[BikeGeek]

Just found out I'm going to a tasting with Michael Jackson tomorrow night! No, not him, the other one. This is going to be good. "...Jackson will pair great Belgian originals with American microbrews devised in the same styles for a side-by-side tasting pitting the best representatives of Old World traditions against the best examples of New World craftsmanship..."

 

[gastro]

Enjoy the tasting - my vote:

 

[BikeGeek]

Last night's comparisons:
- Saison Dupont (Tourpes, Hainaut) / Saison Southampton Publick House (Southampton, NY)
- Hoegaarden Wit (Hoegaarden) / Allagash Wit (Portland, ME)
- Duvel (Breendonk) / Brooklyn Fortitude (Brooklyn, NY)
- Orval Trappist (Villiers-devant-Orval) / Goose Island Matilda (Chicago, IL)
- Rodenbach Foederbier (Roeselare, West Flanders) / New Belgium La Folie (Fort Collins, CO)

I can go into more detail when I have more time if people are interested.

 

[Mackie]

Last night's comparisons:
- Saison Dupont (Tourpes, Hainaut) / Saison Southampton Publick House (Southampton, NY)
- Hoegaarden Wit (Hoegaarden) / Allagash Wit (Portland, ME)
- Duvel (Breendonk) / Brooklyn Fortitude (Brooklyn, NY)
- Orval Trappist (Villiers-devant-Orval) / Goose Island Matilda (Chicago, IL)
- Rodenbach Foederbier (Roeselare, West Flanders) / New Belgium La Folie (Fort Collins, CO)

I can go into more detail when I have more time if people are interested.

Damn straight. Give us more info.....
Also, you might try pairing Oomegang Wit up against that Hoegaarden.

 

[BikeGeek]

I'll start with the high point of the evening, which was the final 2 beers served: Rodenbach Foederbier (pronounced "foodabeer") and New Belgium La Folie. Both are examples of Flemish red beer. What made this the high point for most is that Foederbier is extremely hard to find in the US since it's only available in wooden barrels, and New Belgium only produced 3000 bottles of La Folie. I had never had this style of beer before and found that, after getting over the initial shock, I really enjoyed it.

[beergeek]The smell is misleading in that you expect a taste akin to an abbey ale; both styles have a similar fruity aroma. With the first taste of the red, you quickly realize that it's no abbey ale...it's very sour. My first reaction was "what's wrong with this beer?" As I gave it a second taste, then a 3rd and 4th, I started to notice all sorts of flavors that follow the initial tartness: first a slight burnt taste, quickly followed by a cider-like sweetness, but with a semi-dry finish. Comparison between the two brands find them very similar. The La Folie was not quite as tart, had higher carbonation, and a sweeter, almost juice-like quality. Both were very good.[/beergeek]

I've since found out that the brewmaster at New Belgium used to work at the Rodenbach brewery.