Vondel Brown beer

by John Breese
(Beer Delegate, QC, Canada)

Vondel Brown beer. The Belgians have done it again!

Just about the weirdest thing about Belgium when looking back on my travels through this mini-country, be it by truck or by train, is my inability to remember it properly. When reflecting on my time in this northern-European patch, I manage memories of a tightly woven blend of well-maintained greenery and a nearly ceaseless sprawl of population. And that’s just the countryside.

Now if we’re talking cities, well, for reasons beyond my explanation, the recollections are dimmer. Let’s take Brussels for example... the first thing I remember about the Belgian capital is the enchanting scent of melting chocolate wafting thickly through the air. I mean there were waffle peddlers on every street corner of the town square and the whole place smelled like a steaming jar of Nutella spread. I loved it!

Oh, and speaking of the town square, that brings up my other big memory of this Flemish nation... the sight of some crazy drunk guy running through throngs of tourists, screaming at the top of his lungs with his pants around his ankles, only twenty seconds after I entered the town square for the first time. That was my first impression of Belgium; chocolate and withered, pale appendages. Yup, this place was magic.

Funny thing though, the Belgian beer experience carries over better for me here in Canada than it did in the old country. Wonder why that is? Anyhoo, only fitting then, that while perusing the aisles of my new favorite beer store for a fresh target that I am caught up in the dark headlights of one Vondel brown beer; country of origin: Belgium.

Honestly, how could my curiosity not be piqued by the image of some Euro-Colonel Sanders gazing out at me from the bottle’s label? When Mr. Euro-Colonel and I got home, I cracked him open and was met with a malted-caramel whiff stemming from the open bottle. Good start. Though Vondel Brown beer was not the thickest dark beer on my list, it still had decent body and pleasant aromas. Once again, the Belgians have done it.

Plus, with an 8.5% ABV alcohol rate, this beer carries the same oomph-factor that many of its national brethren share, delivering the same strong character without producing any aseptic flavors along the way. The fact that this is a mid-bodied strong beer actually adds to it’s stock as a fine summer drink. Going down, the brew leaves a nice, light foam, always allowing room for more.

In polishing off my bottle of Vondel Brown beer, I come to realize that I miss being in Belgium. But then I get to thinking about the average price a bottle of this brown ale fetches and compare it to a roundtrip to Antwerp. Hmm... two-fifty versus the equivalent of two months' rent? Well, I guess my memories of the land that brought us the Michelin guide to fine dining will have to come in a bottle from now on. So be it.