Beer City: 's-Hertogenbosch

City: 's-Hertogenbosch
Country: The Netherlands


's-Hertogenbosch, also known as Den Bosch (or Duketown in english), is the capital of the Dutch province of Brabant. It is a charming medieval style city famous for its annual carnaval, culture, the painter Hieronymous Bosch, bossche bollen (cream filled chocolate pastries), cathedral and binnendieze (river running through and underneath the city).

What the city is not known for however is its craft beer scene, while it should be!

Oh yeah, and its also my hometown... so no subjectivity here.

's-Hertogenbosch, 'de Parade' square (Source: Den Bosch)

The following is a list of what I consider to be the best craft beer spots in my hometown, there are a lot more great places to enjoy craft but I had to make some sort of selection. They are not in any particular order of personal preference, they are however listed in the most logical order if you are entering the city from the central train station, just in case you want to visit them all in one day....

So lets just call it the Discovery of Beer Trail!

Last Sunday, together with a friend of mine, I visited each of the bars/breweries listed below and had a great brew filled afternoon and evening, so great in fact that I totally forgot to take pictures for this blogpost, so you will have to make do with some sourced images from the internet...my bad

1. Jongens van de Wit

Address: Hofvijver 4

Brewery and Brewpub

On tap: 25  (up to 9 from the brewery)
Bottled beer: 25+

The newest addition in terms of craft beer to Den Bosch, the Jongens van de Wit (JvdW) brewery and brewpub offers a great place to eat and more importantly drink. Emphasising local, JvdW offers guests beer brewed above the brewpub and food dishes using local ingredients and inspired by Dutch culture.

Brewery & Brewpub Jongens van de Wit (own image)

Although only having opened their doors quite recently, JvdW is already becoming a popular hangout. Located in the city's palace district (paleiskwartier), which is a relatively new section of the city and a stark contrast to the old medieval city centre, JvdW reflects the nature of its surroundings through its modern and industrial design.

Brewpub. I'm in this picture somewhere :P (Source: De Jongens van de Wit) 

In terms of home brewed beers, I've had the pleasure of tasting two so far; Maagdelijk Blond (Blonde) and Bossche Brunette (Dubbel). The Blonde had a strong hopped flavour, sweetness and lingering bitterness which made it a lot more adventurous in terms of taste in comparison to classic blonde ales. The brunette had some similar characteristics to the blonde, but with more malty and caramel notes present instead of bitterness. Although OK, these first few brews to come out of this brewery weren't really that exciting for me, and as such im really looking forward to seeing what they will create in the future.

Enjoying a Bossche Brunette!

The first modern brewpub in the city, JvdW is a great addition to the craft beer scene in 's-Hertogenbosch.

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2. Thornbridge 's-Hertogenbosch

Address: Koninginnenlaan 28

Bar
On tap: 19 + 3 real cask ales
Bottled beer: 50+

Thornbridge? The name may sound familiar. Thornbridge is a popular English brewery which started operating in 2005. The brewery has since grown significantly and now operates 2 brewery sites and 9 pubs, all of which are located in the United Kingdom.

All except one...

Thornbridge 's-Hertogenbosch (Source: Thornbridge)

The first Thornbridge pub on the 'mainland', Thornbridge 's-Hertogenbosch opened its doors in 2015. I think its pretty awesome to have the only Thornbridge pub outside the UK in a city such as Den Bosch, instead of in another Dutch city such as Amsterdam. 

Thornbridge Bar (Source: Tripadvisor) 

With both a wide variety of Thornbridge and guest brews both on tap and cask, and a variety of different international bottled beers, there is no shortage of brews to try. Moreover, Thornbridge also frequently has some funky brews on offer such as Brewdogs Sink the Bismarck (41% Quad IPA) and Tactical Nuclear Penguin (32% Imperial Stout).

Enjoying a Thornbridge St.Petersburg!

The pub conveys a classic English pub atmosphere, something which provides an refreshing change from the norm. Moreover, Thornbridge provides a great place to watch live sports on multiple flat screen TV's, or to have a go at a round of darts yourself. 

A great 'English' addition to beer city 's-Hertogenbosch!

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3. 't paultje

Lepelstraat 31A

Bar
On tap: 9
Bottled beer: 300+

Just inside the cities old bastion walls, you will find the start of an section of the city called 'de uilenburg', an old section of the city bristling with bars and restaurants. The first bar you will encounter as you enter this part of the city is proeflokaal 't paultje.

't paultje (Source: Brabound)

Operated by the same owner of Thornrbidge, proeflokaal (tasting room) 't paultje has by far the most choice in terms of bottled beer in the entire city. Aptly named after the owner, Paul, the bar mainly focuses on Dutch and Belgian craft beer, and there is a whole lot of it to try!

Proeflokaal 't paultje (Source: 't paultje)

The bar staff, and owner, are very friendly and helpful in helping you select the best brew for you out of the hundreds of different beers on offer. This is a good thing too, because until recently, for almost two years, there was no beer menu available. Moreover, some real good stuff is sometimes hidden away in the cellar, so if you are looking for something special don't hesitate to ask.

Enjoying a Ciel Blue from Brouwerij t'IJ

A great bar, beer selection and atmosphere. Proeflokaal 't paultje is a great part of beer city 's-Hertogenbosch!

