Mahr's Ungespundet Lager -
Mahr’s is a rare example of artisanal brewing in a land that is lately beset by
increased mass production, consolidation, and narrowing of popular tastes. A
larger brewery simply could not make beer like this – unfiltered, unpasteurized,
and bursting with flavor.
17 oz bottles
Cantillon Kriek - In late summer, whole cherries (of the Schaarbeek variety, as tradition dictates) are poured, pits and all, into casks of lambic that have aged for a year and a half – two summers, according to the lambic brewer’s calendar. The fruit dissolves and ferments in the cask for four to five months. In that time, even the pits begin to dissolve, lending a slight nutty flavor to the lambic in the cask. The cherry-flavored lambic is blended with old and new lambic to make beer with a strong, sour cherry flavor and bright red color.
12 oz NR bottles
Cantillon Gueuze - The classic Belgian beer – a perfect blend of one, two, and three year-old lambics. Tart and slightly acidic, Cantillon Gueuze is the real champagne of beers. It is fermented only with wild airborne yeasts from the Senne Valley in Brussels and is aged in centuries-old oak casks. A true world classic that will thrill the true beer connoisseur.
12 oz nr bottles
Cantillon Rosé de Gambrinus - "The most famous framboise," according to beer writer Michael Jackson, and an undisputed World Classic – fully authentic, tart, not sweetened with sugar or syrup like all the rest.
Whole fresh raspberries are fermented in oak casks of Belgium’s classic beer - beer fermented by wild yeasts borne on the open air. Very dry, tart, and fruity, but also funky and complex, as a natural lambic should be. This is the real thing - definitely not one of those artificially sweetened soda-pop beers.
12 oz NR bottles
Bruocsella 1900 Grand Cru - by Cantillon -It may not be your father’s beer, but it was probably his great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather’s. This is the very stuff you see flowing from ceramic crocks in many classic Flemish paintings such as the Brueghel that adorns the label of this beer.
It is a gorgeous golden ale, nearly still, straight from the oak casks in which it fermented for at least three years. Cantillon Grand Cru has unbelievable complexity to match that of any wine, and is the perfect compliment to whatever you’re cooking. You won’t believe that this is beer . . . but it is, and it’s the only authentic old lambic you can buy – a World Classic according to every beer writer who knows anything.
For more information, go to the Cantillon Brewery homepage.
Achel 8° Blonde - A pale, strong, fruity,
hoppy Trappist ale from Belgium's newest Abbey brewery. Achel 8° is hard to find
even in Belgium; in the U.S. it will be the rarest of beers.
This blond, flavorful beer is a surprisingly refreshing brew at 8% alcohol by
volume. It is lightly filtered, but still wholesomely hazy with yeast remaining
in the bottle. For the moment, it shares the same label with the Achel Bruin
beer, but can be differentiated by the cap – the Blonde has a white cap and the
Bruin a gold cap.
11 oz NR bottles
Achel Bruin - This dark amber,
flavorful beer is surprisingly refreshing at 8% alcohol by volume. It is lightly
filtered, but still wholesomely hazy with yeast remaining in the bottle. The
Monastery is designing new labels for this beer, but for the moment is can be
differentiated from the lighter Achel 8º only by the bottle cap – the blonde has
a white cap and the bruin has a gold cap.
11 oz NR bottles
Achel Extra Dark - This Trappist dark strong ale is Achel's boldest beer at 10.6% A.B.V.
(Available in 12 - 750mL bottles)
Visit the Achel website for more information.
Kriek De Ranke - This Kriek has as its
base a classic golden ale. Fresh whole cherries – without the sugar or syrup
that so many other breweries use in their fruit beers – are added right into the
fermenting tank, and left to dissolve and ferment for at least six months. The
lambic, added toward the end of the process, makes up about 10% of the mixture.
The result is simply splendid – a very dry, very fruity beer, radiantly
ruby-colored, that has only a hint of sweetness. It is perfectly refreshing, yet
possesses depth and complexity to please the most discriminating connoisseur of
Belgian beers.Beautiful, poised, and sophisticated. This may well be Belgium’s
greatest Kriek. It is certainly the rarest. About 1500 bottles are made per
year. You will savor every precious drop.
26 oz NR bottles
La Choulette Ambree - A Biere 'de Garde style from Northern France. 7.5 % abv. 26 0z NR bottles
Fantôme Saison - Fruity, complex saison beer from the Ardennes forest from a tiny farmhouse brewery very hard to find even in Belgium. 8% alc. by volume, with a wonderfully musty and characterful aroma. “Absolutely gorgeous, complex summer refresher with enough interest to drink all year-round.” (The Beers of Wallonia). Both authors give this beer a perfect 10. We would not give it a 10 (even if we knew what that meant) but there are drinkers out there who believe this is the “Nectar of the Gods.”