Kicking Off My Summer of Beer

Considered the unofficial beginning of the summer season, Memorial Day weekend kicked off what promises to be another great Summer of Beer for me in more ways than one. I bottled the "630" Suburban Witbier on Saturday morning, and after a long, hot Monday, I noticed that all three of my Fuggles hop plants have sprouted. Fuggles hops are a mild aroma variety of hops typically used in English ales and some Belgian varieties. Assuming I get any production out of them this first year, I am going to try "wet hopping" them this fall right off the bine into a batch of "630".

On to my summer-long  ... and speaking of Belgian beers, on Friday I was fortunate to get let out of work early enough to attend the Binny's Belgian beer tasting. It was well attended. In fact, so well attended that the crowd appeared to be a bit larger than Binny's management expected and, unfortunately,  the event was short-staffed. The crowds surrounded all three tables soon after the event began, and dozens of folks clamored for the attention of the staff, who were tasked with pouring, re-stocking, and answering questions. Worse, they ran out of many varieties by the end of the first hour of the two-hour event. As it became clearer that I wasn't going to get to sample the Hanssens Oude Gueuze (from all accounts, as strange a beer as they come) I left—but only after I had gotten the chance to try several other truly eye-opening beers.

Despite the logistical problems, I applaud the large turnout at the Binny's event. This wasn't just an "all-you-can-drink" keg-a-thon; this was a Belgian beer tasting. The Belgian brewing tradition is unique and has a reputation for being pretty unorthodox. Their use of unusual ingredients and their sometimes-eyebrow-raising brewing methods can make for some peculiar tasting brew, especially for the unaccustomed palate. So it's good to see so many people come out to a tasting of Belgian beers. Any good beer city is going to have to have a population, and therefore a market, with a taste for adventurous beers, and so it's encouraging to see so many people show their whet their thirst for the unconventional.

I hope you all enjoyed the weekend and kicked off your own Summers of Beer in a grand fashion, and had a respectful Memorial Day. If you did or plan to embark on any beer adventures either in our fair city or abroad, I'd love to hear more about them. Keep the discussion coming! Now, go have a beer!