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Brew Revue: BB Bourgondier
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Brew Revue: BB Bourgondier
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Water, water everywhere, but |
| Photo l Felicia D'Ambrosio |
Beer geeks play a game that casts them in their typically greedy role when it comes to their beverage of choice. It's called "desert island beers," and it requires you to name the three quaffs that would sustain you for the rest of your life on a desert island. No more Foodery, no more trekking all the way up the turnpike to Shangy's. Three are all you get.
My answers to this silly game tend to change, but always include one light (colored, bodied), one dark, and one sour. Brouwerij De Regenboog BB Bourgondier is recurring on the desert island in the "dark" category for several reasons: It's complex, high enough in alcohol (12 percent ABV) to possibly debrede wounds, and freakin' delicious.
The 11.2-ounce bottle should be poured into a roomy, chalice-shaped glass to give this big guy some space to breathe. It pours a tawny golden-brown with a dense tan-colored head that has minimal staying power. A nose into the glass reveals a caramel-y but slightly sour aroma. This is brewed with herbs in addition to hops; namely, valerian and lemon balm, which are apparent in the overall spicy flavor of the beer. Candi sugar is also added to pump up the alcohol content, in traditional Belgian style.
This beer is listed as both a barleywine and a quadruppel in various reviews, and it is big enough to qualify as either. The spice flavor is accompanied by a warm malt sweetness that is lifted up by De Regenboog's characteristically funky house yeast. This underlying, refreshing sourness is what separates BB Bourgondier from other beers of its style, which tend to be tongue-coating and ponderous.
"De Regenboog" is Dutch for rainbow, an appropriate analogy to the expansive, colorful flavors in every bottle of this unique brew.
Local distributor of De Regenboog, Bella Vista Beer Distributors, is currently sold out of this rare brew. Pick up a bottle while they last at beer bars like Monk's Cafe, The Belgian Café and the Memphis Taproom.
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