Fwd: News from Antwerp

----- Forwarded message from Annette May &lt;Annettesharonm(a)AOL.COM&gt; ----- Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 14:30:55 EST From: Annette May &lt;Annettesharonm(a)AOL.COM&gt; Reply-To: Annettesharonm(a)AOL.COM Subject: News from Antwerp To: CBS-HB(a)LISTSERV.UIC.EDU Everyone,, Attached please find more feedback from the 24hrs of ANtwerp. According to this feedback, De Dolle & Brouwerij de Regenboog (Vuuve wit, Wostyntje mustard bier) were the "kings" of the festival: ---------------- Thanks to everyone who made this weekend so great, babblers and non-babblers alike. Roll on next year! p.s. De Dolle Special Reserva - what a beer - we practically lived the weekend outside their stand and Regenboog next door. Steve H ---------------- Very sherryish. Something like a 20-yar-old Chimay blue - it tastes much older than it really is. Absolutely fantastic. Carl ---------------- Think Stille Nacht aged in oak with a dash of bourbon, or such like. Fantastic stuff, very different from anything DDB have done before. Jeremy Gray ---------------- Posted by Joris P. on 11/05/2002 03:32:56 PM I think this beer is truly grand - but in more than taste alone. I was really worried about DDB but if Kris manages more beers like this little gem, everything is OK again with DDB. Cheers, Joris ---------------- After lunch we hit the fest just after opening, (it started at 2pm) and quickly got into the swing with a few swift 12% beers, the fabulous BBBourgondier and the wondrous De Dolle Stille Nacht Reserva. I think we all realised that with Regenboog and De Dolle next door to each other, that this was a great place to set up camp for the day, which is more or less what we did. - Jeremey Gray --------------- Plus - here are some notes that John White (who also runs <A HREF="file://www.whitebeertravels.com/"> www.whitebeertravels.com</A>) posted on the 'Babble Belt' prior to the festival: Further to my mention of BBBBourgondiër, I had a look down the 24 Hour Beer Festival list for others of this strength, i.e. 12%. There were two: Leyerth's Urthel Samaranth (stand 31); and De Dolle Brouwers' Stille Nacht Reserva 2000 (stand 14). I am particularly interested in this latter beer, since I noticed some wine casks at the brewery in December, 2001 and asked Kris Herteleer, the brewer, about them. There is a photo of them on my rather long "Past Beer Hunts" page on my Web site, <A HREF="file://www.whitebeertravels.com/past">www.whitebeertrave…, which has not had the makeover treatment yet) From the conversation and follow up investigation, I came up with the following, which clearly marks this beer out as being something very special and unique, one that is sure to be popular, so get your sample at the festival early: The wine casks contained a proportion of the previous year's (2000) Stille Nacht batch maturing in them. The casks were bunged with upturned, empty Stille Nacht bottles. The casks were not casks that had been used for any old wine; they were from the Château Léoville-las-Cases, from the Saint Julien commune. In the 1855 classification of Bordeaux wines, only five were put into the highest category... 1er Grand Cru Classé. These were Château Lafite-Rothschild, Château Latour, Château Margaux, Chateau Haut-Brion, and Château Mouton-Rothschild (actually elevated to this class in the 20th Century). There were only fourteen in the second category (2ème Cru Classé), including, Château Léoville-las-Cases. The casks were actually obtained via Cantillon, the renowned producer of Lambics The beer that Kris was maturing in the wine casks will be called "Stille Nacht Reserva 2000". Reserva is a Spanish wine term implying that the wine has been stored in wood for a defined period of time (for a Red Rioja it means a minimum of twelve months, the term Gran Reserva, meaning a minimum of two years. Clearly a beer for the Train Spotter to watch out for. It should also be outstanding. Matthias Neidhart Annette May B.United International Inc. <A HREF="http://www.bunitedint.com/">www.bunitedint.com</A> Connecticut USA ----- End forwarded message -----