We haven’t had a Belgian tasting in some time, so we’re heading back across the pond this week with some very special treats. Don Richardson of All Good Brands joins us next week with Mark Fields of Ararat Distributing for a sampling of the De Proef Brewmaster’s Collection. Don’t miss these unique and award-winning examples of the Belgian brewer’s art!

Le Grand Blanche
“Beautiful hazy golden color capped by bright white foam. Floral and tropical fruit aromas followed by a soft wheaty palette. Finishes with a hint of hop and coriander spice notes. A bit more body than many Belgian Wits, but still stylish and refreshing.”
96 points/World Beer Championships

Saison Imperiale
“Created in 2006. While the style is generally known for its light body and subtle spice, Saison Imperiale is a bolder, ‘mega’ interpretation of the style. Light amber in color, funky wild yeast notes and spice to the nose, with a bit more malt character, body, and hop notes as appropriate to the ‘Imperiale’ style.”
89 points/World Beer Championships

Reinaert Flemish Wild Ale
“Fermented three times with two different yeasts, including a strain of brettanomyces—the “wild yeast” of lambic brewing. Pale golden color with an enormous rocky white head. Brett and spicy aromatic notes, with a malty-juicy note on the palate. Finishes with Brett and dry hop notes.”
94 points/World Beer Championships

Signature Ale
“A unique collaboration with noted San Diego brewer Tomme Arthur. A complex hybrid of aggressively hopped west coast IPA, combined with traditional Belgian brettanomyces fermentation. Strong citrus hop notes followed by hints of sourness and delicate spice and a long fimish.”
94 points/World Beer Championships

Dieu du Ciel is a tiny micro-brewery in the heart of Montréal, Quebec. The most famous of their beers is Péché Mortel—or “Mortal Sin”—an extremely rich coffee imperial stout. Péché Mortel is one of the few beers to receive an A+ rating on BeerAdvocate and a 100pt score on RateBeer. You can read more about it here. Péché Mortel is sent to the US in small batches of 50 cases (or less) only a few times a year. Get it while you can!

Explore the rest of the line-up as well. We just love the beer names and, maybe more, the label art.

DIEU DU CIEL Péché Mortel (Mortal Sin)
DIEU DU CIEL Dernière Volonté (Last Will)
DIEU DU CIEL Corne du Diable (Devil’s Horn)
DIEU DU CIEL Route des épices (Spice Route)
DIEU DU CIEL Rosée d’Hibiscus (Pinkish Hibiscus)

AlexJ of Charlotte posted to the BeerAdvocate.com forums a response he got from Stone Brewing Company when inquiring about NC distribution. Here’s the bad news:

… As for your original very important question, I am sorry to tell you that we have no immediate plans to invade North Carolina. Those pesky hope-inducing rumors are exactly that–rumors. While we are certainly sympathetic to thirsty hop-deprived Southern citizens such as yourself, the bottom line is this: we’ve experienced phenomenal growth since we started up in 1996, and have been challenged to make enough beer each day to keep our fans happy both near and far. We are constantly increasing our production capacity, but it is still nowhere near enough to keep the whole country swimming in Arrogant Bastard. However, we are indeed hoping to move into the Southeast within the next couple of years; sooner, hopefully, rather than later. We will, someday, make it happen! …

Joey Redner lists “the world’s 10 most disgusting beers.”
[tampabay.com]

The Brits, on average, start with a pint at 6:14pm and then hang out until about 10:30pm. Other random tidbits on European drinking habits, too.
[ukpress.google.com]

Israelis drink Palestinian beer, Taybeh. See? Beer brings people together.
[radionetherlands.com]

Vermont gets its cap lifted and stronger beers over 8% abv are now in liquor stores. Hooray. Only a few states left with these archaic laws.
[boston.com]

Charlotte stores get busted undercover while selling beer to minors.
[wcnc.com]

Beer writer, Lew Bryson, names the World Beer Fest in Durham one of the top six beer fests in North America. Cool.
[msnbc.com]

Hopheads, Sierra Nevada went the extra mile for you—quite literally—with their newest release, Southern Hemisphere Harvest. Seems they just weren’t happy with one fall hop harvest per year, so they traveled to New Zealand in the Southern Hemisphere and got a crop o’ hops. This is the newest addition to their Harvest Ale “family.” We’ve been to New Zealand. It’s exceptionally green there. We imagine these hops have to be fantastic. What a great idea.

Read the full press release here.

“Our newest addition to our Harvest family is Southern Hemisphere Harvest. This is the first time we know of that an American brewer has put out a beer with fresh-picked hops from the southern hemisphere. The inaugural ale will debut in late April and will feature fresh Pacific Hallertau, New Zealand Motueka and New Zealand Southern Cross hops, all from New Zealand.

Like our Celebration Ale, the fresh hops in this beer are dried right after being picked then shipped immediately to Chico for brewing so that they retain their peak aromatics and flavors. To ensure the freshest hops possible, we went to the added expense of flying these hops from New Zealand to Chico so we could brew with them the week after they were picked.”

[Images: Sierra Nevada / newzealand.com]