Beer & Whisky

Beer

 

Hermit hoar, in solemn cell,
Wearing out life's evening grey;
Strike thy bosom, Sage! and tell
What is bliss, and which the way?
Thus I spoke, and speaking sigh'd
Scarce repress'd the starting tear.
When the hoary Sage reply'd,
"Come, my lad, and drink some beer."

-Samuel Johnson

Whether or not you believe it, I didn't really care for beer before arriving in Deutschland. I have come to love this nectar and am enjoying studying it at every opportunity. I am amassing an extensive beer label collection and, as my palate develops, some tasting notes.

Here is my present all time favorite............

Aventinus

In my travelings I always try to find and taste the local beer - to cultivate a greater appreciation for the tremendous variety of beers in the world. To keep track, I soak off the beer label. Thus far my beer label collection exceeds three hundred. Though not all images are "on-line" you can explore some of the countries and beers I've discovered through my Beer Label Database. If you are interested in seeing the images, drop me a note. I'll try and find the CD-ROM I burned of the images and put it on the server.

My father will of course tell you of the time he slipped me a Pilsner Urquel and asked me to identify it while my brother hinted and coaxed me into believing it was an American beer.

I guess I'll just have to keep cultivating.

Beer Brewery Tours - Overview Trappisten
( Details )
  2005 07 Palm, BEL, Steenhuffel
MITRE/BEL + JT Goulet
  2004 07 Rochefort, BEL, Rochefort, Abbaye Notre-Dame de St-Remy
JT Goulet
  2004 07 Maredsous, BEL, Maredsous
JT Goulet
  2004 07 Leffe, BEL, Dinant
JT Goulet
  2003 04 Orval, BEL, Orval, Abbey Notre-Dame d'Orval
JT Goulet
  2002 09 Cantillon, Brussels, Belgium
G Belongie, RP Galloni, JT Goulet, J Hammond, J Kuhn, JF Legrande
  2002 08 Heiniken, Zoutwoude, Nederland
  1999 06 Yuengling, Pottsville, PA
JJ Goulet, W Goulet, JT Goulet
  1999 05 Privat Brauerei Franz Josef Sailer, Marktoberdorf, Bayern, DE
  1995 05 Samson Brewery, Budvar, CZ
JT Goulet
  1994 05 Straffe Henrik Brewery, Brugge, Belgium
JT Goulet

Chimay & Scarmount Abbey on the way home. Bottling plant was the closest thing to Chimay Brewery Tour.
JT Goulet

  1994 04 Budvar & Pilsner Urquell, CZ
Gene Vogt, Al Moyer, & I. Our pilgrimage, Ceské Budjovice & Pilsen compiled and presented by Gene Vogt.
  1993 Pilsner Urquell, CZ
Keith Hans, Rob Gehl, David Dickerson, & I.
  1992 Dinkel Acker, Stuttgart, DE
  1982 06 Heineken, Amsterdam, NL

If anyone can recommend a text color for this backdrop, I would gratefully appreciate it: Amber Beer

Whisky

For me whisky used to also be something I would never have touched. If, like liver, you have to develop a taste; why bother. Then I met the Scottish Single Malts. It was a cold winter day, 22 Dec 1983, in Edinburgh, but that's another story. Unfortunately I have let my membership with the Scottish Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) lapse. My comments in this area therefore have been put on hold.

Whisky Distillery Tours
  198x Michners, PA, USA
  199x Royal Loch Nagar
  199x Highland Park, Orkney
  2003 07 Oban, Oban Talisker, Skye Ardbeg, Isley Laphroaig, Isley Lagavulin, Isley

jtg