Cramer Kellerbier

From French beer to German... Cramer Kellerbier is the third beer in the set of three Michael gave me a while back. This one is a “bio” beer, so the eco-friendly buttons are well pushed.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite push any others. It’s an unfiltered, yeasty lager-ish brew. 4.8% and, to me, a bit watery. It’s not bad, mind you, but not nearly as good as the last two in the German collection: Duckstein Original and König Ludwig Dunkel, both just excellent.

Still, it’s a great day out in the evening sun here on the terrace. Last day of holiday before going back to work tomorrow morning. The tulips have been out, adding some welcome colour to the garden after a pretty brutal winter.

Sologne Blonde

We just returned from a week’s holiday in and around the Loire Valley in France, where the evenings were all about wine, not beer. And cheese... I love French wines, as difficult as it is for me to remember all the details and complexities, but French cheese... especially the goaty ones... oh my... I think I should start a new blog on French cheeses.

With cheese and wine, the French have little to learn, but what about beer?

At the château in La Ferté St Aubin -- a grand pile that kids are allowed to rummage through with few restrictions -- we picked up two 75cl bottles of Sologne, one blond and one ambrée, both local brews.

Sologne Blonde is quite thick, slightly syrupy, with strong grain and yeast flavours. It’s a hearty, dried grass taste that predominates. This bière artisanale is unfiltered and bottle fermented, so it would sit well in a Belgian collection. Particularly as the sun has now come out here on a fantastic spring evening in Brussels...

In short, it’s tasty and worth looking for again. It would also go well with a mimolette (AOC).