Big Little Brother

Shared a little Bourbon Little Brother with my little brother.

The Commons Brewery specializes in Belgian style ales with a farmhouse edge. It started in a garage making some really inventive beers. The base beer, Little Brother, is a Belgian dark ale, but it wasn’t dark enough for me. I like my Quadrupels to be super fruity — I want cherries and plums, but Little Brother seems to just add brown sugar. But the bourbon is nice. It’s a warm beer with a whopping ten percent alcohol by volume — you can feel it in your throat. 

Bruges is a great beer city. Every restaurant and bar serves a full selection of great Belgian brews. I started the evening with Indian food and a Duvel. It’s a pale Belgian ale with a great spiciness. It’s dry and tingly with a peppery hop finish. I followed that up with a Gouden Carolus Classic which was darker and figgy. Sarah said she got a hint of hazelnut. There is definitely a little nutty flavor with a lingering molasses flavor. We couldn’t get a table in the big beer bars, so we headed out of the main bar squares to a tiny, dark bar blasting 80’s music and drank Abby beers feet from a pinball machine. My Rochefort 10 was served super cold, but while it warmed up I sampled the St. Bernadus Tripel Bobby ordered. It was decent, I’m not crazy about tripel, but it was pretty good. It was a little bit floral but super dry with a floral nose. Kathleen hated the Gulden Draak, too sweet? There was definitely a hint of something savory. My Rochefort ten never really warmed up completely but it was delicious. Sweet and dry. Roasted and fruity. There was a ton of potential in that glass, definitely unique.