Well, it’s that tough time of year for dark beer lovers. The invasion of the white ales has begun. Those super-sweet, high ABV beers, usually just called Belgians, have begun to arrive at local breweries.

The Professor Emeritus and I were hanging out at La Cumbre on Thursday afternoon when the first arrived. The Professor had just downed a pint of Noche de Paz, the LC brown/red hybrid beer that goes well through the winter months. It turned out to be the last pint of NDP served, as the staff erased it from the wall menu and replaced it with a “Dubbel Entendre.” Neither the Professor nor I are big Belgian fans, so we will have to wait until E-Rock (who will drink anything) stops by La Cumbre to offer up a review on this new style. The odds are, though, that since it is a La Cumbre beer, it will be a solid offering for that genre.

As an aside, I did have another pint of Malpais Stout, with this one tasting much more like the thick, strong stout I remembered, not the weaker version we had at the Super Bowl Battle of the Stouts. It was good to taste the proper version of this burly beer, which thankfully is available year-round for dark beer lovers to enjoy at La Cumbre.

Anyway, several hours later E-Rock and I stopped by Tractor to close out the evening. E-Rock enjoyed the Red Trekker Belgian, the first in a promised series of Belgian-style beers coming out this spring. “It was more subtle than your average Belgian white,” E-Rock said. That certainly fits with Tractor’s emphasis on drinkability over hoppiness. (No word on the Milk Stout’s ETA at Tractor, I should add)

So in addition to watching the Lobo baseball team open its season this weekend against Nevada at Isotopes Park (1 p.m. starts Saturday and Sunday) and watching the Lobo men’s basketball team battle UNLV at The Pit Saturday, go out and enjoy a pint or two of the new Belgians and a pint or two of some old favorites.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister