As ever and in search of untying the ropes that had tethered
my tastes, I went In search of new sensations, the rapaciousness of an
avalanche of hops, potent potentates of dark beer, irregular shapes thrown by
this yeast or that yeast or that sour bug bugging away in the wood. The witbier
became an irregularity in the world of my beer drinking. And then this weekend,
as if it had never been away there it was again and I remembered how I had
forgotten that I knew when made at its best the Belgian witbier was
an elegant, cheerful, uncloistered, friendly, thirst-quenching troubadour of a
beer, something to be calibrated and celebrated when it came to the palate.
And the beers that reminded me, were kind to me even though
the style had been left all alone as if waiting for a bus that never came? They were both from
the Americas: Allagash White, smooth and flirty in the dance its spice and
fruit made on the tongue, throat catching in the thirst that it quenched, a
beautiful beer; then there was C5 Saga Ale Blanca from Mexico, which was sent
to me with several other Mexican beers, though this was the stunner amongst the bunch. With
a coriander spice and pepperiness, edge-of-palate sourness and Orangina-like
fruitiness it brought in a big searchlight of summer to the dank and dark
January night on which I tasted it. Both beers reminded me of the beauty that
could be a Belgian witbier and it’s to my shame that it’s a beer style I’ve
neglected for so long. Sometimes, in the rush for nirvana and newness we forgot
the sturdy, the survivor, the subtlety and surprise that a beer we thought we
knew can still bring.
I had an Allagash White recently and it reminded me of how I often neglect the Belgian Wit and how good it can be. So I had another.
ReplyDeleteAltbier does that for me...
ReplyDeleteThe other half and I still like Hoegaarden, to be honest, especially with food, and even more especially with most types of curry. Wit is generally quite an easy-going, fun type of beer, that I wish was still as ubiquitous in pubs as it seemed to be about ten years ago.
ReplyDeleteSeeing as our production still hasn't started out here in India, Hoegaarden tends to be my saviour when I'm on the lash. I cannot stress how bloody awful the beer is out here, other than this one beacon.
ReplyDeleteI have loved wit for years and can never understood why so few dig it. It was what prompted me to put together Gents Wit (although I am not a fan of it myself these days) a few years ago.
The wit we finally drop out here will be more of a love letter to all the beers I've loved in that style- which are pretty much every one you list (missing only Celis). Maybe one day you'll be able to sup upon it out here.