Lambic Discussion Thread

[Beerologist]

I haven't seen Girardin's on the shelf in the US since 2012. Where are they sending it to?

A couple bottles were in RI maybe 2 months ago, but so little came into the state that places around me either sold out immediately or were 1/pp limits. I'm pretty sure the last time I was able to stop at a shop in MA there were bottles on the shelves, but that was in June so take that with a grain of salt - memory isn't what it used to be.

tempted to place a BIAB order now before they run out of girardin, but I just picked up a 3F volume pack to tide me over for a bit

 

[masterovkhaos]

Got a Girardin black label about a year and a half ago. Would have bought more if I knew I wouldn't see it again in all this time.

 

[sliverx]

I haven't seen Girardin's on the shelf in the US since 2012. Where are they sending it to?

It recently showed up in WNY for the first time in what I can remember.

 

[simont1]

The March 2015 blend was quite a bit less fruity and characterful. At least less 'good' character. Certainly the worst I've had, but excellent still. The one bottled three weeks ago is a tactical raspberry funk warhead.
It was fun trying them side by side, as the March blend is/was for sale in 750's at Cantillon, and the 375's for sale there are the new blend.
I know a couple somewhat bummed folks that bought 750's after trying the draft from the new batch thinking it would be the same.
I think that was the freshest I've ever had a bottled fruit Lambic, at about 12 days after bottling. The high heat during conditioning apparently expedited the refermentation.

I guess you mean the RDG's bottled 29 September, extremely fruity, but even though it's less than a month old, I feel it's over-carbonated.

 

[ASUBeer]

I haven't seen Girardin's on the shelf in the US since 2012. Where are they sending it to?

I found a few in NC a month or so ago. They were $15 for 375 but I still bought 4 of them. Probably should grab a few more but at that price I'm more inclined to do a volume box of 3F

 

[sunnrider]

Had an aged Giradin Framboise today and it was surprisingly good. Perfect drink for a sunny Monday in October.

 

[Terroir]

Is there a certain time of year or best month(s) to plan a trip and visit Belgium? By "best" I mean in terms of selection at Cantillon and any other events or seasonal happenings in the region. I graduate college in April and plan on going out for a couple weeks, visting Paris and Amsterdam however having the trip revolve around the main stay in Brussels.

 

[rodzm]

I would actually suggest you go in Sepmtember.Usually Fou Foune and Lou Pepes plus other ones are available during that time. If you go the weekend of the 3rd week of September you can partake in Zwanze day

 

[simont1]

St lam/vig/lpg in feb usually.

 

[lazerviking]

Is there a certain time of year or best month(s) to plan a trip and visit Belgium? By "best" I mean in terms of selection at Cantillon and any other events or seasonal happenings in the region. I graduate college in April and plan on going out for a couple weeks, visting Paris and Amsterdam however having the trip revolve around the main stay in Brussels.

Ugh.

 

[LuxWanderer]

I would actually suggest you go in Sepmtember.Usually Fou Foune and Lou Pepes plus other ones are available during that time. If you go the weekend of the 3rd week of September you can partake in Zwanze day

Or the first weekend of the month when Drie Fonteinen as their Open Doors.... So many options

 

[Saind]

Is there a certain time of year or best month(s) to plan a trip and visit Belgium? By "best" I mean in terms of selection at Cantillon and any other events or seasonal happenings in the region. I graduate college in April and plan on going out for a couple weeks, visting Paris and Amsterdam however having the trip revolve around the main stay in Brussels.

I feel like I'm a skipping record by this point but I wouldn't recommend letting the trip revolve around Brussels. Brussels is the best place ever to get drunk, but apart from that it's pretty terrible.

 

[rodzm]

Or the first weekend of the month when Drie Fonteinen as their Open Doors.... So many options

Oh yeah how could i forget about it. That weekend was also when they had a beer festival ar Grand Place. Not that its anything special but something to do.

Defintely try to do Open Doors. Getting bottles of Zenne this year was nothing short of amazing

 

[LukeAleTime]

I feel like I'm a skipping record by this point but I wouldn't recommend letting the trip revolve around Brussels. Brussels is the best place ever to get drunk, but apart from that it's pretty terrible.

Agreed. I also wouldn't recommend revolving it around beer. No matter when you'll go you can probably get something fun somewhere. Choose it based on time of year for good weather and that suits you and do some **** that isn't just standing in breweries talking about lambic.

There is heaps more to Belgium/Europe.

 

[Saind]

Agreed. I also wouldn't recommend revolving it around beer. No matter when you'll go you can probably get something fun somewhere. Choose it based on time of year for good weather and that suits you and do some **** that isn't just standing in breweries talking about lambic.

There is heaps more to Belgium/Europe.

Even if you wanted to center it around beer, which I also wouldn't do, it's not like you can only find great Belgian beer in Brussels. You're better of going somewhere nice where they have good beer as well. Brugge, Gent, Ieper and Antwerpen come to mind.
Even Luik, which is an absolute ********, can be a lot more fun than Brussels. Les Olivettes is fun as hell.
But this might be more for the travel forum.

