Image not mine, got our glass on draft at the Thirsty Monk in Asheville

Another beer sampled on our recent Asheville trip was Echt Kriekenbier, brewed by Brouwerik Verhaeghe. This beer was definitely the most unique of the bunch and too my knowledge was the first Sour Ale I have ever tried. The ABV of this drink is 6.8% and, as the picture above shows, the beer has a very reddish color and a pour with little head, which gave it the appearance of wine after letting it sit for a spell. I myself had only a couple sips and allowed feature beer review guest reviewer (was that redundant?) Emily Moore to give her expert opinion on this beverage – Emily?

As far as fruit beers go, it’s refreshing and different because it’s not too sweet.  However, it does taste a little flat.  After a few sips, you are hit by the very sour cherry taste. The finish is clean, but the cherry just becomes too strong. I would use it as a dessert beer in very small amounts. (4.5 of 10).

So Brouwerij Verhaeghe, you haven’t found your biggest fan in Emily – but I’m sure you make many other fine beers that she would enjoy. Don’t feel too bad, really. It’s not you, it’s her. She’s just in a strange place right now and isn’t looking for your Kriekenbier.

To add my two cents, I would agree that the beer is a nice shift from the overpowering sweet of some Lambic style beers, however overpowering is still what I would say the sour cherry taste becomes. It moves from a nice change of pace to (sorry Brouwerij Verhaeghe) an almost cough-syrupy overkill on the cherries. If you have some, order a bottle and share it with multiple people. Or make sure you’re eating something else at the time to cleanse your palate. You won’t find me arguing with Emily’s assessment!

Continuing the beer sampling that took place this past weekend at the Thirsty Monk, next up is a dark one, the Buffalo Belgian Stout- and it pours and looks just like a good stout should. And a sip of this beer will hit you hard at first, and has a good bite right on the tip of your tongue. The flavors of this beer are really just as dark as the color. Thought it almost had a smokey taste to it,  however the taste definitely turns about halfway through and a more sweet taste rises to the top. This beer is polished off with a smooth, clean finish. I’d say this is a great slow sipping beer, a great nightcap beer (7.5 of 10)

Nice looking bottle, however my taste was a draft pour

 Headed up to Asheville, NC this past weekend to check in on my brother. Since I was in Asheville, I had to make a stop in at the Thirsty Monk and grab a couple flights for my drinking pleasure and to give the masses some new information before bellying up to the bar on their own.

The Thirsty Monk has had Delirium on tap every time I’ve gone, but I hadn’t given the Tremens a taste until now. Like all the beers at the Thirsty Monk, this is a Belgium-style Strong Ale (9% ABV). On pour, the Tremens had a darker golden color (I had a glass of Leffe Blonde in front of me at the same time, which is a little lighter, brighter gold than Tremens). The beer had a sweet, almost flowery scent to it and the taste was very light on the tongue, especially for a 9% ABV beer. It was extremly drinkable and there was no aggressiveness to it. The only drawback came on the finish, where the aftertaste lingered a little too long and turned a little metallic/chemically tasting. Still, this beer will give you a nice warm feeling on your belly and if it hadn’t been for the aftertaste (problem with the beer or the glass or the tap, who knows?) this would have scored higher (6.5 of 10)

Soon, I will devise a way to get you out of my house devil alarm. Why didn’t you just stay dead? Why did you return from the grave to rob me of my sleep? Ghosts? Bleh.

Anyhow, besides Zombie Alarms, Sierra Nevada’s Brown Saison is back at Pizza Peel – I wrote a review about it a few weeks back – it’s pretty darn tasty. Go have one. Headed to Asheville this weekend – will plan on stopping in at my favorite place there, the Thirsty Monk.