 6.5%, which is ridiculous… which leads on to the theme I’ve decided for August…

Our August Bottle Share is banning all beers above 5%… yup, it’s going to be a slightly more civilised affair as you have to bring something that’s 5% or under!

Full announcement coming soon…

Cheers,

Nate