Guyism » Belgium

Piraat Beer is for more than just pirates

Colin Joliat — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:20:38 +0000

This past weekend I departed on a Caribbean cruise, so it seems only appropriate to post this week about tropical(ish) things. One of those that I’ve been meaning to write about for awhile is Piraat Triple IPA. While not technically from the Caribbean, the thought of pirates always takes my mind there.

Piraat is actual from Van Steenberge brewery in Belgium. I didn’t realize that there were many swashbucklers in the North Sea, but then again I’ve never researched such things. What I do know is that they make amazing beer over in Belgium, and this is one of the best that I’ve had.

This light ambercoloured Piraat with full foam head overwhelms with an aroma of bitter, spicy, malty and alcoholic scents. What follows is a perfect combination of malty, sweet and hopbitter tastes, after which you are drowned in a very long, semi-sweet after taste with bitter undertone.

Not surprisingly, the brewery’s description is pretty spot on. When you make a beer this good, you don’t need a spinster to weave in filler. The facts will suffice. It’s smooth and malty and feels almost creamy in the mouth. You wouldn’t know from tasting it that it’s a whopping 10.5% ABV, but it definitely packs a punch once you’re done.

Because there is a secondary fermentation in the bottle, this is a prime candidate to age. Unfortunately, I drank the only two that I had. What can I say, I’m impulsive. Beer can only last so long in my refrigerator, and I don’t have a garage in which to hide it away. I’ll have to get my hands on an aged bottle through other means.

BeerAdvocate gives it a 95, good for one of the highest year-round beers, and RateBeer gives it a 96. Van Steenberge certainly did Belgium proud with this one. Don’t skip the video; this guy is just too funny.

Congratulations to Miss Homeless Belgium

Chris Spags — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:37:20 +0000

Beauty pageants are so trite; Oh look, beautiful yet somewhat developmentally disabled women fighting for roses and some pederast singing to them. Thankfully, Belgium is spicing it up with their new pageant, Miss Homeless Belgium.

THESE pageant contestants aren’t used to the luxury of hot water or a hair dryer to help them look their best.

But they did have the motivation of winning a year’s free accommodation to spur them on during the Miss Homeless Belgium competition.

Ten women battled it out in the final over the weekend – which aimed to bring attention to the plight of the country’s homeless.

Contestants had to make it through all five parts of the pageant, including a talk where judges assessed their “will to get themselves out of a difficult situation.”

Therese Van Belle, 58, won the crown and will now be able to stay in a rent-free flat for a year

The saucy minx with the red hair and dog was named winner. Experts said her victory was a stunning upset over Crazy Lady Who Yells at You, Inexplicably Fat Homeless Woman, and the favorite, Teenage Drugged Out Whore Who Might Have Looked Decent If She Just Cleaned Up a Little, Kind of Like “She’s All That” But with 78 Percent More Meth.

[Daily Express via Buzzfeed]

Mom tries to sell her twins for cosmetic surgery

Chris Spags — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:17:24 +0000

Belgium’s got a lot of things going for it. First, they have waffles. Then, they have no laws banning selling your children to the highest bidder…it’s a real good situation, I’d say.

A mother in the Belgian tourist haven of Ghent has been accused by her estranged husband of selling her newborn twin boys for more than $13,000 to pay for cosmetic surgery.

Marc Poppe, 48, told an undercover reporter for Dutch television that Sonia Ringoir, 31, had sold the babies to a friend to fund liposuction, the fat removal procedure. He said the couple had searched the Internet to find a quick way to make money: “It was financially attractive to us. Of course we wouldn’t do it for nothing.”

Since Belgium has no law banning the sale of children, Ringoir was charged with “degrading treatment” of the twins. She was also charged with fraud after a Dutch couple alleged she had conned them by falsely offering to be a surrogate mother. If convicted, she could face between one month and five years in jail.

After spending five days in jail, Ringoir was released last Wednesday to await the results of the police investigation. She denied the allegations, claiming she gave her babies away for free last March to a friend who could not have her own child because of a weak heart.

I’m conflicted here. On the one hand, I think that if you have children and don’t want them, it’s better to give them to parents who would love them and have the means to take care of them. On the other hand, I believe unattractive women should spend as much as possible to look more aesthetically pleasing to me. Wait, so actually, I’m totally cool with her selling these kids then. I mean, her price seems a little low, but the kids might be ugly or something, so maybe that explains it. Or one of them has a flipper. Either way, this couple was probably concerned they were getting a lemon.

Adoption agencies make a fload out of selling kids, I kind of don’t get why, if it’s legal, this chick can’t do the same. So long as you’re not selling the kids to Twisty Ty the Neighborhood Abusive Pimp, it seems within reason that she should be able to sell her children just like someone else might. Especially if the children would make a delicious part of my baby stew. With 8 different spices and all the nutrients of a growing fetus, how could you possibly go wrong?

[sourcey source]