2013 Belgian GP - Spa

[AnthonyG]

Best beer and race in the world I need to go stock up on some belgian beer for the race, now that I think of it... Any favorites? Westmalle tripple and st benardus 12 are a few of mine.

Trippel Karamelliet.

Best beer and race in the world I need to go stock up on some belgian beer for the race, now that I think of it... Any favorites? Westmalle tripple and st benardus 12 are a few of mine.

It is hard to come by, you need to make a reservation and pick it up yourself at the monestary, but Wesvletere beer is by far the best beer.

Meh, rare, yes, the best – no, it's even fairly mediocre by belgian standards, just overrated because of the rarity. Rochefort 10 is actually the one that typically comes out as being "the best".

I'm not a big fan of Trippel Karmeliet (however many people are).

Rochefort 10 was created by the same monk that brewed Westvleteren, he also did Sint-Bernardus, the Chimay blue (my absolute favorite Trappist) and I'm not sure, but he also did Orval and Achelse kluis.
Orval being too "herby" for me and the Achelse kluis not bad, but still only a simpler version of the Rochefort 10.

Beers I like to drink often are
*Chimay blue
*Maes
*Duvel (best lager in the world, period)
*Delerium Tremens
*Celis White (a better version of Hoegaarden, hard to come by)
*Rodenbach
*Ciney
*LaChouffe (brewery isn't that far from Spa I think)
*Kriek Liefmans (fruity cherry beer, hard to come by)


And a little tip: never empty the full bottle in your glass, always leave the bit with residu in the bottle; it changes the taste of your beer completly. (more bitter)

Sorry for the off-topic

[beelsebob]

Rochefort 10 was created by the same monk that brewed Westvleteren, he also did Sint-Bernardus, the Chimay blue (my absolute favorite Trappist) and I'm not sure, but he also did Orval and Achelse kluis.
Orval being too "herby" for me and the Achelse kluis not bad, but still only a simpler version of the Rochefort 10.

Yep, many of them are, Belgian brewing is a surprisingly recent thing – last couple of hundred years. Also, Orval lives up to it's name – it's Awful.

Beers I like to drink often are
*Chimay blue

Good choice – The white is also pretty damn good, not a fan of the red so much.

*Maes
*Duvel (best lager in the world, period)

Not a fan of either, but I'm not a fan of Lager.

*Delerium Tremens

A very good choice – and that actually makes me surprised you don't like triple karmeliet, they're both very malty saaz based triples.

*Celis White (a better version of Hoegaarden, hard to come by)

If I feel like a white beer I tend to have Grimergen White.

*Rodenbach
*Ciney

Now on my list of to try

*LaChouffe (brewery isn't that far from Spa I think)

I'm not a huge fan.

*Kriek Liefmans (fruity cherry beer, hard to come by)

Blech, it's like drinking overly sweet cherry coke.

And a little tip: never empty the full bottle in your glass, always leave the bit with residu in the bottle; it changes the taste of your beer completly. (more bitter)

Depends on the beer. The reason you don't want to do this with some beers is because they're "bottle conditioned". Meaning that they put the beer into the bottle before all of the yeast is dead, add a little syrup to feed the yeast, and let the carbon it produces pressurise the beer and make it fizzy. Other beers meanwhile, they let the yeast all die, and then manually carbonate the beer (effectively with an industrial soda stream). When the beer is bottle conditioned, the yeast eats the sugar, and then dies and flocculates. What remains settles at the bottom of the bottle. You very much don't want to pour that yeast into your glass (it's bitter, and can actually give you a yeast infection), so yeh, with those beers, let the bottle stand upright for a few days before pouring, pour in one smooth motion (not tipping back and forwards), and leave the last little bit in the bottle.

[Richard]

No Black Sheep?



... only 36 hours to go and we can get back on topic.

[Racer X]

No Black Sheep?



... only 36 hours to go and we can get back on topic.

Well Jenson was pretty happy about the MP4-28 recently and were going into Spa where we saw him win last year. So I say if maybe Button but lets wait and see. Ide love to see McLaren back in form

[Ozan]

weather forecasts from 3-4 different web-sites predicting a possible 18c max. that should be the Merc playground then. but still, how predictable these forecasts are unknown.

[raymondu999]

Also, may I ask as, a general question to everybody, what their preference is on the weekend's weather? I would like a wet practice, showery qualifying and showery race ideally, any other thoughts?

I'd like an all-dry Friday and Saturday, with an all-wet Sunday.

[dave34m]

For best beers, if I had the opportunity this year I'd be happy with a Jupiler for only Euro 1.10 a bottle at The Bertrand Cafe in Ster. Hopefully Gaston is still there perched at his bar having a drink or 2. Its a great little cafe which i like even better outside of GP week. I haven't been since 2011 and would love to visit again.

[RB7ate9]

No Black Sheep?



... only 36 hours to go and we can get back on topic.

I don't know if Sauber has brought any updates, but I would like to see if the high speeds of Spa and Monza are beneficial to their slim sidepods. Don't think they'll win, but mid-top-10 would be great. Podium greater. 1st? Well...

[raymondu999]

No Black Sheep?



... only 36 hours to go and we can get back on topic.

I don't know if Sauber has brought any updates, but I would like to see if the high speeds of Spa and Monza are beneficial to their slim sidepods. Don't think they'll win, but mid-top-10 would be great. Podium greater. 1st? Well...

Maybe Sauber brought some beer?

[Hail22]

Italian:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rarfj51arfk[/youtube]

English:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVeL2EhpAto[/youtube]

Fernando Alonso Simulator walk through SPA:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRbiVQwK958[/youtube]

[beelsebob]

Thought you could predict the weather in this area this far in advance? Think again.



The forecast for friday might be reasonably accurateish by now. Saturday and Sunday are probably still pot luck.

[SectorOne]

Czech beer is where it´s at clearly

[smr]

you can't predict the weather in Spa the day before in all honesty.

[godlameroso]

Wet P1 dry P2 Friday, drying track on Saturday for qualifying, but unfortunately it most likely will not rain Sunday if it does it will be light, and not enough to warrant inters.

[smr]

When I went to the race in 2011 I noticed how erratic the weather was around the Ardennes forest region, I'd say it's near enough impossible to say whether there will be light or heavy rain or none at all on Sunday just yet.