Paris, a tramps heaven?

After leaving Brugge we caught a high speed Thalys train to Paris. This trip was quick and uneventful, but provided me with an opportunity to make faces at a small child across the carriage.
When I was in Paris last year with my parents we failed to find any really interesting beer. I can report that this trip was no different! I popped into a small independent supermarket off Boulevade de Grenelle and was astounded to see that it catered to tramps more than my local off-licence 7-Up does. Every beer in the fridge was tramp juice ranging from 7.5% to 13% abv. Even faux Mexican style lager Desperados was weighing in somewhere near 7% abv. I did manage to come across one interesting beer however - Affligem dubbel (6.8% abv). The Affligem brewery produce abbey beers and have three in their range. I managed to have the dubbel, which was slightly sweet, but most agreeable. You can find out more about them at their website: http://www.affligembeer.be/
I also managed to track down the usual suspects such as 1664, and Amstel but you don't really need to hear about those. What was even stranger about our trip was that it snowed non-stop while we were there. Bizarre
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NB. The picture above is of a tramp called Paris, rather than a tramp from Paris. It was the best I could do. Actually the picture below is of a tramp in Paris - much better.
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Amstel Biere 3

Recently while in Paris I ducked into a Cafe to escape the rain. I ordered a Biere Petite and was promptly served with an Amstel. Surpirisingly the beer tasted different to how it does in London. It had a more refined taste and was a lot less carbonated - I actually really enjoyed it!
I won't harp on too much as I have had this beer a couple of times this year.
1. Amstel
2. Amstel 2

Grimbergen Blonde

Grimbergen is the brand of a number of Beligian abbey beers.The brand stems back to the town of Grimbergen where beer was first brewed in 1128 at the abbey built for St Norbert of Xanten.
I stumbled upon Grimbergen Blonde (6.7% abv) in a sidewalk cafe on the Boulevade Grenelle, Paris not far from the Eiffel tower.
The beer is similar to other mass produced abbey beers such as Leffe blonde although it contains more of a burnt sugar element and is slightly darker in colour. The usual taste of coriander is present in abundance and works well with the lingering bitter aftertaste. More concerning though is that it was served up in a pint glass! Luckily I had not had anything else to drink, as pints of double strengh Belgian beer is usually a recipe for me to fall asleep. I have seen the rest of the range in Tesco, so I may pick up a few bottles for comparison in the future. Website: www.grimbergenbier.be

Blanche de Bruges

My parents are currently visiting me having travelled all the way from Sydney, Asutralia. In atttempting to be the good son, I decided to take them for a weekend city break to Paris. Now my beer related experiences in Paris thus far have been far from interesting, mainly revolving around staple lagers such Kronenbourg and Stella with the odd Belgian thrown in for a bit of variety. And that brings me to the subject of this post - Blanche de Bruges (5.0% abv) which falls into the Belgian category.
Blanche de Bruges is brewed by the Bruges based Brouwerij de Gouden Boom and is a hazy yellow Witbier or 'White beer' styled ale. The beer has a dominant orange flavour which is common to the style, however I failed to detect any coriander flavours which are also common with the style. Over all the beer was refreshing and pleasant to drink. Website: http://www.degoudenboom.com