Drink: Foret

At a long lunch at Bridgid's 10 years ago, a bottle of Brasserie Dupont's organic Foret saison was uncorked at my table.

And as we sipped glass after glass of this peppery, citrusy, earthy, irrepressibly frothy brew, the Belgian beer light blinked on in my brain and never went off. (So much for column-writing that day!)

A decade and thousands of other ales later, I reconnected last weekend with a tall bottle of Foret at the South Philadelphia Tap Room. With warm breezes blowing in the front windows and Foret's bucolic label of unicorns and butterflies before me, there could be no better sipping scenario for spring. SPTR happens to have a rare Foret on tap, interesting for comparison. But there's a yeasty musk and vivaciousness to the bottle that's irresistible - like an old friend.

- Craig LaBan
Foret, $7 for wine glass, $20 for a 750 ml bottle at South Philadelphia Tap Room, 1509 Mifflin St., 215-271-7787. Available across the street retail at Brew, $18, 1900 S. 15th St., 215-339-5177.