- Two "wild" or lambic beers from Cantillon Brewers in Brussels, one of them a tart, fruity rosé. Spontaneously fermented from wild or natural yeast in the air - much as sourdough bread is made from wild yeast - both had a complex, sour taste that most beer drinkers would have to learn to appreciate
- A sweet and fruity raspberry-macerated beer called Frambosen.
A Champagne "Pudding" Beer?
Most surprising of all, DeuS Les Brut de Flanders was a sort of cross between a beer and champagne. In fact, this beer, made in Belgium's Bosteel Brewery, undergoes several fermentations, one of them near Epernay in the Champagne region of France. In case you miss the similarities between this high alcohol (11.5%ABV) beer and champagne, the finished product is poured into a bottle that could easily be mistaken for Dom Perignon.The British refer to sweet wines suitable for serving with dessert as "pudding wines." Though not sweet, the light, slightly spice taste of DeuS, coupled with its delicate champagne-like bubbles, made it the perfect accompaniment to the Elderflower Panacotta with which we finished the wild food feast. And, at about £18 a bottle, the price was more like a good pudding wine than a beer as well.
