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Published on: 06/30/04
If you're a true beer lover, Thursday is the day you've been dreaming about for a long time. Because of a change in state allowing beers up 14 percent alcohol, most of the greatest beers in the world will finally be arriving in Georgia in the coming weeks and months, and many are already here.
But if you're someone who's never given much thought to beer, you may wonder what all the fuss is about. You may have heard something about "higher alcohol" beers, and been perplexed as to why that would be a good thing.
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| Hennepin Belgian-Style Ale | |||
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| Dogfish Head Imperial I.P.A. | |||
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MOST POPULARIt's a good thing because by nature, many of the most historic and important beer styles are strong. But alcohol content is not an end in itself in these rich, complex and often dark beers. Rather it's the by-product of recipes and brewing methods that are centuries old, and were often pioneered in Europe by monks, whose orders are still producing beer.
Think of it this way: What if the greatest chefs were allowed only to cook with low-fat margarine and skim milk, rather than butter and heavy cream?
Many of the beers we've been missing use the brewing equivalent of butter and cream, in the form of dark-roasted malts, exuberant yeast strains and exotic flavor additions. If you're used to drinking light lagers, be prepared for a shock. These Belgian, British and German beers and their American craft-brewed counterparts are very different.
One of the very best, Orval, from a Trappist monastery in Belgium, is so idiosyncratic that it defies categorization. It has all the fizz of
champagne and a flavor so funky and wonderfully bitter, dry and appetizing, that it's truly one-of-a-kind.
Here are 10 more of the most interesting and enticing strong beer styles:
STYLE: Belgian-style Dubbel
ALCOHOL BY VOLUME: 6 percent to 8 percent
CLASSIC EXAMPLES: Westmalle Dubbel, Rochefort 6, La Trappe Dubbel
DESCRIPTION: First brewed at monasteries in the Middle Ages, and revived in 1800s, both Trappist and secular offerings are now widely available. Rich, malty-sweet and moderately strong, these ales are always dark in both color and flavor, with notes of chocolate, toffee and fruit. The best examples are complex, with the characteristic presence of spicy Belgian yeast strains and a dry finish.
FOOD PAIRINGS: Dubbels are wonderful food beers, especially good with stews, roasted and grilled meats, and sublime with sausages and duck confit.
STYLE: Belgian-style Strong Dark Ale
ALCOHOL BY VOLUME: 7 percent to 14 percent
CLASSIC EXAMPLES: Westvleteren Abt 12, Rochefort 10, St. Bernardus Abt 12
DESCRIPTION: The most potent of the potent, malty ales originated by Cistercian monks in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, a number of beers of this style are now being made by secular brewers. More concentrated than dubbels, they're very dark, very rich and very strong, with complex flavors and aromas. The finest can be cellared like vintage wine and will develop and deepen in the bottle over the years, revealing a warm, portlike intensity of spice, fruit and caramel.
FOOD PAIRINGS: Powerful dark ales are just the thing for hearty, gamy or fatty dishes such as venison, elk, oxtail, short ribs, goose, duck or rustic pâté, as well as dark chocolate desserts.
STYLE: Belgian-style Tripel
ALCOHOL BY VOLUME: 7 percent to 10 percent
CLASSIC EXAMPLES: Westmalle Tripel, Watou Tripel, De Dolle Dulle Teve
DESCRIPTION: Originally developed at the Trappist monastery at Westmalle, Belgium, tripels are pale, fruity, spicy, and often very strong. They are also graceful and refined, with a creamy white head and multifaceted flavors and aromas that range from citrus and spice in the nose to an eruption of sweet and mineral tastes on the tongue.
FOOD PAIRINGS: Tripel has wide-ranging affinities for food, from pheasant and quail to sausages and peppery Thai food, and unlike many wines, is quite at home beside veggies; try a tripel with asparagus.
STYLE: Belgian Strong Golden Ale
ALCOHOL BY VOLUME: 7 percent to 9 percent
CLASSIC EXAMPLES: Duvel; Delirium Tremens, Lucifer
DESCRIPTION: Duvel is the archetype of this pale and fizzy ale, with a huge, fluffy white head, a fruity flavor and aroma, and a touch of spice. The best examples are elegant and complex, and so balanced and easy to drink that they've been given names that evoke the devil.
FOOD PAIRINGS: Potent yes, but also clean and delicate, strong golden ales are as effervescent as Champagne, and are perfect aperitifs and versatile foils for a wide range of hors d' oeuvres; try them with prosciutto-wrapped melon, smoked salmon, shrimp cocktail or raw oysters.
STYLE: French Bière de Garde and Belgian Saison
ALCOHOL BY VOLUME: 4.5 percent to 8 percent
CLASSIC EXAMPLES: Brasserie St. Sylvestre Trois Mont Biere de Garde, Brasserie Dupont Vieille Provision Saison, Brewery Ommegang Hennepin Saison
DESCRIPTION: Two fascinating, versatile and earthy beers, Bière de Garde ("beer for keeping") from northeastern France, and Saison ("season") from nearby Wallonia, the French-speaking region of southern Belgium, are known as farmhouse style ales. Now available year-round in wine-like corked bottles, they were originally brewed at the end of the winter to last through the summer. Bière de Garde is rich, complex, herbal and pleasantly musty, while Saison is fruity, hoppy, spritzy and refreshing.
