Flemish Sour

Duchesse De Bourgogne, a Flemish style sour from Belgium, is a fine lady.  A little sweet and a lot sour.  Pleasurable to drink.  Initially I got a hint of coffee on the nose but then I smelled again and got toffee.  Weird because that is not at all what it tasted like.

It pours a beautiful Nut brown color with an Amberish hue.  It is a delight to look at.  It has a mellow head that disappeared quickly.  Now lets taste it.

Oh, it's good.  Mmm, everything I hoped it would be.  Green Apples for sure.  Maybe a hint of fig.  The sour taste overwhelms the palate, not in a bad way, just in a "that's all you can taste" way.  Good though.

Definitely worth trying once even though it was in a tiny bottle for four dollars.  I'm almost completely over how much it cost.  The flavors are really starting to open up.

This beer seems to be a nice way to relax in the evening.  I've damn near forgotten about my tired feet.  My head feels tremendously better.  It's a relaxing brew that resets the senses.  I don't suspect I could taste any other beer after this one so I'm lucky it's the first and last of the night.

This is only the third beer I've had of the style but I am very pleased with this one.  The first one was a Dark Sour by New Belgium.  They've began to do this Lips of Faith series which, I'm a fan of.  The Lips of Faith series seems to be experimental beers that are only released once.  Every time I've gone back for another one it seems they've already moved on.

The other was Red Door Flemish sour which was decent.  Nothing to write home about.  Nothing to write here about either.

Mmm, as it warms I can start to pick up on the malts.  There is a definite coffee/toffee quality to it.  It distracts from the sour.  I mean it's sour but the Lips of Faith dark sour had more of a bite to it.  The subtle maltiness comes through more in this beer.  Nothing wrong with it, I would just prefer the mouth puckering sourness of something like a lemon.

Ya, now that it is warming I'm starting to lose the battle.  The maltiness is killing it for me.  Almost done now.  If I had drank it a smidgeon quicker this would have been avoided.  Overall a decent brew.  I'm not going to run back for another but it was good.

Thank You!

-Ryan Sturgis, Beer Lover and Overall good Fellow.

The Year of the "PIG"

I went to a restaurant in Riverside last night.  "The Salted Pig" it was called and it was wonderful to see a restaurant of that Caliber in the Inland Empire.  Good Beer and Good Food is what you can expect.  I walked in and it was very unassuming.  Plain walls with little to no art work.  A few bar tables, a full bar, and a small dining room.  Yet, the beer menu was phenomenal!  Russian River and Stone BEER on TAP!  My jaw dropped when I asked for a small sample of Russian River's Damnation and got it back in a small tasting glass. 

It was a delicious golden belgian style ale.  Not alot of Hops on the nose but a pleasant yeasty malty flavor to the beer.  It was a delight.  I also sampled a strawberry Lambic that kicked me in the pants with intense fruiity flavor.  Yum Yum Yum!!!  And that is only part of the fun!

They have a rotating keg menu that they advertise with hanging chalk boards.  They change the beers they have on tap often so they can just erase the chalk and right up their next beer.  They only had about seven beers on tap but what they lack in quanity they kick you in the pallate with taste.   Delicious!  I didn't even know they were gonna release Stone's "More Brown than Black" in kegs!  Apparently the "Salted Pig" has Magical powers and they were able to snag a barrel.  It was AMAZING.  I would go back to the "Salted Pig" for that beer alone!

Ok, kind of pricey (7$ for a 12oz beer) but the beers they serve are not no "Budweiser!"  They had about thirty other beers from all around the world they served in bottles in cans.  OH!  But the beer they served us on tap we all got in Belgian style tullip glasses.  Amazing little touch. It is really the little things that add that final touch that makes a restaurant pass through good into great!

It's the baby tomato that fell out of my "black and tan" burger that made me smile in delight.  Yes, the burger!  My friend Alex ordered a black and tan and I was thinking, Guiness does sound good...but THAT was the Burger!!!!  Yum!  I got it cooked medium well and it came out grilled to perfection!  Mouth watering juices dripping out through the cheese.  The buns, oh the buns! They might have been hand made.  They tasted so fresh.  Don't get me started on the ketchup!  It tasted like fresh tomato paste with a large helping of Brown Sugar.  I just wanted to brush my teeth with it and have that taste in my mouth all day!

To sum up, this restaurant adds an elegeant refreshing touch to a much needed area in downtown riverside.  I left with a 22$ bill and I only purchased the one burger and a beer but I would gladly do it again next time I get paid alot of money.