At the dumpy beer bar I visit on an occasional basis, the bartender, we’ll call him Jack, often dispenses with the alcohol content of each of the beers they serve in an effort to be helpful. A beer with a higher alcohol content that a patron is used to – which can often times be difficult to discern when drinking it – can help render him or her incapable of driving home.
The problem is that said bartender seems to use a random number generator when assigning the alcohol content of each beer. The only one he has ever gotten correct is Maredsous 8 because, well, it is 8% alcohol.
As the often-strong Belgian and Belgian-style beers like Maredsous have become more commonly found, not just at beer bars, but also restaurants, liquor stores and the aisles of supermarkets, the list of the alcoholic levels (by volume or ABV) of the beers from the recent annual tasting event I host might be helpful. Most are a far cry from the 4.2% of Bud Light, Coors Light and Miller Lite, or the 5% of Budweiser or Coors.
Bavik / BJ's Camaraderie – 8.0 %
Bink Grand Cru – 13.0%
Boon / New Belgium Lips of Faith – 8.0%
Broeder Jacob – 7.5%
Cantillon Rosé de Gambrinus – 5.0%
Cantillon Zwanze 2010 – 4.0%
Chimay Cinq Cents – 8.0%
Chimay Grand Reserve – 9.0%
Chimay Première – 7.0%
Dendermonde Tripel – 8.0%
DuPont Foret – 7.5%
DuPont Posca Rustica – 8.0%
Duvel – 8.5%
Fantôme Magic Ghost – 8.0%
Fonteinen Oude Geuze – 6.0%
Fruli – 4.1%
Kwaak – 8.4%
La Chouffe N'Ice Chouffe – 10.0%
La Trappe Quadrupel – 11.2%
Lefebvre Blanche de Bruxelles – 4.5%
Maredsous Dubbel (8) – 8.0%
Maredsous Tripel (10) – 10.0%
North Coast Brother Thelonius – 9.4%
Odell Woodcut – 11.3%
Ommegang Hennepin – 7.7%
Orval – 6.9%
Ovila Saison – 7.0%
Panepot Reserva – 10.0%
Rochefort 10 – 11.3%
Rochefort 6 – 7.5%
Rochefort 8 – 9.2%
St. Bernardus Abt. 12 – 10.0%
Sterkens St. Paul Triple – 7.6%
Troubador Stout – 9.0%
Unibroue La Fin du Monde – 9.0%
Unibroue Maudite – 8.0%
Unibroue Raftman – 5.5%
Unibroue Terrible – 10.5%
Unibroue Trois Pistoles – 9.0%
Van Steenberge Augustijn – 8.0%
Van Steenberge Bruegal – 5.2%
Van Steenberge Golden Draak – 10.3%
Van Steenberge Monk's Café Flemish Sour – 5.5%
Most of these were very enjoyable, even if a hangover was inevitable with such a tempting array within reach.
Comments