Did everyone have a nice Christmas? Mine was much better than last year and last night we went to Celebration in the Oaks in New Orleans' City Park, which was great as it always is. The carousel wasn't working, which was a bit disappointing, but other than that it was a great night.

Anyway, I'm just getting around to writing about this beer I had at Thanksgiving.



The day before Thanksgiving I went to Stein's Deli in New Orleans for the first time and picked out a few beers; the highly disappointing Pumking was one of them. A second beer from that visit to Stein's was Unibroue's Quelque Chose.

Described simply as "50% dark ale, 50% brown ale brewed with cherries" on the bottle, the Unibroue website gives a slightly better description as a "blend of a Belgian kriek ale with a brown ale brewed in Chambly". Also, it "CONTAINS ALCOHOL" (isn't that what we were expecting?) at 8% ABV.

Interestingly, Unibroue suggests serving this beer both warm and cold (obviously not at the same time). Mine started as a cold bottle but warmed as I was drinking it, but Unibroue would like you to go a step further and pour it in a mug and heat it up like hot chocolate or coffee.

The carbonation on this one is very low and the beer pours with absolutely no head to speak of. It's a deep red color with scents of cherry and spices including cinnamon. Taking a sip, it's full of sour cherry flavor from the kriek with a blend of spices and a good amount of sweetness. It's rich with a bit of alcohol in the flavor and tastes good both cold and at room temperature (I didn't go stick a mug of it in the microwave).

I didn't know this until today, but Unibroue says Quelque Chose is no longer available (it's at the very bottom of the product information page on their site). However, I do know Stein's still has a few bottles, and had I known I might have bought a couple. I did, however, buy these beers (which I can't get in Texas) from The Bruery and have never had before. Be on the lookout for these in the future!