Cyclists can (and usually do) go on for hours as to why they ride their bikes, and most of their reasons can sound, well, a bit flakey to anyone not enamored with shaved legs and being done up in lycra. “I do it to keep fit”, “It keeps me slim”, “I’m a competitor, I love to race”, “It’s the freedom it gives me, an escape from the day to day”. Ok, maybe a few of those are somewhat justifible, but we all know why we really ride; so we can drink beer. And if you are tutting and pffting at that statement, then you probably don’t belong here. Cycling and beer are kindred spirits, inseperable, like Moore and Cook, Hall and Oates, Fränk and Andy, Gunderson and lying.
You need look no further for proof than Belgium. It’s where both beer and cycling were invented (I don’t know if that’s actually true, but the Belgians do both better than most so I’m running with it). Any Cyclist or beer drinker worth their malt will always look to Belgium for the very best of their craft. We’re talking Merckx, Duvel, Van Looy, Leffe, Boonen, Chimay, Museeuw and Malteni. Try and tell me any of those names don’t conjur up greatness.
Malteni, you ask? Why yes… this has to be one of my favourite Belgian beers, and not only because there is an almost endless supply of it catered for on Keepers Tour. You could offer me all the Budweiser at the ToC or Vic Bitter at the TDU that I could drink, and I’d probably choose to go dry. But at the end of a day of being pummeled by pavé or crushed by kasseien and bergs, a cold Malteni is the proverbial icing on the cobbled cake. Got a long day of spectating ahead on the Oude Kwaremont? A backpack full of the malted goodness will keep you in fine fettle and make the frites even tastier. We tested it on real live Flandrians and all were suitably impressed (then suitably disappointed when we refused a chaser). The kicker? Its gluten-free, which means it will make you live longer the more of it you drink. And there’s no hangover. Believe me, we tried.
As cycling isn’t about just riding, beer isn’t about just drinking (or drinking to get drunk, a concept largely lost on anyone swilling Bud, VB or Tui). It is about the senses; the effects we get from both riding a finely tuned bicycle and imbibing a quality ale are quite similar. Bikes and beer both look good, they smell good, and they provide us a cerebral and physical euphoria that at once relaxes and stimulates us. Enjoying both activities, in tandem, in the motherland is like reaching the cyclists’ nirvana. Yes, I’m looking forward to meeting up with old and new friends and riding the storied roads of the Monuments with The Lion this April, but if there were no Malteni at the end of each day, then the Belgian experience just wouldn’t be completely and genuinely Belgian.
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/frank@velominati.com/Malteni/”/]
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
I haven't tried the Malteni yet but I can see a cross channel trip being arranged very shortly..!
@seemunkee
You may have to go to Belgium to find it. WIlliam and Alex drink so much of it they don't have enough to export, yet. Rumors of overpriced chain Whole Foods carrying it in the US because of the gluten-free angle. It would taste better in Belgium anyway.
Where can you buy this nectar in the U.S.?
@Gianni
Gluten free and good beer are usually mutually exclusive. I'm guessing that they can't market it here as such because they use barley and use a process to remove gluten. All the truly gluten free beers I've seen here in the states are made with sorghum.
Another well timed post. I was about to neck a Miller or two after my commute home. A stiff northerly head wind and dropping temperature had me thinking I deserved more than an espresso. Now I've got to get back across to Belgium to try the Malteni, it must have been to only one I didn't try there. No hangover? I like the idea of that being such a lightweight. I've blamed the cycling for that, clearly I have the proportions of each all wrong.
Another nice review of it here
http://www.the5thfloor.co.uk/2013/01/15/review-malteni-beer/
@Babbs. Fancy setting yourself up as UK distributor?
@seemunkee
We got to hang out at the brewery last year. It's not a big place so I just don't think they have the volume to export too much. It is definitely good old ale made with malted barley but somehow they are removing the gluten by cross-flow filtration or some other magic. As far as I know they have a corner on the process and could make a killing in the US by taking advantage of every panty-waist here who is concerned about their gluten intake yet needs good beer. Sorghum, faaack, that must be some weak horrible shiet.
So is it appropriate to follow an interval laden, senses numbing, gut twisting, monotonously boring, sweat puddling, headset rusting, indoor trainer session, with a Rochefort? Or should the achieved level of ride satisfaction be equal to the quality of your selection.
Indoor training- Coors Light?
Ummm, Coopers at the TDU thank you very much. VB is made almost 1000km away.
@salsiccione
There is never an acceptable justification for drinking Coors Light.
It would be Coopers at the TDU, not VB. VB is made a long way away from Adelaide and is terrible. Coopers is significantly better.