Dreaming about Northern French ales? I am.

This is an advance warning.

I’m in the process of stockpiling various Northern French ales, some of which might fit into the Bieres de Garde designation, others not.

Among them are St. Sylvestre Gavroche, from the maker of Trois Monts; Thiriez Blonde and Thiriez Amber, the subjects of a previous musing; and Cuvee des Jonquilles (Biere de Garde de L’avesnois) from the Brasserie Bailleux.

Already in reserve are a few bottles of La Choullette de Noel and Les Sans Culottes, both about a year and a half old.

After Gravity Head gets under way, a select few are going to conduct a sampling of these ales as a prelude to devoting a special section of the bottled beer list to them.

There will have to be food. Perhaps I’ll do a cassoulet, accompanied by a table of cheeses and salamis and bread, and dream of the two times I’ve climbed the hill at Cassel for a feast of artisanal ale and farmhouse foodstuffs at the Kasteelhof café.

If you are interested, please let me know.

The photo? It's Kevin Lowber, as taken by Bob Reed aboard a train bound to Germany from Belgium in 2001. The ales were procured in Cassel. The bread required foraging while waiting for a change of trains in Brussels.