Birthday trip to Latvia

[John B]

Another outstanding set of photos and descriptions Jay! That glassware in the cabinet in the second to last photo is very eye catching. 

What a lovely place Riga is. Thanks for sharing your trip with us!   

Cheers! - John

[Viv]

Hi guys,

Great report Jay!

These craft beer bars ( like Alus especially ) really are springing
up everywhere these days, and worldwide. Along with so many micro
breweries.

Even in my home town, and in several other towns of the same size
in the area, there is a craft beer bar ( it opened about a year ago ).
They even have a few Belgians in stock although the prices are somewhat
over the top!

People have such a wider choice of beer available nowadays which is
great. Although 99% of drinkers seem to still go for Stella, Peroni,
Heineken, Carlsberg, Budweiser, etc...

It's stick or twist really. Do they go for the familiar one, or go
the other way and try to taste every beer on the planet!!!

Cheers!



Viv

   
 

[Jay]

Thanks for that guys, Riga really did exceed our expectations 

One more thing, a beer haul pic. Two suitcases maxed out to within an inch of their 20kg allowance







I've already had a couple (both fantastic) will post pics.

Cheers
Jay

[Trappist]

Wow Jay,
Now, THAT's what I call an amazing and perfect sized beer haul! Congrats Jay 
It is great that Arpus is available in Bruges through Beers at Moviefun (https://www.beersatmoviefun.be/), with massive thanks to Ward Scherpereel the owner of the great beery business. 
When I go there, I sure will buy me some of them 
Cheers,
Filip

[Jay]

Wow Filip I'm sure you'll be in for a treat with Arpus beers, every one I tried were top quality and it was the first I opened from my beer haul.

ĀRPUS - QDH Nectaron x Citra Cryo x Enigma TIPA...10% Quadruple Dry Hopped Triple IPA





Hazy milky pour with a white head...tropical mango, candied citrus, dank bitter green hops, chewy fruit pulp, pine needles....an absolute blinder 🇱🇻

Cheers
Jay 

[Trappist]

Jay,
That looks freaky amazing !!!

I also see that you bought a very appropriate Riga beer glass.
Makes tasting that wonder of Latvian brewing that even more enjoyable.
I'll pay Beers@MovieFun a visit soon. (hoping they still have them Ārpus beauties  )
Cheers,
Filip

[Trappist]

I'll pay Beers@MovieFun a visit soon. (hoping they still have them Ārpus beauties  )

Hi Jay,
To quote myself 
And yes, they had a couple of Ārpus beers on offer!
I bought them, and this is my first one...





Ārpus & Adroit Theory - Into A New Dawn QDH West Coast QIPA - 12 vol%

"For our first transatlantic collaboration we went for a bold version of a true American craft beer classic - West Coast IPA. We increased the malt bill for a bigger body and higher ABV. To balance that out, we also upped the boil hop load for style appropriate bitterness and quadrupled dryhopping rates for increased aroma, coming from Citra, Mosaic and Strata (USA) hops."

That's a cooperation between https://arpusbrewing.co/ and https://www.adroit-theory.com/
Utterly amazing stuff!!!!!!
This is a Quadrupel IPA, and wow what a beast this was!!!
Very thick in structure, and still having that creamy long lasting head at a stunning 12 vol%.
Amber/orange crystal clear, but such a density.
Nosing gives hoppy citric grapefruity perfumy aromas. => American hops.
Tasting immediately gave that deep sweetness. Yes, that's quite some sweet beer here, which ofcourse I like alot!
Especially when it is so counterbalanced with that huge citric hoppy boost. The sweetness greatly softens that hop bitterness.
What a great increase of malt bill there. Makes it that much more malty, sweet, dense, and reaching that respectable 12 vol%.
Dammit...... that is a true masterpiece folks.
Am I so happy that I bought me two cans from that beer. €5.95 for one 440ml can, but that price is more than justified.
Next will be my second beer from this outstanding Latvian brewery... Stay tuned....

