100% rundvlees = 100% cow (and cow by-product)

Why is Amsterdam a regular stop for the WDT?  I’ve got one word for you:

McKroket!

Sure, I post a lot about this bar or that bar … pretending that it’s all about the beer, or maybe about the jenever.  But it’s all just a cover story.  Years have passed since my first encounter with the McKroket, but I’m still jonesin’ for a McKroket.

Take a croquette and put it on a bun?  Genius! (more…)

De Wildeman

It is with great pleasure that I look back on another successful European fall campaign by the WDT. The first leg of the tour was Amsterdam.

It’s a pretty bold statement to start in Amsterdam.

First Westmalle of the trip

After taking the train into the city from the airport, the festivities always start at In de Wildeman. Why? Well, In de Wildeman may very well still be the best beer bar in Amsterdam, but it’s best quality is that it opens at noon. I love Amsterdam, but let’s be honest, it opens late, or at least the decent beer bars do.

It is customary to start with a Westmalle Tripel, and then gradually get more adventurous. On this recent visit to the Wildeman, I did take the opportunity to try a few Dutch microbrews.  Two that stood out were the Jopen Fokkerbier (especially the way the bartender pronounced it), and the Emalisse Black IPA.

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We were tempted to visit the beer garden, but the “Strictly over 18s” sign on the door made us realize we were unworthy (not to mention a bit afraid to use the restroom).

This is a public service announcement for bartenders everywhere. Hiccups happen to the best of us. Yet it amazes me that so few people know the simple cure.

Last night I was at the Triple Rock in Berkeley, California, and a gentleman at the bar had a terrible case of the hiccups. Seeing a drinker in distress, I asked the bartender for several lemon slices. The barkeep had never heard of this simple cure, but obliged, and the hiccups disappeared after two quick bites of a lemon slice.

Maybe this cure only works if the hiccups are triggered by drink. But I can’t be in every bar on every day, so I’m counting on you, Internet, to solve this epidemic once and for all. Spread the word, cure the epidemic. The hiccups you cure could be your own.

Devastating news out of Belgium today as Belgian Beer Association president Monsieur Lapin Drole declared the 2010 Belgian Hop Harvest a complete and total loss. “Devastation of this magnitude is unprecedented. The Belgian Beer industry can never recover,” sobbed Monsieur Lapin at a hastily arranged press conference on Tuesday.

While scientific authorities have not yet released their report on the massive crop failure, Belgian Beer Blogs are reporting that the following image is to blame.

The photo clearly shows an unidentified Sasquatch type creature running naked through the hop fields of Belgium.

Unidentified Sasquatch Running Naked Through Belgian Hop Fields

And once this photo has been seen, it cannot be unseen.

Try as you might, and oh yes, you will try, but it will haunt you for the rest of your days.

“The image is burned into my retinas,” stated Fesses Velu, noted Belgian Beer Snob and Hop Farmer from Wallonia. “I can never look at a hop field the same way again, or drink a hoppy malt beverage without reliving this horror. It burns my eyes like a venereal disease. Not even the English would buy these hops now.”
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