Description
Sour & Wild Beer Tasting Thursday November 24
On Thursday, November 24, we will organize a beer tasting with the Sour & Wild theme. For this we open 2 different bottles from Tommie Sjef, the recently released Cuvee 2022 and Sprong, and 2 bottles from Tilquin, the Oude Rhubarb a l'Ancienne and the Oude Pinot Meunier a l'Ancienne.
The tasting starts at 8:15 PM and takes place in the Hop-In Bierwinkel, Zwaanshals 484, in Rotterdam.
Sour & Wild tasting
Tilquin
Tilquin is one of the Belgian Geuze blenders. A blender does not brew its own beer, but buys the beer from one of the lambic breweries and then blends it itself to achieve the desired taste.
Tilquin is the first gueuze blender in Wallonia (started in 2009), and is managed by Pierre Tilquin. In addition to being a bioengineer, he has completed extensive brewing training in Leuven and gained brewing experience at Huyghe, 3 Fonteinen and Cantillon. In the relatively short time that Tilquin has been on the market, it has grown into a renowned brand. Tilquin is known for its old gueuze, but even more for its specials, including lambic macerated with grapes.
Tilquin Old Rhubarb a l'Ancienne - 6.3% vol.
The Tilquin Oude Rhubarb is a classic lambic, fermented with 240 grams of rhubarb per liter of lambic. Only local rhubarb has been used, sourced from Ferme de la Bosse Jauque.
Expect classic notes of lambic, funky, stable, oak, combined with rhubarb, lime, gorene apple, apricot, leather. Taste is subtly sour, green apple, earthy, rhubarb, lemon and subtle wood tones.
Tilquin Old Pinot Meunier a l'Ancienne (2020/2021) - 7.9% vol.
The Tilquin Old Pinot Meunier a l'Ancience is from the lambic series in which grapes are macerated in the beer. This beer of spontaneous fermentation is macerated with 250 grams of grapes per liter of lambic, where the biodynamic grapes come from Tilquin's neighbors, namely the Belgian winery Domaine W. Here all grapes are grown 100% organically. The beer is not pasteurized and is refermented in the bottle.
A fruit lambic that is quite sour, with big gueuze notes: funky, brettanomyces, hay, some notes of red wine, fruity. The taste is quite sour, but balanced. Notes of grapes, winey tannins, lemon and sour stone fruit.
Tommie Sjef
Tommie Sjef Koenen, the founder and owner of Tommie Sjef Wild Ales, is a brewer and blender of sour and wild beers. He started (2013) by sourcing lambic from Belgium, then maturing and roasting it himself. In 2015 he worked as an assistant brewer at Oedipus, which enabled him to produce his own wort. He also started collecting and growing yeast cultures himself. Eventually production was so large that he could start selling his beers. This went so well that people from all over the world wanted his beer. Soon the home situation became far too small, and he set up a crowdfunding campaign to set up a larger production capacity. As a result, he now lives in a warehouse with a storage capacity of 70,000 liters, and he wants to keep it that way for the time being. He doesn't think it could go any bigger, because he wants to maintain the quality of the beers. All beers are aged for at least 8 months, but they usually mature between 1.5 and 4 years before being blended.
The yeast that is now used is a mixture of classic Belgian yeasts, grown from lambic samples, yeast that comes from the area (caught by putting some wort outside and seeing what has ended up in it) and yeast that naturally grows on flowers and fruit. occurs. Ultimately, the house culture emerged from this.
The fruit and hops added to the beer are collected as locally as possible. This is especially difficult with hops, because the Netherlands has (relatively) few hop fields so far, but the approach is to produce everything as organically and sustainably as possible.
Tommie Sjef Cuvee 2022 - 7.4% vol.
The Tommie Sjef Cuvee 2022 is a blend of beer that has been extensively macerated with Pinot Blanc grapes, some fresher beer macerated with Muscat and a little spontaneously fermented Olasz Riesling wine.
Expect complex fruit aromas, such as lychee, melon and elderflower from the Muscat grapes, with later notes of almonds, mandarin, honey and the distinct character of the Brettanomyces (think hay and stable). The taste features luchee and melon, with a clear acidity and some tannins from the wood and grapes. Also expect some minerals and spices from the Pinot Blanc. Finish is dry, with notes of oak, minerals and citrus.
Tommie Sjef Sprong - 7.1% vol.
The Tommie Sjef Sprong is a blend of mature wild beers, which have been aged between 1.5 and 3 years in puncheon barrels (400 and 500 liters), and a barrel of fermented saison, dry-hopped with Saaz. A week before bottling, Sicilian sage and wormwood were added. This gives a subtle note of earth and spice to the beer.
Expect aromas of lemon, spicy and earthy notes from the Saaz hops, and spicy and floral notes such as sage, straw, chamomile, raw honey and lemon. Nuanced sour and with a strong bitterness. The barrel comes through subtly, like tannic apples and white grape skins.