Cheers,
Filip

[Jay]

Hi Filip,

I'm so happy that you've managed to sample beer from this fantastic Latvian brewery - to see you enjoying an ĀRPUS fills my heart with joy...and to think that until our trip this was an unheard of brewery.

Last night I also indulged in an ĀRPUS QIPA, you visited the West Coast with your Into A New Dawn whereas I visited the East Coast with their QDH Simcoe Cryo x Galaxy x Vic Secret QIPA...12% Quadruple dry hopped Quadruple IPA.
This was released the day before we flew out, so the can is just 2 weeks old.




Thick milky pour with a thick white head...tropical fruit purée (pineapple, mango and juicy melon) creamy bitter hops, candied citrus zest, liquid sorbet...yet again ĀRPUS smash it out the park.

Cheers
Jay 🇱🇻

[Trappist]

Jay,
Great stuff, isn't it from Ārpus.
If you come to Bruges next June, you really should pay Beers at MovieFun a beery visit.
It's located just outside Bruges' centre.
You sure will feel like a little child in a candy shop. They have so much non-Belgian beers for your likings.
Also alot of Belgian quality beers that you won't find in the centre of Bruges. A really MAGIC beer shop!
They also sell the 75cl. Stille Nacht Réserva single barrel aged beauties. But they go at €39.99, which I think is a bit pricy  BUT... they do offer them 
Cheers,
Filip

[Trappist]

Hi, here 's the other beer from Ārpus Brewing Co. that I bought me at Beers@MovieFun here in Bruges. €5.95
 
TDH Vic Secret Spectrum x Citra x Mosaic x Enigma TIPA.

A 10 vol% Triple IPA.

TDH stands for Triple Dry Hopped.







This is one of the most milky looking beers I ever had.
I wonder how they actually achieve that milkiness 
This beer doesn't need it from the head. It initailly pours with a frothy head, but that head completely disappeared after 2 minutes.
But yes, it is not a Belgian beer after all.
This beer needs it's image towards that milkiness, which frankly is quite impressive 
Nosing is a fruity explosion. Grapefruits, tangerine, oranges, citric all the way.
What a hoppy sensation folks!
OTOH, this beer is very sweet too, and makes that hop bitterness not really feeling that harsh bitter. That's exactly what I like.
Very comparable to Trappistbeer Westvleteren 12, which is a very hop bitter beer, but also sweet too. That perfect balance.
American west-coast DIPA's have that sweetness too. Essential really.
Tasting gave that dense mouth feeling. This beer is very thick on the tongue.
Every sip was a sensation of hoppiness, maltiness, and sweet counterbalance.
Due to the citric hops, it gave a dense sweet fruit juice similarity. Remarkable really, also because the look is hazy too.
But no, this is beer folks, and it contains that respectable 10 vol% of alcohol, which was easily noticed btw 

Wauw, what more can I say than that this Latvian beer is such a great masterpiece.
But be aware that this beer has been discontinued. I'm actually quite lucky to have sampled it 

Cheers,
Filip

[Jay]

Hi Filip,

Wowser...lucky you bagging a TIPA from Ārpus and an East Coast style as well, I love these creamy looking IPA's, the smoothness that they have combined with a silky mouthfeel and the sweetness to balance the citrus hops 😋

Hi, here 's the other beer from Ārpus Brewing Co. that I bought me at Beers@MovieFun here in Bruges. €5.95...

Wauw, what more can I say than that this Latvian beer is such a great masterpiece.
But be aware that this beer has been discontinued. I'm actually quite lucky to have sampled it 

Cheers,
Filip

That's not a bad price at all mate, I paid around €4.50 - €5.00 for the beers I picked up but seeing as I bought them in Latvia it makes those Belgian prices all the more reasonable (here in the UK they would be around £9...and that is if you can find them)

Also I was told by two separate people on two occasions that Ārpus are notorious for brewing a beer once, they brew a beer then release it into bottles shops and never brew it again...so like you say lucky to sample it.

Cheers
Jay