FOOD PAIRINGS: Divinely rustic, Biere de Garde and Saison are both natural matches for farmhouse cheeses. Golden and aromatic, Biere de Garde is a perfect accompaniment to hearty cassoulet, rabbit or Thanksgiving turkey with all the trimmings. Both light and robust, Saison is one of the world's greatest food beers and will go with almost anything, from delicate fish to red meat and bright, spicy Asian dishes, but is perhaps at its best with a simple meal of sausages, bread and cheese.
STYLE: Scottish Strong Ale
ALCOHOL BY VOLUME: 7 percent to 9 percent
CLASSIC EXAMPLES: Traquair House Ale, McEwan's Scotch Ale, Belhaven Wee Heavy
DESCRIPTION: For over a century, Scottish strong ale has actually been more popular in Belgium than Scotland. Rich and concentrated, and mahogany to nearly black in color, the best are sweet, malty and chewy with very little hop flavor or aroma. Chocolate and rum flavors abound, and many show hints of butterscotch, fruit or peat. Very lightly carbonated, they're silky-smooth and excellent for slow sipping on an inclement evening.
FOOD PAIRINGS: Scottish strong ales are fine dessert beers, easily pairing with shortbread cookies and dark chocolate, but they also go well with mild cheeses and even roasted meats.
STYLE: German Doppelbock
ALCOHOL BY VOLUME: 7 percent to 12 percent
CLASSIC EXAMPLES: Ayinger Celebrator, Paulaner Salvator, Spaten Optimator
DESCRIPTION: The German word dopple means "double," and bock is a smooth, malty-sweet style of lager. Put together, dopplebock means a rich, luscious dark beer. First brewed by 16th-century Paulaner monks in Munich for consumption during 40-day fasts, it was known as Salvator (savior) and most dopplebocks have names that end with "-ator." Called weizenbock, Schneider Aventinus, is the definitive wheat malt variation of the style, and as such is distinctively spicy and refreshing.
FOOD PAIRINGS: Dopplebock has concentrated barley malt flavor like almost no other beer, and its deep, slightly burnt caramel flavors and aromas will match a wide variety of foods, from roasted and grilled meats, especially pork, to sweet potatoes and crème brûlée.
STYLE: Imperial Stout
ALCOHOL BY VOLUME: 8 percent to 14 percent
CLASSIC EXAMPLES: Samuel Smith Imperial Stout, North Coast Old Rasputin Imperial Stout, Rogue Imperial Stout
DESCRIPTION: Often called Russian Imperial Stout because of its popularity with the Russian court of Catherine the Great, it's not at all like dry Irish stout epitomized by Guinness. Originally brewed by the English to be sturdy enough to ship to Baltic ports, nowadays many of the best examples are made in the United States. Mysterious and tar dark, with intense roasted, fruity and burnt-sugar bittersweet flavors, its high alcohol content also makes it silky and soothing.
FOOD PAIRINGS: A fortifying winter warmer, Imperial Stout is also a fine after-dinner drink and an outstanding beer to pair with desserts. With its lingering sweetness and notes that can range from chocolate and coffee to raisins and licorice, it's a sublime match for anything chocolate.
STYLE: Barleywine style ale
ALCOHOL BY VOLUME: 8 percent to 14 percent
CLASSIC EXAMPLES: Anchor Old Foghorn, Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, Rogue Old Crustacean
DESCRIPTION: Known as the richest and strongest of English Ales and often brewed for the winter holidays, the term barleywine was meant to suggest that this brew was as strong as wine. And indeed, they are aged like wine, with a flavor that's enormously malty, mellow and warming. American versions, which now reign supreme, tend to have more hop bitterness than English barleywines.
FOOD PAIRINGS: Besides being a great after dinner sip, barleywines really shine with the cheese course, where their big caramel malt flavors and bitter hop finish find a match in the big sharp flavors of blue cheeses, such as Maytag Blue, Stilton and Gorgonzola.
STYLE: Imperial India Pale Ale
ALCOHOL BY VOLUME: 7.5 percent to 14 percent
CLASSIC EXAMPLES: Rogue Imperial India Pale Ale, Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, Stone Ruination IPA
DESCRIPTION: One of the newest, hottest styles among American craft brewers and beer aficionados, Imperial or Double IPA derives from English India Pale Ale — so-called because its originator added extra hops to casks of his pale ale as a preservative before shipping it to India. Imperial ups the ante with extra everything: higher alcohol, more malt flavor and intense hop aroma and bitterness.
FOOD PAIRINGS: It's hard to imagine what might survive the sensory overload of these beers, but for fun try equally complicated and extremely piquant foods, such as fiery Mexican, Thai or Indian dishes.
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