There are some things all the beer books, articles and TV specials in the world will never teach you. An innocent question asked on the message board touched off fabulous exchange between a Belgian national and a Brit living in Brussels, revealing a fascinating aspect of the Belgian beer culture...
Posted by Karolus on 10/30/2000 08:33:17 PM
Popquiz: What is the only way to "tap" a Bolleke...
I'm just curious to see who gets it right...
Posted by Joelle on 10/31/2000 09:55:10 AM
Isn't a Bolleke the glass that Palm is served in? I guess the answer would be by taking a sip.
Posted by Frank Fieuw on 11/02/2000 12:00:04 PM
NO NO NO, NEVER EVER switch Palm and de Koninck (bolleke). I will explain.
Palm and De Koninck are pobably the only two brands of amber beer in Belgium that have a war going on between them. It's not something the breweries wanted. Altough De Koninck can be to blame for that.
De Koninck is the BRewerie of Antwerp. They own almost all the pubs in Antwerp or have a contract with them. They forbid there pubs to sell PALM. Most people cannot taste the difference between them anyway. But most people would rather fall dead then to drink Palm if they are used to De Koninck and vice versa. Palm is the best of the two. Only three differences between the two are important.
- De Koninck does not hold his foam. Palm does.
- De Koninck is cannot be hold for a long time. Once the barrel is begun, it's important to finish it. (most of the time THAT is no problem *grin*)
- De Koninck has an aftertaste that Palm does not have. I mean, when you drink, you wil not notice it, but when you are finished, you will. When you like Palm, you hate that aftertaste, when you like De Koninck, you will miss it in Palm.
There are more differences, like smell and colour of the foam, but you have to be an expert to notice that.
There are some clubs in Belgium that devote there lives to drinking Palm. They have names like "the Palmocomandos" or "The Palmoholics". It is just for fun and they celebrate holidays like Palm Sunday and stuff.
Off course you also have devoted De Koninck drinkers and they celebrate holidays like "3 kingsday" and our Kings birthday. (De Konink is old flemisch for "The King") Maybe they should celebrate Elvis too :)
Back to the pop-quiz.
"Bolleke" is Flemmish (Antwerp Flemmish) for "little sfere" (Bol = sfere and when you put the "eke" behind it, you make it smaller)
The only way to "tap" a Bolleke is in three times. You put your "Bolleke" beneath the tap and do not touch it. Then you fill it up till the foam reaches the edge. Let the foam disapear and then tap it full again. Do this a third time, and you are finished.
The reason for tapping it in three times is to make the foam "hard" so it will stay there longer.
Frank
By the way, I hate De Koninck. It gets me a headache every time.
Posted by Mark on 11/08/2000 05:54:13 AM
Hi Frank,
I am afraid I cant let you get away with those comments without throwing in my opinion !!! In my view De Koninck is a FAR superior brew to the very bland Palm. De Koninck doesn't keep it's head ??? I guess you must be drinking in the wrong bars Frank !! I guess if you are from Antwerp you will have drank in the excellent Paters Vaetje (excuse my spelling !!) near the Cathedral ... the "bolleke" in there is always creamy and consistant. In my view there is no comparison between Palm and DeKoninck.
The full name for Palm is "Palm Speciale" ... in my (limited) experience, a Belgian Beer calling itself "Speciale" is usually quite the opposite ... Hoegaarden Speciale is another example ... a much inferior brew to its brothers Hoegaarden Witbier and Grand Cru.
Well thats what I think anyway !!!!
Cheers !! Mark.
Posted by Frank Fieuw on 11/09/2000 01:08:02 PM
You are so right, Palm and De Koninck are very different beers. The only reason why we in Antwerp are made to compare them is because of the fact that when you go to a pub in Antwerp and you ask for a Palm, they will say "We don't have Palm, but we serve Koninck"
And yes, I have been to " 't paters vaatje" and no I have no problem with you liking De Koninck better. But I have a problem when you call De Koninck superior. I'll explain.
First: De Koninck doesn't keep its foam. Thats the reason why there is a special way of "tapping" it. Remember what the topic of this discussion was?
Second: De Koninck will go bad in a very short period of time. Whenever we have a good summer in Belgium. Pubs all over belgium have to destroy there De Koninck barrels, because it went bad. That does not happen to Palm that fast.
Third: Your remark about "Speciale" is not correct. When they put "Speciale" on the label, they do not mean that it is a better kind of beer, they mean that that beer is part of the "Speciales" group of beers. Like "Abbey beer" or "White Beer". And I have to add the De Koninck is a part of the "Speciales" family.
But if you enjoy a "bolleke" please, do not let my opinion ruin your fun.
Frank
Posted by Mark on 11/09/2000 04:00:42 PM
Hi Frank,
Thanks for your info on De Koninck. As a true Antwerp man I guess you have the advantage over me as an Englishman living near Brussels !!! I was not aware of De Konincks "problems". But like you say, as long as you enjoy the beer, who cares !!!
I would only drink De Koninck if I was "on a session" with a few friends .... it is an ideal "quaffing ale" ... fairly low in alcohol and easy to drink a lot of !!! Hoegaarden is similar in this respect ... I can drink it till it comes out of my ears, but if I was having a quiet evening tasting beers, I wouldn't bother with Hoegaarden or De Koninck.
But anyway, now I am intrigued ... why does De Koninck make you sick ??? I think the world needs to know !!!
Cheers !! Mark.
For those of you who have not been around long enough to know the nature of Franks discomfort, suffice to say the world does not need to know!!
