TOPIC:

Have recently been going back into the Abbots off lisence. There selection of American ales has improved hugely from my last visit. They have loads of ales from Odells, Victory, Brooklyn, Flying dog, SN, etc. As well as all the brewdog beers.

They are a bit pricy, but Cork doesn't have a great selection for these beers.

Cheers,
Billy.

They have a bit of new stock in the Abbots, beers from Black Diamond, Rogue and Mendocino..

Picked up a few a while ago...

&amp;quot;oconn&amp;quot;:2q2k2ikc wrote: shows how long since i stocked up in the abbots ale house...i drank a poppering hommiel bier. dated 01/12/08 last night and it was the nicest ive ever tasted...wasnt particularly gone on it before. but aging definitly made this one taste a bit better I think....very smooth yet hoppy and sweet at the same time...I recommend it WELL out of date...think i have another bottle hiding somewhere maybe i will look for it in a few years <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->[/quote:2q2k2ikc]

That's a great beer. I'd love to try an aged one like that.


Adam

&amp;quot;Biertourist&amp;quot;:20qvvfnj wrote:

&amp;quot;oconn&amp;quot;:20qvvfnj wrote: shows how long since i stocked up in the abbots ale house...i drank a poppering hommiel bier. dated 01/12/08 last night and it was the nicest ive ever tasted...wasnt particularly gone on it before. but aging definitly made this one taste a bit better I think....very smooth yet hoppy and sweet at the same time...I recommend it WELL out of date...think i have another bottle hiding somewhere maybe i will look for it in a few years <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->[/quote:20qvvfnj]

That's a great beer. I'd love to try an aged one like that.


Adam[/quote:20qvvfnj]

I had draft hommelbier in Poperinge at the hop festival the other week. I always had a soft spot for this beer but the fresh hop taste and aroma was fantastic.

&amp;quot;mr happy&amp;quot;:2n7sbknn wrote:

&amp;quot;Biertourist&amp;quot;:2n7sbknn wrote:

&amp;quot;oconn&amp;quot;:2n7sbknn wrote: shows how long since i stocked up in the abbots ale house...i drank a poppering hommiel bier. dated 01/12/08 last night and it was the nicest ive ever tasted...wasnt particularly gone on it before. but aging definitly made this one taste a bit better I think....very smooth yet hoppy and sweet at the same time...I recommend it WELL out of date...think i have another bottle hiding somewhere maybe i will look for it in a few years <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->[/quote:2n7sbknn]

That's a great beer. I'd love to try an aged one like that.


Adam[/quote:2n7sbknn]

I had draft hommelbier in Poperinge at the hop festival the other week. I always had a soft spot for this beer but the fresh hop taste and aroma was fantastic.[/quote:2n7sbknn]


Wow! I am so jealous. Please tell us more about the Poperinge Hop Festival!


Adam

Sorry to go completely off topic but the hop festival was a great experience. Its a bit like a cross between a small scale Paddy's day parade, a lovely girls contest and a beer festival. The beer festival takes place on the main square on the Saturday and Sunday afternoon. It was very busy but there was a good atmosphere and a lot of beer from a wide range of Belgian breweries. The trappist breweries were all at one stall including Westvleteren Blond. There was also a lady selling fresh and pelleted local hops. I picked up 150g of Goldings for 3 euros and am a bit sorry now that I didn't get a bit more. The town itself is a nice small Flemish town with an attractive central square.

The view as you approach Poppering is a lot like the picture on the hommelbier bottle and while hops aren't the dominant feature of the countryside there are a lot of them. As a homebrewer who had never seen hop production before it was really interesting.

We stayed in Westvleteren which is about 8km from Poperinge. Unfortunately the famous monastery closes its cafe and beer sales for two weeks starting the weekend of the hop festival but we did drop by to have a peek and as I mentioned above there were other legitimate opportunties to sample their beers so I don't feel we missed out. We also visited the De Struise brewers "retail outlet" which is concealed off the main street in nearby Oostvleteren and picked up a few of their brews as well as some De Molen and a oak aged Southern Tier Imperial IPA.

Nice part of the world, and I would definitely recommend it although I think that unfortunately the festival is only held every three years.