St. Bernardus ABT12 a cheeky wee Belgian dark beer brewed in the spirit of the Trappists, it's brewed to the same recipe as Westvleteren renowned to be the best of Belgian beers, in blind side by side trials St. Bernardus usually comes out ahead and at a fraction of the price too.
https://www.sintbernardus.be/en/brewery/our-beers/stbernardus-abt-12-en

I don't drink a lot but I do enjoy a good dark beer, my wife and I spend a bit of time going places and trying out the local beers, not for the beer's sake but as part of what makes a place what it is.

We have been touring the canals and lakes in Friesland and as part of that sampling the local food and drink, what better than sitting on the bank of a canal sipping a local brew and watching ships like this one tacking by, finding a Dokwerker on the canal side while social distancing Holland style (I'm the one with my back to the camera ) and again watching the sails as the sun goes down

When I did drink Carlsberg was my beer of choice. I liked the taste, but originally I bought it as a teen so I would know if someone was stealing my beer. Everyone drank Molson Canadian at parties.

I’d place Molson about one level above Budweiser. That doesn’t mean too much.

That beer in your photo looks absolutely marvelous. I'd love to try one some day!

Ah, Het Molenhuis in Woudsend! I used to do a lot of sailing with my friends on the Heegermeer, and Woudsend was the perfect stop for alcohol groceries. We used to get shouted at by the local population for having Gordon Gecko mullets ("Girlie hair" according to the farmers), but their accent is heavy enough to not understand half of it anyway. September is indeed a great time to visit it. Early enough in the off-season to enjoy the weather, but late enough to have the lake to yourself.

Enjoy!

You are so right there, it was quite the relaxing holiday, we are planning on going again next year and for that trip we have the boat picked out already, Otti a12.5m cruiser built in Sneek: https://brakel-yachtcharter.nl/onze-vloot/otti/

I was the only one that had any boating experience and the others wanted to take a boat out for a little cruise, so I hired a 6.25m sloop from the vakantiepark De Kuilart for the day and went out with them in the worst day of our vacation, it pissed down most of the day but we all had great fun and after the day they all wanted to do a cruise for next year, I love it when a plan comes together

My wife and I spent almost a whole day in Sneek at the Schipsvaart Museum, what a great collection of the history of Friesland, it was not just about the ships/boats it was more inclusive about the whole history of the region, with one exhibit of a skiff dating back to the middle 1100s and you could actually touch that little bit of history. With the Coronatijd maatregels the museum had to bend the rules a little to allow my wife and I to visit as their booking system does not allow for foreign visitors.
We visited Lemmer a few times the restaurant Lange Piet had very good food and sitting there watching the cruisers queue up at the traffic lights for the bridge and sluis was interesting, bow thrusters on small vessels has made things a lot easier for the would be captain

@PM the Dokwerker is a Baltic Porter rich in chocolate and coffee flavours and abv 8.5%, over the week we were there I had a few

"What alcoholic beverages is everyone enjoying this weekend?"

Slavs: "Yes".

I see you guys have Aldi as well in the UK. I'm still amazed that even Miami has Aldi store locations.

We have Aldi and Lidl Panzer. They seem to do quite well although I've never used them myself. My local Tesco is about a minutes walk from me, although I haven't been inside it since mid March. I rely on 'click and collect' and it's doubtful I will ever revert to my shopping habits pre-covid.

It is an European (German) company ... :p Having said that UK Aldis are actually quite different from German ones these days as they have adapted to suit our buying habits.

Is that Aldi Nord or Aldi Süd? You could see the difference when we went to Austria a few years ago. The two chains are from two brothers one took the north and the other took the south. Aldi in the UK is similar but not quite the same as in Belgium, while I noticed that in the UK they were taking in original brands for a while now, here in Belgium it is 99.99% Aldi's own brands. Then there is the other German chain Lidl, there is one in the next town they do stock some nice and better quality foods than Aldi, tonight to accompany the spaghetti we will be having a Chianti from Lidl, it is cheap and quite tasty, we were surprised at how good it was

EDIT:
Aldi in Belgium is from Aldi Nord and Aldi in the UK is from Aldi Süd

Trader Joe in the USA is from Aldi Nord and Aldi is from Aldi Süd

Trader Joe's is wildly popular in Florida. Their store locations in the Miami area were always packed with customers pre-pandemic.

Interesting as I would have said that here in the UK Aldi would be generally perceived as slightly above Lidl (although Lidl's latest generation stores are noticeably better than the older stores). They both have things worth buying but also those worth avoiding

Well, I quit drinking a long time ago, so my weekend drinks will be coffee, soda, and water. Trust me, a life with no alcohol will save you a lot of money and time. Having alcohol addiction isn't so fun and easy how it looks like. It was hard to quite, but I did it with the help of my family and the rehabilitation center lifeline.org.uk. The rehab center offered me the possibility to understand what alcoholism was and where the root of my alcohol issues was. So guys, don't drink too much and keep healthy your mind and body.

Well, at least thread isn't *that* old this time...


If $'s an issue, just do what I do and purchase large quantities (1.75L bottles) at Costco. Their faux "Crown Royal" and "Grey Goose" (for example) are made by the real folks but at half the price or less, with maybe a little less aging and such (the experts are almost always impressed by quality and value).

Oh, and DRINK IN MODERATION! A relaxing date night buzz (for example) is a good thing, IMO. Not necessary every, or even *most* times, but when the mood hits (been longing for homemade Margaritas lately), it's a lot of fun.

Just know that you're consuming ~100 calories a drink (1.5 oz shot, beer, glass of wine) and that you don't want to impair your...performance (if that's a consideration). Aging sucks, just gotta make the best of it. I think an occasional buzz (like once or twice a month) is actually good for you, to chill and take a mental break from your daily problems.



Yeah, addiction to anything can be a problem. Good thing I don't have my own dentist's gas dispenser, that stuff is freaking great!