Phil may never forgive me for saying this, but Belgium is a most wonderful country indeed.
“What could possibly be so good about Belgium?” I don’t hear you ask. Well, after enjoying a delicious glass of Chimay Bleu for the first time in over a year, I have concocted the following argument: In Belgium, there is a tradition of monks brewing ludicrously strong beers. And not like the novelty extra-strong beers you tend to see nowadays, which have been brewed purely for strength, and taste marginally less pleasant than ox’s piss, but truly fine and wondrous beers. Anywhere else, alcohol is a dreadful vice (aside from communion wine, obviously), but in Belgium, the only beers that can hold a candle to our best British brews are brewed in monasteries. I rest my case.
I never realised that you didn’t know about Chimay ! Jeez, go easy on it, I reckon there is more than just alcohol in it ! Powerful or what.
Oh, I’ve known about it for ages. I just haven’t had any for some time, so it was nice to be reminded how good it was. Which, of course, prompted this post. Perhaps I’ll edit it to make that clearer.
And yeah, it is surprisingly powerful. Even at 9%ABV, and with my alcohol tolerance fairly low at the moment, just one 330ml bottle seemed to have a remarkable effect.
I may grant dispensation for Belgian monasteries but that doesn’t get the rest of the country off. Those monks have no particular Belgianness and could do the same job anywhere, thus Belgian is not a fine country but does contain useful Monks.
I think Phil is right. You are right, Phil. It is much nicer a few kilometres north of Belgium.
“It is much nicer a few kilometres north of Belgium.”
Oh, I don’t doubt it. That doesn’t mean that Belgium doesn’t have its merits as well.