Shelton Brothers Imports (partial list)

Huge, copper-colored, bottle-conditioned ale, still hot off the presses, Achel Trappist Extra is the latest from the tiny brewery at the St. Benedictus Abbey at Achel, in the Northeast of Belgium. At this year's World Beer Championships in Chicago, the Extra was easily the best of the many Trappist beers tasted, scoring 97 points and an "Exceptional" rating. You will find this a very satisfying beer, with just a little malt sweetness, dried fruit flavors, warm sherry notes, and a brisk balancing backdrop of fresh hop bitterness.

This blond, flavorful beer is a surprisingly refreshing brew at 8% alcohol by volume. It is lightly filtered, but still wholesomely hazy with yeast remaining in the bottle. For the moment, it shares the same label with the Achel Bruin beer, but can be differentiated by the cap - the Blonde has a white cap and the Bruin a gold cap.

Lambic fermented with Italian Muscat grapes - a World Classic according to all the experts. A wine-lovers' beer!

Whole fresh raspberries are fermented in oak casks of Belgium's classic beer - beer fermented by wild yeasts borne on the open air. Very dry, tart, and fruity, but also funky and complex, as a natural lambic should be. This is the real thing - definitely not one of those artificially sweetened soda-pop beers.

In late summer, whole cherries (of the Schaerbeek variety, as tradition dictates) are poured, pits and all, into casks of lambic that have aged for a year and a half - two summers, according to the lambic brewer's calendar. The fruit dissolves and ferments in the cask for four to five months. In that time, even the pits begin to dissolve, lending a slight nutty flavor to the lambic in the cask. The cherry-flavored lambic is blended with old and new lambic to make beer with a strong, sour cherry flavor and bright red color.

A fantastic Christmas beer, but one that defies the universal custom of a stronger, spicier beer for the holiday season. At 7% alcohol by volume, this one is relatively lighter in alcohol than the Guldenberg, and does not pack the hop punch of the XX. It combines some of the best elements of those other two beers - with a fine balance of malt and hops, complex character, a refreshing dryness, and a gorgeous cellar aroma - but is distinguished by its festive copper color.

Light, fruity and champagne-like. Fantôme brews special seasonal beers, never repeating a recipe from year to year. This one is for spring . . .

Another seasonal, tart, rich, amber brew.

A Belgian saison beer brewed with cocoa powder and chili pepper? Ay, caramba! Score another one for the unpredictable brewery that was the first -- and so far, the only -- to make ales out of dandelions and mushrooms, among other things.

Last year's was everyone's favorite Fantôme seasonal.

Produced with three French barley malts and three varieties of the most aromatic hops from Alsace, this unpasteurized beer has a rich amber glow, a dense head, a fabulous floral nose, with hints of caramel in the palate. At 6.8% alcohol, it is considerably stronger than the usual beers in Duyck's portfolio.

With a maltier and more rugged taste than classic beers, Jenlain is best drunk at between 6 and 8°C. It's generous taste lingers pleasantly in the mouth while its malty, autumnal bouquet, floral note and hints of caramel, stewed prunes and lightly toasted malt make it an ideal ingredient in many dishes. It was awarded the "Diploma of Merit and National Prestige" in 1993 by the Comitè de France and the Comitè du Bon Goût Français, and recently won a Bronze Metal at the 2004 Agricultural Show.

A rich brown ale inspired by the enigmatic monastic brews of Belgium, and the mysterious mist shrouded jungles of the tropics. Brewed with real cacao, and spiced with cinnamon and sweet orange peel for a sensual delight. A brew to be sipped, savored, and enjoyed!

An artisan pale ale brewed in the Grand Cru tradition. Enjoy its golden effervescence and gentle hop aroma. Coriander and Grains of Paradise round out the spicy palate, melting o so softly into a silken finish of hoppiness and bliss! Make any season a celebration!

To catch a bit of soft radiance in each bottle, we wait for fall colors to begin their bright and fleeting glow before brewing this wonderful ale under their autumn fire. Gentle amber malt blend smooth caramel notes, gently lapping against a shore of distant forgotten spice. A beer to sip, contemplate and enjoy.

