Who Needs Belgians When There's La Merle?

As I have mentioned previously, my recent beer field trips have been so disappointing. But our latest trip was so bad it almost made my poor husband cry. Given the latest rash of bad beer experiences, we figured our trip to Poughkeepsie would be a ringer. Granted, it's an hour's drive from home- but when there's great beer and food involved, no distance is too far! Half Time (or, as my husband refers to it, Beer Disneyland) and the restaurant Crew comprise one of the sweetest package deals we have found for beer buying/drinking. Crew is staffed by the local culinary school where- GASP!- you can indeed have a lovely dinner, AND a really good draught beer (no chicken wings or Miller Lite anywhere to be seen). Then, to top off the evening, you wander next door to Half Time and buy a cart full of yummy hard-to-find beers from one of the best international beer selections in the whole tri-state area. What a delightful trip, right? Wrong. The first disappointment was pulling up to Crew and discovering that it had been closed by the Feds a week prior for tax evasion. Like I need any other reasons to hate the IRS! Sigh, but we still have Beer Disneyland, right? Um, yeah, I guess. Half Time still has a really good selection of beers. However, the disappointment is that all the Belgian beers we love are all- and I am not exaggerating here- a good 5 to 7 dollars more expensive than they were the last time we were here 6 months ago! $20 for a bottle of Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus, $17 for a bottle of De Ranke XX Bitter, and $6 for a small bottle of Rochefort 8! What a kick in the crotch!

Now, I realize there are many factors that contribute to rising beer prices. The de-valued dollar, the rising euro, the hop shortage, rising energy costs, the gaining popularity of beer, blah, blah, blah. I realize that $20 is a bargain for a quality bottle of wine and that I should be happy that beer is gaining status in the world. I love wine, but one of the many reasons we love beer is that it always seemed you could get a better beer for a better price- a truly exceptional bottle of beer for $9-$10 vs. a truly exceptional wine for $25 and up. What's worse, is that every microbrewery in the US is running with the "artisan beer" thing and using it to justify really pricey beers of their own. Dogfish, the apparent darling of American microbreweries, now has their "Extreme Beer" series that run about $20 for a 750 ml bottle. Dogfish also generously offers some of these rare brews in a 12 oz bottle for $8 a piece. Who buys these? I guess people that have a lot of disposable income. Other breweries are offering some special higher priced series of beers such as Harpoon's "Hundred Barrel" series, Southhampton's "XXII" series, and Allagash's "Tribute" and "Barrel Aged" Series. I know I sound like a total whining cheapskate- but beer has always been "the people's drink". I do think it's great to have really special American-made crafty beers. It's a step in the right direction. But could we concentrate a little more on making really tasty, yet affordable beer? There seems to be some serious discrepancy in the market between special series beers and the average brew. I think we, as Americans, tend to get a little carried away. We think "artisanal" and what comes out is a beer made with organic barley, hand-picked by monkeys, smoked with Indonesian green tea leaves and aged in an 100-year-old antique whiskey barrel made by the King of England' s second cousin. Sounds impressive- but would you want to drink it everyday?



Until a more enlightened day arrives, I will console myself with the moderately priced and dang' good (but still woefully hard to find in CT)- La Merle by North Coast Brewing. This beer is the finest example of what I consider to be the great potential of American breweries to make quality, yet moderately priced, Belgian style ales. The North Coast People suggest pairing it with some ahi tuna ceviche- which sounds totally awesome. I recommend, in honor of the start of fishing season, a nice fresh crispy fried whole trout with an almond-butter pan sauce. If you want this recipe- let me know and I'll send it you. If anyone has any other favorite American Belgian-style brews, give me a shout out. I'd love to hear what you have to say on this matter!