Tournay Noire

Much better this one, it's a vast improvement on the blonde from the same brewery. The key thing being it actually tastes of something. Living up to its name it is very dark almost black. It has the look of a stout about it. On tasting it has a lot in common with a stout, almost like a stout light. Now my dislike for stouts is well known but I was rather happy with this one. It wasn't quite as intense as most stouts and quite frankly I was just happy to drink a beer that had flavour.

2.5 out of 5

Tournay Blonde

I like blonde beer, it's my favourite. I like that it's not too heavy, I like it when it's really hoppy, I like the colour. And so I was excited to have this blonde Belgian beer. It was an utter disappointment. It was like having a fizzy water. Just didn't really have any flavour.

1.5 out of 5

Corsendonk Pater

I'm in the final furlong, the big push, the last 50. I know I haven't blogged about every beer but sometimes work and life gets in the way. I have decided to put the effort in and really go for it. I want to be finished by Christmas. To that end I have taken up going for a beer straight after work at least twice a week.  

So after work I had this brown Belgian abbey beer and I was highly impressed. It was rich with good flavour, malty and slightly sweet, a real delight. I got a bit carried away and drank the beer before I took a photo, it was a deep dark beer in case you are wondering. 

3.5 out of 5

Chimay White

I didn't actually order this beer but the barman stamped my book first in the wrong place and so I had this one instead of the one I had ordered. It is a very nice beer. A Belgian tripel brewed by some Trappist monks. It has a lovely almost warm flavour, it really helped with being at the end of a long week at work. 

 While having this I was chatting to a fellow passport booker. He was well into his session and decided to start drinking Deus, the £35 a bottle champagne beer from the list which I am saving as a final treat. He decided he so liked the first one he should have another bottle. An expensive night for him. 

4 out of 5. 

Slaapmutske Bruin

I like the name of this type if beer, Slaapmutske, it rolls off the tounge nicely. I've had various brews from this range before and the brown version is a nice example of a Belgian brown beer without being super strong, it's only 6%. It's go a good flavour, quite sweet. 

Rodenbach Grand Cru

When I order this the bar staff thoroughly approve telling me it's a great beer. On pouring it's quite dark  and doesn't really give any head. The first taste brings a big surprise, it's a hit of vinegary sourness. Another sour beer. I find with sour beers at first I hate them, about a third of the way through I start to like them. I think a lot of it is getting over the initial shock to the system and after that they are palatable. It was the same with the Rodenbach it got better as it went on.

2.5 out of 5. 

Adriaen Brouwer Dark Gold

I'm informed by the barman, Ian, that he has never sold a bottle of this beer before. Is that a good thing? I think probably not. 

The bottle depicts Belgian artist Adriaen Brouwer who was apparently famous for doing paintings of people after having a fair few and engaged in bedauchery.

The beer itself is very pleasant. A well balanced strong dark Belgian style beer, I can't really imagine why it doesn't sell more in the vaults. It's by no means a brilliant beer but it's well above average. 

3.5 out of  5. 

Goller Rauchbier

Rauchbier, it's not a good thing for me to see on the list but at least there is only one more left after this one. This one comes in a very nice bottle, I really like that pop cap style you get on some beers. The beer is quite dark and has a smokey flavour but is not as strong as the previous smoked beers I have tried. Overall it was ok if you like that kind of thing.

While having this beer I got to witness a grand event, the decorating of the pub with new hop vines. As I walked in the hop vines were piled up and I got tk watch the quite comedic attempts of the owner mike with the help of a very tall guy trying to mount these above the bar. After some time and much trial and error they managed this feet but left the rest of the vines to the employees rather than the owner to put up. 

2 out of 5

Kellerbier

The first week back at work after the summer holidays is a tough one, and by Friday I was absolutely gasping for a beer. Straight off the train and to the post office vaults it was. The beer I had was the Anno 1417 Kellerbier. Like in most things in life context is very important with beer and I must say that can't remember enjoying a beer more. A nice full flavoured refreshing larger straight after work, it was brilliant. I think I drank it in about 5 minutes such was my enthusiasm for it. Looking back the beer was a very nice larger but not as special as it seemed in the moment.

3.5 out of 5

Palm special

This is an Amber Belgian beer and it claims to be "special". All I can say is that it's not really special. It is distinctly average, it lacks a bit of flavour but has a good aroma. The beer itself comes in a smaller than usual bottle which is a bit disappointing. Belgium is. Small country which seems to produce a truly staggering variety if beer, I don't see how there can be a market for something so indistinct within such a crowded market place but I guess that's why I only got a C at AS level economics. 

