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First world problems: there is currently more craft and homebrewed beer in our refrigerator than food. That is a good problem to have. I didn't realize how far behind we were in the Planets series from Bell's until tonight. Oops. This is a sessionable Belgian single (read: Belgian pale ale) that has apparently been lurking in a back corner of the fridge, hiding behind some forgettable condiment and Jupiter (the Saturn is completely out of place on the other side of the shelf). Yes, mock me if you will, I like some organization in my fridge and most of the rest of my life. Again, first world problems.
There is a lot of lore that goes along with Mercury. Often followed by "retrograde", this is the biggie. No one really cares when Mercury is direct, or when other planets are in retrograde. But whoa, Mercury retrograde is something to be feared, some vague reason to stop living life as you know it and hibernate until the retrograde is over. Cough cough bullshit. Mercury is, as stated on the label and throughout Roman mythology, the guy in charge of communications and usually makes them happen fast, hence the wings on his sandals in most depictions. Mercury-the-planet is also associated with communication, and when it goes into retrograde, yep, you guessed it, many issues with communication arise. Choose your words carefully, and you will be just fine during a Mercury retrograde. Anyway, don't we have a beer to be drinking?
This pours a beautiful translucent straw color with a smallish white head. The aroma is faint yet distinctly Belgian, with all of the phenols and esters in the nose to tempt you. Notes of clove, peppercorn, lemon, and banana waft past my nose. It drinks much like it smells, with a bonus of bubblegum and stronger banana in the flavor, and there is a nice cracker-y note that finishes the sip. It's light in body, medium in carbonation, effervescent as one would expect a Belgian-style beer to drink. At 4.8% ABV, it's eminently quaffable, at least as long as you like Belgian-style beers. This was released in December, we had it in January, and it has held up quite fine in the refrigerator until now.
Overall, it's a solid, yet somehow fairly unremarkable for a Belgian. I'm not always the biggest fan of Belgians, particularly not the lighter banana/clove/bubblegum bombs. This isn't that, though. It's more like a Belgian that decided to play it safe and move to Switzerland.
4/5 caps
-Jennie
As I fuck with these ear buds, I would like to remind people that our next post is something special. Our next post will be our 300th post, and we have something near and dear to us lined up.
This pours a straw color, as mentioned previously, with bit of white head that lingers around while I continuously fuck with these ear buds... I'm done with ear buds... I'm going back to the normal ass headphones, that give better, less tinny sounds. How am I to rock out to something that changes sounds every time I move my head? Fuck off ear buds...
Back to the beer. The color has been talked about, onto the aroma. Faint aroma, typical Belgian notes blend with a light sweetness from the malt. This is one of the smoothest drinking Belgians I've had. The esters play off each other nicely in a harmonious choir that's blending well with the prog rock somehow. This dances on the taste buds in 5/4, 7/8 and 17/16 time at 144 bpm, ever changing with each sip. some sips give off more bubblegum and clove while others give off banana. The only thing constant on this is the nice dry finish and the smooth drinkability.
I can't really say more about this beer aside it was liked by people who normally shy away from Belgians. That's a hell of a compliment.
4/5 caps
-Nathan-
Food pairing: Mussels in a beer-butter-garlic sauce
Cheese pairing: A nice, nutty Gruyere
Music pairing: "Mercury: The Winged Messenger" by Gustav Holst or "Deadwing" by Porcupine Tree if you're not into classical
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