Serafijn Pale Ale
• Belgium
This cross-cultural brew was first made at the request of an Irish musical group and was named ‘Celtic Heaven,’ but soon became a permanent part of the Serafijn lineup, and has recently been rechristened ‘Pale Ale’. Similar to a light Irish ale, but with the intriguing addition of a spicy, almost perfumed aroma that comes not from spices but from a special Belgian yeast.
The local boy, Achilles Va de Moer, is a gentle, unassuming home-brewer who has all but left his job as a music teacher to realize his dream of a self-sustaining commercial brewery. Achilles (sometimes spelled Achiel, and pronounced Ah-sheel in Flemish or French) makes simple, honest beers. All of the beers are unfiltered and unpasteurized, and will re-ferment a bit in the bottle, which of course means much more flavor, and a longer shelf-life. As with any tiny craft brewery — and this one right now makes the equivalent of only about three truck-loads of beer every year — there can be variation from batch to batch, and thank goodness for that! Though they vary some, they’re always good.