Thursday doldrums

Definitely an off week. It's been consistently raining, the Bruins lost Game 1 in triple overtime, a couple good friends are leaving our fair city for Baltimore, and the mug club hasn't been at full strength since last week! We had a couple hours before meeting friends at People's Republic in Central and figured we'd try to pick up some momentum with a couple beers on the list.

Beer: Chimay Rouge
ABV: 7.00%
Home: Notre-Dame de Scourmont Abbey, Chimay, Belgium

It only took a minute for the bartender to remember us from "Thirty-three" last Thursday... Oh man. Making an impression. Look at this beautiful pour. Great head retention that lasted minutes! The aroma is, well, Belgian... and I don't have another word to describe it! The beer is lighter in color and mouthfeel than the blue cap from what I recall.  A hint of sweetness. The best from Chimay, in my opinion.

Beer: Einbecker Ur-Bock Dunkel
ABV: 6.50%
Home: Einbeck, Germany
Slogan: "Beer of all beers"

I was suspicious at first sight. The first few sips were... unusual. Sweet with a very distinct flavor that I couldn't put my finger on, but might have been licorice. Einbecker has three original beers (the "ur" in the name means "original"), this one being the dunkel bock. It doesn't look dark to me, though - not even close to the Julius Echter Dunkel. More like an amber. As I went on, it got tougher to drink until I could barely force down the last warm sips. Still not sure what flavors they were going for at the end, but I'm sure something got lost in translation here. Maybe it doesn't ship well. I blame the light bottle.