Featured Beer, week ending 4/17

Believe it or not, I am actually trying to drink less beer. I don't have to have one every day. Or, if I do, I should be conscious of what else I eat/drink that day. Like, from July to April, I was on a tear of averaging two beers a day. And, while it was a lot of fun, my stomach and my health deserve a little better treatment. The new job actually has a lot to do with this. When you only have about 4 hours a day to be functional, I want to be able to enjoy my beer, and the after effects. I don't want to drink a beer and then have to worry about prepping the coffee maker the next day. A buzzkill, if you will.

Who? Cantillon Bruocsella 1900 Grand Cru, Brussels, Belgium

What? Straight (Unblended) Lambic, 5% abv

When? 4/14/11

Where? Craft Beer Cellar, Belmont, MA

Hype 9 / 10: Beth had to be the one to tell me how good and rare this stuff is. Now, I am not naturally a sour a drinker like she is. But, I have learned to love it over time. So, when she came home from work with this bottle, I thought more of the Brueghel artwork than the beer inside the bottle. But, once I started working a the little beer store, and the following shipment of Cantillon that arrived, I learned how special this stuff could be. And all without even tasting it. So, shame on me, I guess, for not really understand that I had something special for a while.

Taste 14 / 15: So, not knowing what I was tasting, I didn't know what to expect. Now, this beer isn't a punch in the mouth like some beers, but this is a beer that has to be appreciated for the subtleties. It's not carbonated. It's three years old. It is very gentle, like a fine wine. And, it has to drank at room temperature. Any chill to this would kill any flavor. And you have to sip it slow, so the flavor actually lasts. I mean, if you really want to drink this beer to enjoy, you have to go slow. This is not the type of beer that you can drink fast.

Memorability 15 / 15: It was sitting in our "on deck circle" for about four months. So we had a long time to appreciate the aesthetic value of the bottle. But, when I learned more about the brewery, I was actually afraid to drink it. It had to be a special evening. I mean, what better than on my anniversary. But the real lesson was about lambic in general. I knew, somewhere in the back of my head, know that lambics were a blend of both old and young beers. But this is the only readily (and I use that term very loosely) commercially available just aged lambic. The young will usually bring in a more powerful taste, though delicious in it's own right. This is what you have before you blend it. And I think that's pretty cool and I don't know why more people don't actually sell this version.

Environment 4 / 5: Yes, I know it was my anniversary, and it was very special. But I had to work the next day, and I tried my best to drink my glass for as long as possible. I think I had it for about an hour. But, when you have the alarm clock in the back of your head, it takes away from what it could have been. Is this the beer's fault? No, but it does leave a mark on my experience.

X-Factor 5 / 5: This beer brought out a new side of the beer lover in me. Like I never really had to search for so much history and taste subtleties in a beer. And that's really what I want to be doing now that I am not directly in beer any more. I want to challenged in beer. And I want to know as much as my good friends that are still in the business. Now, I may not be able to know first or taste everything, but sure as hell, I will appreciate everything that I do get to have.

Score: 47 / 50, A