 

[ThreeFishes]

New to De Cam, which style or years would be good tracking down/trading for? I am kriek whore so might start with that one.

Ruling out buying them online, since shipping to CA is still a risk.

Of course you could wait until after your SS&F box arrives. Hint hint.

 

[archagon]

I feel like I'm a skipping record by this point but I wouldn't recommend letting the trip revolve around Brussels. Brussels is the best place ever to get drunk, but apart from that it's pretty terrible.

I don't know why people hate Brussels so much. I thought it was great — like a mini Paris with some Flemish influence. Lots of fantastic buildings, charming streets, delicious pastries, lovely parks. One of my favorite capital cities for sure. The rest of Belgium had pockets of charm here and there, but it was mostly a bit boring.

(Then again, I'm not so much into nightlife, so if you're into that, YMMV.)

 

[Snarf1]

Is there a certain time of year or best month(s) to plan a trip and visit Belgium? By "best" I mean in terms of selection at Cantillon and any other events or seasonal happenings in the region. I graduate college in April and plan on going out for a couple weeks, visting Paris and Amsterdam however having the trip revolve around the main stay in Brussels.

If the selection at Cantillon is the most important thing for you in determining when to take a trip to Belgium, you're really doing yourself a disservice. The best thing about going to Belgium is that you're in Belgium. It's a great place. Nice people, good food. Lots of old buildings. It's fun. What you take home from Cantillon is going to be cool no matter what because you took it home from Cantillon and that's sort of a pain in the ass. They'll have some great bottles there to drink on site either way. There are a bunch of cool fests and events throughout the year, open brew day and quintessence at Cantillon, the 3F sale others have mentioned, tour d'geuze is next year, zbf, etc.

 

[RyanG1]

Of course you could wait until after your SS&F box arrives. Hint hint.

Yas! Will wait patiently

 

[archagon]

If the selection at Cantillon is the most important thing for you in determining when to take a trip to Belgium, you're really doing yourself a disservice. The best thing about going to Belgium is that you're in Belgium. It's a great place. Nice people, good food. Lots of old buildings. It's fun. What you take home from Cantillon is going to be cool no matter what because you took it home from Cantillon and that's sort of a pain in the ass. They'll have some great bottles there to drink on site either way. There are a bunch of cool fests and events throughout the year, open brew day and quintessence at Cantillon, the 3F sale others have mentioned, tour d'geuze is next year, zbf, etc.

If you don't really care what month you go, why not pick the one where you might actually get some Fou? (Or your lambic/release/beer event of choice.) That's what I'd do if I were planning a trip to Belgium, anyway: make a list of all the stuff going on each month and pick the one that has the most interest/overlap with my other activities.

 

[The Red Viper]

If the selection at Cantillon is the most important thing for you in determining when to take a trip to Belgium, you're really doing yourself a disservice. The best thing about going to Belgium is that you're in Belgium. It's a great place. Nice people, good food. Lots of old buildings. It's fun. What you take home from Cantillon is going to be cool no matter what because you took it home from Cantillon and that's sort of a pain in the ass. They'll have some great bottles there to drink on site either way. There are a bunch of cool fests and events throughout the year, open brew day and quintessence at Cantillon, the 3F sale others have mentioned, tour d'geuze is next year, zbf, etc.

Toer de Geuze is 2017 next, not next year

 

[Gestalten]

Thank, you for your order.
We noticed you purchased [redacted] bottles of Girardin, which we are no longer shipping to the United States, as it is stated in the Description of the item...

 

[sacrelicio]

Agreed. I also wouldn't recommend revolving it around beer. No matter when you'll go you can probably get something fun somewhere. Choose it based on time of year for good weather and that suits you and do some **** that isn't just standing in breweries talking about lambic.

There is heaps more to Belgium/Europe.

Let the kid take his beer vacation.

 

[jbeezification1]

Beercation

 

[LukeAleTime]

Let the kid take his beer vacation.

but... the art, and churches... and war history... and the wine in france!

 

[sacrelicio]

Beercation

Mastication

 

[sacrelicio]

but... the art, and churches... and war history... and the wine in france!

Let them drink lambic

 

[callmemickey]

Some Cantillon up on Belgium in a Box... jacked the prices up like crazy and are now roughly 50% more than what Etre was selling for last week:

750 Rose de Gambrinus -- BiaB: 20.99 / Etre: 13.70
750 Gueuze -- BiaB: 13.50 / Etre: 9.55

 

[Michigander1]

Some Cantillon up on Belgium in a Box... jacked the prices up like crazy and are now roughly 50% more than what Etre was selling for last week:

750 Rose de Gambrinus -- BiaB: 20.99 / Etre: 13.70
750 Gueuze -- BiaB: 13.50 / Etre: 9.55

And probably sold out before you were able to type up this post.

 

[belvedere86]

I think I'm going to start investing in lambic. Buy 5K worth of lambic and flip for 10K.

Easy cash