A Trip To Higgins

We were downtown yesterday to see the Rembrandt exhibit at the Art Museum and decided to swing by Higgins (http://higgins.ypguides.net/), which is about a block away, afterwards. It didn’t hurt that we had a $50 gift certificate. Higgins is one of the best restaurants in the Pacific NW (probably in the country), and one of the few restaurants that gives beer equal billing with wine. They have an extensive international list with a strong concentration in Belgian beers. As good as the main restaurant is, we opted for the Bistro (actually the bar), which has a smaller, cheaper, but equally excellent menu and is more casual. In addition to his market driven seasonal menu, owner/chef Greg Higgins also does a fair amount of charcuterie and offers an excellent charcuterie platter on the Bistro menu.

We split a charcuterie platter which consisted of five types of dry aged sausage, copa, lardo (cured pig fat), and homemade pickles. All of them were amazing, but the copa, genoa salami, and lardo were real standouts. It was all washed down with a great variety of excellent beers. First up, was a Rochefort 10, which is truly one of the world’s finest beers. It was a little cold when it was served, but as it warmed up, its aromas became more prominent. Rochefort 10 has a deep malty richness, with dark dried fruits notes of raisins, prunes and figs, and a subtle spiciness. In some bottles, I’ve gotten notes of a meaty, mushroomy type of character that blends well with the malt notes. At 11 % alcohol, it’s incredibly well balanced and finishes with a slight malt sweetness, but is incredibly dry given its alcohol content. It’s an incredibly complex beer, but a little too rich to have more than one.

For the next beer, I did a complete reverse and chose a bottle of Drie Fonteinen Oude Gueuze. It’s tough to beat great lambic, and this one is a real winner. It has a much more pronounced Brettanomyces aroma than many other lambics. The barnyard and horse blanket aromas are incredibly strong and amazingly complex. Unlike the Boon Geuze I had a few days ago, this didn’t have a strong peach and apricot component. The fruit aromas were mostly citrus with a strong lemon component, but all the fruitiness took a back seat to the rich Brett aromas. It was light and refreshing on the palate and a nice change from the rich, lingering favors of the Rochefort 10. It was also great to cut the richness of the charcuterie, particularly the lardo. It was also a nice foil to the pickles.

Since we still had a gift certificate to spend, I had one more beer and chose the Achel Golden/Triple for my final beer. I must confess I hadn’t had any of Achel’s beers prior to this. The triple is a very good beer. It was very effervescent and poured with a rich tick, long lasting head. It had rich spice and fruit aromas, although it doesn’t have the intense orange note that Westmalle Triple has (which is still my favorite triple). Te aroma seemed to lean more to spice than to fruit. This beer is 8% alcohol but the alcohol was more noticeable both in the aroma and on the palate than it was in the Rochefort. Because of its effervescence, it was very light and lively on the palate and a moderately long finish. It’s a very nice beer that I would gladly drink again, but it will never be my favorite Trappist triple.