March 5, 2000 -- The day had already been a success by the time I hit Monk's Cafe in Philadelphia. I had attended a most enjoyable beer tasting at the University of Philadelphia Museum (returning to the scene of the previous night's dinner; see http://www.worldofbeer.com/brightbeer/roast2.html for details); enjoyed beers at the excellent Philly beer bar, The Standard Tap, the oddly pastel-hued Poor Henry's bar at the Ortlieb brewery, and the funky hole-in-the-wall bar, The 700, all located within about a two block radius; and partaken of a salty but delicious Choucroute in the company of famed food writer Patricia Wells at the Dock Street Brasserie (née brewery).

But then I step into Monk's for a late night sip, and owner/beer obsessive Tom Peters proceeds to place before me nine -- yes, nine! -- glasses of different Cantillon lambics. All from the tap!

Now, traditionally, the only lambic you will find on draught in Belgium is the straight, unblended stuff. But such is Peters' influence with Jean-Pierre Van Roy, owner of Cantillon, and Dan Shelton, importer of Cantillon beers into the States, that he managed to convince the duo to bring these eclectic brews into Philadelphia for a Book and the Cook lambic dinner with Michael Jackson. I just happened to get to the Cafe as he was tapping them.

The beers in order of tasting: straight lambic; Vigneronne; Rose de Gambrinus; Gueuze; Framboise; Apricot; Kriek; Grand Cru (aged straight lambic); and Iris (all malt lambic). Not having the best of palates at that late hour, I muddled my way through them and composed the following observations.

The Rose was the stand-out, a fresh, crisp and frankly fabulous beer. It and the Apricot were simply described in my notes as "stunning." Both the Iris and the Vigneronne, I felt suffered from the draught treatment, losing some character and receiving in return a somewhat muddied taste profile. The Framboise, a beer Van Roy told me two years ago that he would not make, had a spectacular, raspberry bush nose but was actually a little too fruity on the palate. (Most people know the Rose as Cantillon's framboise, but that beer does contain a portion of cherries as well as raspberries.) Like most if not all beers of its style, the lambic suffered from being so far from home, but the Grand Cru made up for its little brother's deficiencies by presenting the barnyardy character of a straight lambic in full flower. The Kriek echoed the Framboise's fruity nose but was more balanced in the body, and the Gueuze showed all of Cantillon's typical graceful aggression, humbled only by the presence of so many other fabulous lambics.

All in all, a wonderful way to end an evening.

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