Rodenbach Vintage 2007

I had the pleasure of joining Palm Brewerie's CEO Jan Vandenwyngaerden and Latis Imports Founder David van Wees at the Ginger Man for the unveiling of the Rodenbach Vintage 2007 Grand Cru (aka Vat #230).

Similar to the Grand Cru, the 230 is Oak aged for two years, but unlike the Grand Cru, it isn't mixed with unaged beer. The Vintage 2007 is a pure aged beer and is rumored to continue aging nicely in the bottle.

I spoke with Jan about the future of craft beer in America and he's confident that in the next 5 years there will be a "shake out" where the cream rises to the top. This is what happened in Belgium 30 years ago, according to Jan. I think he's probably right and I'm looking forward to seeing who makes it to the top of the list.

In the meantime, I HIGHLY reccomend you get your hands on two bottles of the 2007 vintage. Drink one and put the other in your basement and save it. Jan said one of the Brewer's recently opened a 1960's vintage that had aged supremely in the bottle.

There are only 40,000 bottle total and 30,000 of them are in the United States. I heard Beer Craft in Brookly will likely get a few bottles and there are 12 bars that Latis (press release) has partnered with in NYC to sell the 22 oz. bottles.

(Here's a neat video of the Brewery: http://www.latisimports.com/brands/palm-breweries/rodenbach/brewing-rodenbach/)

(Also enjoyed were a few Palm Beers (Beer Advocate: B) as the Rodenbach Brewery is owned by Palm. It's a good beer that I expect to see a lot of in the next few months.)

A Few Good Beers At GingerMan

A little bit of Korean BBQ with the Family and onto one of our favorite midtown craft beer bars. We went with only tap and cask beers, sampling some old favorites and a few new ones.

Ducess De Bour (BA: A-)
- A Flanders Red Ale with a refreshing tartness - it's an acquired taste.

Rodenbach Grand Cru (BA: A-)
- The Bourdeaux of Beers, another Flanders Red Ale, with less tartness and more sweetness. Would go perfect with a juicy piece of red meat.

Chelsea Brewing Company's Cream Stout on Cask (BA:A-)
- Cream. Stout. Cask.

Cigar City Maduro Oatmeal Brown Ale
- A delicious brown ale, but falls short of favorite Oatmeal infused beer: Wolaver's Oatmeal Stout (a sure pick for the Vermont Craft Beer Celebration).


The only down side to the evening, not getting to see our favorite "cute bar gal" so aptly remembered by the deacon as: the nice bar gal who explained to the deacon why bud light off tap always tastes like shite (no, seriously) in a good beer bar.