A sustaining beer that is brewed to comfort in the gusty ides of March and welcome in a wealth of warmer weather.

De Ranke Kriek is simply splendid - a very dry, very fruity beer, radiantly ruby-colored, with only a hint of sweetness; wonderfully aromatic, with full fruity notes, deep earthy tones. It is perfectly refreshing, yet possesses depth and complexity to please the most discriminating connoisseur of Belgian beers. Beautiful, poised, and sophisticated, this may well be Belgium's greatest Kriek. It is certainly the rarest. About 1500 bottles are made per year. You will savor every precious drop.

Some years ago, La Choulette brewer Alain Dhaussy thought to take his already famous amber bière de garde and add pure raspberry juice. The resulting reddish-brown framboise captivated beer-lovers from the start. It is dry, only a little bit sweet, and redolent with fresh raspberries, offset by a light roasty malt character and accented by a classic bière de garde yeast that lends a spicy, almost perfumed note.

In two recent blind tastings, German beer drinkers picked Kulmbacher as the best Pils in Germany. Soon thereafter, a panel of beer journalists bypassed local favorites (Beck's and St. Paulie Girl) and voted Kulmbacher #1 in a tasting sponsored by the newspaper "Die Zeit" in Hamburg. Then, at a third blind tasting of leading Pilsners by students at the University of Bamberg (Germany's best-educated and most-sophisticated beer town) - Kulmbacher came out on top again.

This is an incredibly round-flavored and full dimensional Weisse, with a surprisingly low a.b.v. - only 4.9%. The very best ingredients, and the brewery's refusal to pasteurize or filter the beer, make all the difference. Other breweries filter out the yeast from their hefe-weizens, and then "re-seed" them with inactive yeasts - usually a different yeast from the one that fermented the beer. (Some of the larger breweries are reportedly re-seeding with corn starch!) The integrity and dedication to authenticity of the Mahr's brewers guarantees the highest quality and flavor in Germany.

Mahr's Bock is different from some more commercial bocks in Germany. It's a little sweet, of course, and strong, but unlike the rest of them, it is only lightly filtered, and unpasteurized. That means a lot more flavor, with nuance and complexity that you have never experienced in a Bock before, as well as a warm, almost rough texture that is wholesome and gratifying. At the same time, it is shockingly pale and light on the pallet, with a lovely fresh malt flavor, refreshing enough to drink even in summer (if you're in the mood for something a little more substantial).

Coming in November 2005, another masterpiece from Peter Scholey at Ridgeway Brewing. Seriously Bad Elf is Peter's very English interpretation of a Belgian Tripel, brewed to warming 9% alcohol, especially for his rapidly-growing American following. Seriously, you don't want to miss this beer.

Looking forward to a depressing holiday? Here is liquid consolation. This 8% bittersweet chocolate stout is the best you could hope for in these dark times. Actually, come to think of it, considering how bad you've been, this little coal-black gem is more than you deserve for Christmas this year.

This classic English Bitter is the first beer to bear the name Ridgeway, and it is a proud flagship indeed: a perfect example of what the Brits call a 'session ale' - the kind of beer you can sit with and enjoy endlessly as the hours roll by at the pub. In the south of England, they call their prized ale 'Bitter' because, when it first appeared, it was distinguished by a crisp, refreshing hop bitterness. A good bitter is superbly drinkable, full of flavor, but light in body and not so high in alcohol. Ridgeway Bitter is in this great tradition, but it is also entirely unique.

Spicy, rustic, refreshingly hoppy, a little wild and funky with a dry finish. Athene is hand crafted with attention to the Art of Brewing using only the finest ingredients. Unfiltered and bottle conditioned, Athene can be cellared like a fine wine. The flavor and aroma will continue to develop and change for several years, but why wait? Take one to enjoy now and another to save for a special occasion.

Mon Dieu, that's good! This is one rich and très hoppy golden ale. In France, this beer is called Les Frères de la Bière. We thought that that was a bit much for Americans to get their tongues around, and the brewer agreed with us that it wasn't such a good name, anyway. But there is a meaning to Les Frères de la Bière.