First the bitter that works . . . and, boy, did it ever--this is one phenomenal beer:
De Ranke XX Bitter. Wevelgem, Belgium. (Belgian IPA) crown cap on top of cork closure, 6% - imported to USA by Shelton Brothers, Belchertown, Massachusetts - appears beautiful sunset gold, huge, I mean huge, white head, smell steely, stony, herbsy, lots of herbal cookies and yeast, sublime and beautiful nose, mouthfeel only slightly thick and very firmly bound bubbles, taste tart cherry yeast upfront, glorious hops, unsweetened raspberry/cherry, my goodness is this beer delicious, firm and finely tuned, complex and repeatedly and unrelentingly refreshing, great with food as well, beer tasted softer and more grapefruit essence (freshly squeezed, mind you) with a sweet soup of Pla Thu Tom Khem (country-style sweet-and-salty mackerel) and the beer was firmer and more direct (tasted like glass, actually, whatever that means) with a sweet and tangy Kwaytiow Sen Yai Neua Sub (fat noodles with sweet black bean sauce and curried ground beef). This beer was phenomenal. 1 pint, 9.4 ounces was not enough. Even at $17, which makes this a mighty pricey beer, this beer was an unbelievable steal—the last sip as incredibly fresh, drinkable, and refreshing as the first.
From importer: XX Bitter is a very weighty beer, aggressively brewed to be the hoppiest in Belgium. Some more delicate palates are put off right away. Those warriors who accept the challenge, and take time to sort through the barrage of sensory impressions, usually end up loving it. It is first of all remarkably hoppy – and it persists in its hoppiness unto the bitter end – but it does not want for balancing maltiness. In the middle is a “barnyard” Brettanomyces yeast character that is very reminiscent of Orval in its heyday.
And the bitter that didn't work . . . wasn't the beer (which was okay, but not my style and not bitter in any case), but the bitter melon in the soup I paired it with. I have cooked with bitter melon once before in an Indian dish and it was similarly a disaster as it was in this Thai soup. I've never had bitter melon prepared for me by anyone else, but at this point I am throwing in the towel on bitter melon. It obliterated the broth with its bitterness and though the sweetness of the shrimp and pork did something to counteract it, it was really just covering up that awful taste of the bitter melon. No doubt I am doing something wrong in prep, or perhaps one has to grow up eating it. In any case, I am finished with bitter melon!
2008 Brasserie Dupont Avril. Tourpes, Belgium (saison/farmhouse ale) sparkling wine type cork closure with year of production marked on cork, wire cage, 3.5% – imported to USA by Vanberg & DeWulf, Cooperstown, New York – appears bright appears cloudy bright yellow, pineapple juice color, smell vibrant and fresh tart melon, pineappley, hefeweizen-type yeast smell, inviting nose, mouthfeel is full, rounded, and very spritzy, taste delicate balance of sweet things, very reminiscent of a banana but with non-banana faint notions of sweetness, clean, tad less precise than I wanted, nicely integrated however, just the banana-like esters on this beer aren't my thing, very well at food pairing, however, with a spicier and fruitier element coming out when combined with brussels sprouts with dijon mustard butter, and a more nuanced grapefruit and wood element that came out when combined with a bitter Kaeng Chued Mara Sod Sai Mu Kap Kung (clear-broth soup with floating islands—with the islands being bitter melon stuffed with pork and shrimp), the light alcohol was a very very nice feature, however, this would make a great lunch beer, but, yeah, not my style on this one, less than $10 for a 750 ml bottle.
