What’s in my glass? – A bone to pick.

4 comments

May 24, 11:08 PM

by Charlie Papazian, Beer Examiner

 

 

I’ve a small bone to pick.  Not too long ago I chose to enjoy a draft of Belgian made “sour” Flemish beer called Bacchus.   At first it seemed nicely balanced, relatively mild alcoholic fruited sour brown ale.  But then the aftertaste crept onto my palate.  Frankly it really irritated me that I seemed to be drinking a beer that had been dosed with an artificial sweetener of some sort. I’m not sure that they actually do, but my palate was telling me “yechhh.”   That unmistakable aftertaste lingered on my palate and partially spoiled the taste of the fine food we were being served.   Why do the Belgians of all great beer nations find the need to use artificial sweeteners in their beer?  Don’t get me wrong, most Belgian brewers do not.  But those sweet fruited beers and the very low alcohol “table beers” which are available in Belgium are commonly sweetened with artificial sweeteners.   I despise the taste.  Call me sensitive.   Why do they do it?  I’d put forth the proposition that they are catering to the sweet tooth of today’s younger drinkers.  What a disastrous compromise. 

            Meanwhile I quickly switched to a Petrus Oude Bruin.  Aged in oak.  Mildly rustic woody character without new oak “vanillin” character.  Slight tartness, earthy flavor.  Malt and hop balance at moderate part of the scale.  Fresh yeasty aroma without sulfur compound.  Quite a nutritional sensation on the palate.

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