New beer style of the month

As mentioned earlier last week I conducted my John Bull birthday session with a few mates which after opening with the wonderfully balanced Batemans Middle wicket and a few other cask beers turned into a Belgian beer fest. It began with a craving for a good sour red ale mid session, which led me to choose the Rodenback Grand Cru, the sourest beast of a beer in the house. After this it was getting late, and I decided to venture into the heavier beers. A peculiar newcomer on the board, Grimbergen Optimo Bruno at 10% alcohol proved itself with a distinct, refined, but ultimately complex palate of bold treacle tart and golden syrup reinforced by warming alcohols. A very rich beer that’s strangely clean and well integrated, defiantly recommended to match sweet desserts such as treacle tart or sticky toffee pudding. The night was then finished with a Trappistes Rochefort 8, an old favourite served in its correct glass.

As we know it is now July and therefore mid summer, but also time for a new beer style of the month. The new beer style of the month weizen, and this included all German wheat beer styles including hefe weizen, weizenbock, dunkelweizen and steinweizen. So if anyone has any good weizens they’ve tried lately, feel free to comment and I shall scope my records to see if I’ve reviewed it. Adversely if your out hunting for some Germen wheat beers feel free to let me know how it goes and remember in restaurants (good ones with a range of beers) that weizens are renown to be well matched to fish based dishes.