Bink came to Boston last night, actually The Monk's Cell at The Publick House in Brookline. Marc Limet, brewer at Brouwerij Kerkom (Bink) in Kerkon-Sint Truiden in Belgium, plus two of his colleagues, were in the Cell along with myself and the bro, David Ciccolo (owner of The Publick House), Will Shelton of the Shelton Brothers, Jim Marcyoniak of La Resistance, and several BeerAdvocates.
According to Will Shelton, this week is the first time that Bink was served on draught in the US. In fact, we had the pleasure of tasting 4 Binks on draught: Blond, Bruin, Bloesem, and Winterkoninkske.
All of them were pouring extremely well from the Cell's kick-ass, fancy new tap system (really, it truly kicks ass), and I especially enjoyed the Bruin and Blond, but, I've gotta admit, kegged Bink is no where near as good as Bink in the bottle, which is crisper, more complex, and defined. We also tried the Bink Tripel out of a 750ml magnum. It was just okay, no frills, one-dimensional, and smelled like a "YMCA swimming pool." Not my words, but I agree 100%, and it wasn't the glassware, it was the beer-thankfully that chlorine-like aroma wasn't in the taste.
Side-note: do yourself a favor and order the Stoemp (Belgian sausage made with numerous meats w/ a mashed potato island, surrounded by a beer-based brown gravy, and topped with homemade onion rings). I paired this with a Bink Bruin and nearly geeked myself.
We also found out that Kerkom contract brews their 750ml bottles, as they don't have the capability, though we were told that Marc oversees the process. Will also mentioned that due to demand Kerkom plans to upgrade to a 12 hectoliter brewhouse, which is roughly 10 barrels- still rather small. I caught word about some experimenting with Bink Blond to make it hoppier, too.
Anyway ... another good time was had by all, and it was great meet Marc. We'll definitely be taking him up on his offer to swing by the brewery (45mins east of Brussels) during our next visit to Belgium. Besides, Will claims that it's the best place to drink beer in the world, so you know it's good.
More: brouwerijkerkom.be
Todd Founder & Chief Executive Advocate BeerAdvocate
For Pics