Every month, Belgibeer features a different craft brewery, sending freshly brewed beers together with glassware, beers mats, stickers, posters and anything available on site.
The box arrived very well packed, with each individual bottle bubble-wrapped and in cardboard sleeves to avoid breakage.
September’s Belgibeer box features Fort Lapin, a young brewery founded in 2011 and named after an old fortress once located near Bruges. All the beers are brewed soley by founder Kristof Vanderbussche, a former heating engineer. He runs his brewing operation in a former chocolate factory using equipment made by himself and powered with solar ponds rather than electricity. Very impressive, indeed!
TIP: This box ships to Europe. If you’re looking for a US beer club, try checking out all the beer subscriptions!
Here is everything in this month’s box: 2 bottles each of Blanche of Fort Lapin, Fort Lapin Tripel, Fort Lapin Rouge and Fort Lapin Kriek, as well as a Fort Lapin glass, 4 Belgibeer stickers and a copy of the Beligibeer magazine Golden Hops.
The beer glass was packed in an attractive sturdy box. This is definitely a step up from previous months when glasses were simply packed in bubble wrap.
I love the seeminly simple logo for this brewery, with the rabbit ears on the ‘O’ offering a cute little nod to the namesake.
You can never have enough Belgibeer stickers…
This month’s edition of Golden Hops features an interview with the brewer, a link to a recipe for zucchini flower tempura to pair with the Tripel, and some information on Belgian hop growers, all set amongst lovely glossy photos.
Blanche of Fort Lapin (5% abv) is a fruity blonde beer. It is a murky, pale gold colour with generous foam. The aroma is lemony and floral, with hints of coriander and cumin. The touch of lemon and spice, with a little bit of bitterness, makes this a mild and refreshing beer.
Fort Lapin Tripel (8% abv) is an abbey style beer and the first beer ever created by the brewery back in 2012. This beer is pale gold and slightly hazy with a creamy foam and malty aroma. It has a hoppy taste and slight bitterness to start, finishing with notes of green apple and malts. It is 22 IBU and, to me, is milder than your average tripel. I quite liked the subtle flavours and the hint of fruit in this very drinkable beer.
Fort Lapin Rouge (6% abv) is a red amber beer which gets its colour from hibiscus flower used in the brewing. The description says it is clear but my beer was decidedly hazy, with a cream coloured foam. It has a spicy and floral aroma and tastes just a bit sour, very spicy with strong floral notes and potpourri flavours finishing on the bitter side. This is a pleasant and refreshing beer, but the flavours sound more exciting than they taste.
I was so happy to see a kriek style beer in the box, as I haven’t received one in the past several Belgibeer boxes and it’s one of my favourite brews. Kriek is a lambic fermented with sour cherries. Fort Lapin Kriek (5% abv) adds frozen, unpitted cherries after the fermentation in the same process as dry hopping, to give a stronger cherry taste with less almond flavour. The beer is a pretty, hazy red colour with a light frothy pink head and sour cherry aroma. The taste is light, a tiny bit sour and very refreshing, with a little sweetness in the finish. This is a nice and very refreshing beer, particularly for people who like their kriek on the less sour side. Personally, I would prefer it to be more sour!
I enjoyed all of the Fort Lapin beers quite a bit. I’m a sucker for a kriek, so that was probably my favourite, but I also really enjoyed the subtle strength and drinkability of the tripel. All in all, September’s box was another win for Belgibeer.
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