Dirty Duck Beer Tasting

 I went to Saturday April 20th's beer tasting curious but not with high expectations. I simply wanted to see what they came up with. I defiantly did not think of Belgian beer as bad but I had a few in the past I did not care for and in the states we only usually get a few Belgian options. More or less it was something we had not done while attending the Renaissance Faire and figured why not. We were pleasantly surprised.

We got to the Dirty Duck a little early and claimed or table. While you are still sitting outside, you do have umbrella to shade you and your food and drink from the sun. Our $25 got us 6 samples, some snacks and water to cleanse the palette and a Scarborough pint glass to take home.  

The beer tasting takes place each day of Scarborough’s run and is led by Hugh O’Neil who is also a brewer at Deep Ellum Brewery. You can tell Hugh is knowledgeable and passionate about his beer. He was to introduce new beer drinker to the finer points and help the rest of us discover some new things.  Each week features a different region or theme and they are try to give some general information on beer and the brewing process.

As with any typical beer or wine tasting we start with the more mild options and work our way to the bolder flavors. There is also a bucket available to clean your glasses or to empty out the unwanted samples. I had expected all the standard Belgian options: Stella Artois, Stella Cidre, Hoegardden and Chimay. Hugh surprised me with none of those. I had only taste one of the 6 offerings before and I found to new favorite beers.

We started with the Saison Dupont farmhouse ale with citrus and pepper notes. This saison was only slightly acidic and more fruity and spicy. Next was the Westmalle Tripel, a Trappist Abbel Tripel. It had fruit flavors of banana and citrus with a hint of pepper and floral hops. The Rodenbach Grand Cru flanders red ale was the only one I tasted before and did not like. It is a blend of young and barrel aged beer with sour fruity flavors and vanilla. The sour bitterness is reminiscent  of balsamic vinegar. The next three were much more pleasant. I generally like lambics but prefer them blended because they tend to be sweet. My new favorite lambic is Liefman’s Cuvee Brut. The men at the table who don’t normally like lambics enjoy it. The cherry aroma was strong but the flavor also had hints of vanilla and light woody flavors. The Belgian Dark Strong ale was also a favorite with dark fruits like cherries, raisins, fig and prune.  We finished things off with the Rockfort Trappist 10, a Trappist Quadrupel., dark malty sweet beer with a slight chocolate taste.

All in all what started as a “why not” drinking event taught me about a new region of beer and helped me discover a few new favorites.  I highly recommend if interested, get tickets ahead online because tastings sell out fast.  If you’re going to visit Scarborough take a break to taste some beers.