2.5 out of 5

Gentse Strop

This beer is a Belgian pale ale from Ghent.  It's name is something to do with the citizens of a suburb of Ghent who lead an uprising against an Emporer. These people got called noose bearers and this gives rise to the name of the beer. 

The beer itself is nice. It has a light fizzy taste and is quite warm in the mouth. I don't think it will be my go to Belgian beer but it's a nice relaxing refreshing tasting beer that doesn't blow your socks off like some Belgian beers. 3 out of 5

Achel Bruin

More Trappist beer this time from Achel. It sometimes seems like every other beer I have has been brewed by a monk. This was typical and unexciting I wasn't a great fan but it wasn't a bad beer. 2.5 out of 5. 

La Biere Du Demon

I gave my other half the choice of my final beer of this particular trip to the pub and she chose the beer of the demon. It proclaims itself to be "Biere blonde la plus forte du monde". Now my French is pretty ropey but I think that means blonde beer which is the strongest in the world. It certainly is strong weighing in at a whopping 12%. 

I actually very much enjoyed it. I have had the ultra strong beers made by freeze distillation such as tactical nuclear penguin from brew dog. I find these tend to taste less like beer and more like port. The demon beer had a flavour that gave a hint of that kind of taste, I found it nice and very drinkable for something so strong. I was surprised to see it only getting a 2.5 on untpped, I thought it was much better than that. 3.5 out of 5. 

Ename Dubbel

Another beer from the Ename brewery was my follow up to the achingly sour beer I had just had. There isn't a lot to says out its beer, the Ename brewery seems to produce perfectly fine examples of typical Belgian beer. This is a good example of a Belgian Dubbel, without ever being special in any way.  3 out of 5. 

Cantillion 100% Gueze

After having brunch at Urban coffee in the jewellery quarter I headed into the city centre to make the most of the last few days of the summer holiday. This meant a stop at the post office vaults. Unfortunately my phone had run out of battery so no photos of the ones I had that day. First up was a sour beer from Belgium. I have no truck with sour beer I think it just tastes a bit gone off. This beer was especially sour, the first mouthful, was like sucking on a beery lemon. It did get better as I drank more and I became more used to the flavour, but overall I'm not a fan, 1.5 out of 5

Kasteel Rouge

No photo of this one. I had it while I had some friends up to watch the birmingham bears play some t20. We met up in the post office vaults before heading to the game. One of the beers j had that day was the Kasteel Rouge. I ordered it without a thought and ended up drinking a berry flavoured beer in front of my mates, very manly. It was ok not too bad, I'm looking at you floris beers, but also nothing write home about. 2 out of 5. 

St Bernabus Abt 12

When I spoke to Kieth, the man who has finished the 200 beers, he waxed lyrical about this as a beer. He told me it is basically the same beer as  Westvleteren XII. Westvleteren XII is supposed to be the best beer in the world but is also rather rare, they do have it in the Post Office Vaults but it is £30 a bottle. This makes the St Bernabus a real bargain at £5 even if it is only a pale imitator of the best beer in the world.

What strikes me first is how happy the monk, presumably the eponymous St Bernadus, on the bottle looks. The beer is very dark and thick and has a good deep complex taste. It's a party in my mouth of the different flavours that go into a beer, it's quite intense. It's also very strong, 10%, as benefits a quadruple ale. It left me feeling a little bit pissed, I hadn't had any lunch. So I went off home for an afternoon nap after having this. 4 out of 5. 

Poperings Hommel Beer

This beer goes into the category of the also rans. It's not a bad beer but it doesn't really have anything to set it apart from the large crowd of beers that there are. I would rate it as average in almost every way and I wouldn't recommend anyone going any distance for one. 2.5 out of 5. 

Ename Blonde

Following in from the other Ename beers I had had earlier after the direction of a past champion I went for the blonde version. Ian the current barman said he thought this was the best of the beers from this brewery. It is quite a standard Belgian blonde beer. It's nice but doesn't really have anything to put it above anything else. 3 out of 5. 

Chimay Red

More Trappist beer!

The good monks of Chimay make beer that comes in different coloured bottles. The red, or rouge, is the least strong of these. 

I had this beer as when I asked for a beer du demon the bar maid couldn't find it and started to look a bit flustered at the people waiting behind me. The post office vaults doesn't seem to have a system for putting beers into the fridges and this can result in a long wait for a beer.

The beer itself was nice, a fairly standard dubbel style beer with a kind of rich fruity sweetness going on. Drinkable but not special, although I was glad it was only 7% as some if these Belgian beers can really bowl me over when they push into double figures. 3.5 out of 5. 

I also learned that there may be plans afoot to move the post office vaults 3 doors down the road. Exciting if this is true.