The Spirit World

It’s Valentine’s Day — not a day typically associated with beer. Flowers, a box of chocolates, yes. But not beer, unless you are like me, then every holiday is an excuse for a trip to the beer store to buy something new and interesting. When Brenda said that my Brewsday column would be falling on Valentine’s Day and suggested that I come up with something to fit the theme, my first thought was to suggest a number of beers that are a perfect compliment to a romantic evening. For me a “romantic” beer is darker and higher in alcohol, something that can be sipped quietly in the candlelight, or better yet, in front of a blazing fire. But I’ve written about many of those kinds of beers over the holidays. Fortunately, my wife, Denise, is full of good ideas. She said, “Write about cherry and chocolate beers.” Excellent idea. So we hopped in the car and drove down to the beer store to see what they had.

My favorite cherry flavored beer is Quelque Chose brewed by Unibroue in Chambly, Quebec. Quleque Chose (8% abv) is a dark ale with no carbonation. You can serve it two ways: warmed to 160°F (or 70 C, don’t boil it), or on the rocks. I prefer this ale warm. It reminds me of those hot spiced wines (glüg) that are popular during the holidays. The Unibroue web site recommends serving this cherry ale with strong cheeses and desserts. This beer has a shelf life of three years. I’ve had a bottle of four year old Quelque Chose (stored at 50°F not room temperature) and it was still excellent, fresh, and fruity.

Two kinds of cherry lambic are readily available here in the US: Belle-Vue Kriek (brewed by the giant InBev) and Lindeman’s Kriek. Both beers are effervescent and dark red. Belle-Vue Kriek is drier and less foamy. Lindeman’s Kriek is sweet and light. All of Lindeman’s lambics are sweetened and are very popular with people who don’t like bitter flavors. Lambics are barrel aged for three years prior to bottling. The final product is a blend of several batches. The purpose of the blending is to reduce the variation in the product from year to year. Lambics deserve a whole series of posts to themselves. They are complex beers and are brewed in a unique way. (Note: Sam Adam’s makes a beer they call Cranberry Lambic, but it’s a completely different species of beer. Sam Adam’s version is definitely not a true lambic. But its a tasty beer none-the-less. See this interesting article from Cryptobrewology.com.)

Several years ago I made a Chocolate Mocha Porter. I put Belgian chocolate and Columbian coffee into the brew. It was one of the more popular of my home brewed beers. Additions of Cacao into beer if done right can make a pleasant flavor addition to a dark beer. Porters and Stouts are the most common beers to which Cacao is added. Probably the most readily available chocolate beer is Young’s Double Chocolate Stout (5.2% abv). Young’s comes in bottles and cans. The can has one of those widgets in it so you get a nice frothy cascade effect when you pour the beer.