I love when I can find ways to add more enjoyment to some that already brings a lot of joy. Affligem Blond is one of those beers that sits in a nice middle-ground. It is highly drinkable and very smooth but at the same time hearty enough to satisfy my bigger beer cravings.
So how did I find more joy you ask? With this:
The Affligem pouring tray forces you to ask a very simple question…to yeast or not to yeast? You see Affligem contains a certain amount of yeast in the bottom of the bottle that is used in the brewing process. Since this can drastically alter the taste of any beer, the brewery is on the hunt to find out what the beer drinking public does with their sediment. This video explains the exact process for extracting the golden goodness.
A simple guideline I noticed was to pour the beer (not head-beer) to just above the bottom of the letters on the chalice. (You don’t have an Affligem chalice…shame on you get one.) It’s pretty obvious from this picture the difference in the two liquids.
The one on the left is a nice dark amber color while the one on the right is-well-yeasty. So now the big question, what to do with it. First taste was the beer itself and as always it was great. Next was the yeast by itself and honestly it has a very earthy flavor, I didn’t think it would be as good as it was. So now with two glasses of beer that I like, the only logical conclusion is to mix the two. The chalice of Affligem took on a cloudier appearance but overall it tasted great.
Now I understand tastes vary but I think if you take the time to break a beer down like this, it can only heighten the experience of drinking it. I’ve had many beers over the years with yeast in the bottom but it never occurred to me to separate them to enjoy the different levels of flavor in the bottle.
Final verdict for my taste – Add the yeast (but try it first).
As a side note I do have one improvement I’d like to make to the pouring tray. In the pictures above you may have noticed a hole on the left side that really seems sorta lonely. I mean the other holes get beer and really nice glassware. Being the kindhearted person that I am, I decided to find a use for it. What’s could be better than sampling one bottle of Affligem Blond…that’s right, two bottles of Affligem Blond. A little whiddling and I’ll have a nice second compartment to store a companion beer so the first one doesn’t get lonely.