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4. Tapperij het Veulen

Korenbrugstraat 9A
Bar
On tap: 9
Bottled beer: 50+

Down the street past 't paultje and taking the street to the left over the 'binnendieze', you will find Tapperij Het Veulen.

Tapperij Het Veulen

Although all bars and brewpubs in this list are great, Tapperij Het Veulen is probably my personal favourite out of this list. Although het Veulen doesn't have the most taps, or bottled beer variety, there are two main reasons why this bar tops my personal list.

First, and foremost, I like the atmosphere here the most (not that I don't like the atmosphere in the other spots in this list), any day of the week you will find a sizeable crowd and its fully packed on weekends.

Enjoying a Veulen Blond 

Secondly, although they don't have the largest selection of brews, the selection changes quite frequently both on tap and bottle, assuring that there is something new to try each time you visit. The recently introduced beer 'blacklist' also provides more exotic and rare beer options. Het Veulen also has two good house beers on offer, brewed by bar staff: Veulen Blond (Belgian Blond and Den Duvelmakere (Belgian Tripel). Moreover they are part of the ABT (alliance of beer taphouses), ensuring frequently changing beers on tap and consistent quality. 

A great addition to the craft beer scene in 's-Hertogenbosch!

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5. Bar le Duc / Stadsbrouwerij van Kollenburg
Brewery and Brewpub
On tap: 12
Bottled beer: 80+

A few doors down the street from Het Veulen you will come across Cafe Bar le Duc and Stadsbrouwerij (City Brewery) van Kollenburg.

Brewery Sign with City Flag (Source: Pinterest) 

Brewery van Kollenburg is located in, and underneath, Cafe Bar le Duc. The brewery was founded in 1999 , and currently brews 8 distinct beers, 6 all year and 2 seasonally, all of which are available in the bar section. The brewery and brewpub really have an authentic city brewery feel to them, giving it a special and pleasant atmosphere. Furthermore, same as Tapperij Het Veulen, Bar le Duc is part of the ABT.

Bar 'Bar le Duc' (Source: Missethoreca)

Although in all honesty im not the biggest fan of van Kollenburg brews, I find them OK  but really nothing special (I do still drink them from time to time), the bar does offer a significant selection of other beers, including local brews and rarer variants such as Westvleteren 12. Moreover, it is possible to order a beer tasting of all Kollenburg brews on tap. Furthermore it is possible to book a tour in the adjoining brewery for small groups.

Enjoying a 'Jonge Jan'

Brewery and Brewpub Bar le Duc/van Kollenburg is a key addition to the craft beer scene in 's-Hertogenbosch, and a must visit.

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6. Stadscafe de Basiliek
Bar
On tap: 10
Bottled beer: 50+

A bit further into the city you will find Stadscafe De Basiliek. A Dutch classic themed pub with lots of connections to the Carnaval side of the city, a great range of craft beer, and awesome atmosphere.

Stadscafe De Basiliek (Source: Stadscafe De Basiliek) 

Aside from having a classic Dutch pub feel to it, De Basiliek has a very welcoming atmosphere and knowledgeable staff when it comes to beer. De Basiliek is also a great place to try out local brews from the city, from breweries such as D'n Draok and Boegbeeld, which are frequently included in the pub's beer list. 

Aside from having a significant amount of brews, both from bottle and tap, De Basiliek also has its own 'house beer', brewed by the Muifelbrouwerij exclusively for the pub. The 'Basiliek Blond' is a refreshing, sweet, citrusy blond ale which is definitely worth a try while you are there (why not, its the only place you're going to be able to try it)

De Basiliek is a worthy addition to beer city 's-Hertogenbosch!

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There you have it, my favourite places to beer in my own hometown!

Aside from these breweries, brewpubs and beer bars, 's-Hertogenbosch has many more great craft beer spots on offer. Moreover, the city boasts multiple additional breweries  (D'n Draok, Boegbeeld, Heineken), beer bars (Bar 35, Hotel Terminus, M'n Tante, De Rooie Haen, De Palm, and more), and great beer shops (Bottle Shop Den Bosch, Copernicus 2000). Moreover, 's-Hertogenbosch hosts a couple of beer related festivals annually (Het Nederlands Speciaalbier festival & DORST)

Busy times @ Het Nederlands Speciaalbier Festival (Source: Het Nederlands Speciaalbier Festival) 

So if you ever find yourself in the area, or want to spend a great brew filled day in an awesome medieval city, give Beer City 's-Hertogenbosch a try!

Cheers!

Beer Style Discovery: Saison

Beer Style: Saison

Saison, or farmhouse ale as its sometimes referred to, is a beer style originating from Wallonia.

For those less familiar with European geography, you are probably wondering where in the world this strange sounding place is. Well, it happens that Wallonia is a French speaking region of probably the best known beer country in the world; Belgium.

Enjoying a Saison in the Abyss from Bliksem 

Farmhouse ale, which is often used to refer to Saisons, is a direct reference to the beer style's history.

Saison, meaning season in French, was brewed in autumn, winter and into early spring(when conditions were best) on farms all over the region.  This allowed for the farms labourers (some of which would be brewing in the colder months) to enjoy a nice refreshing brew on the long, hot, summer days.

Due to the fact that each farm, or area, created its own variation of the brew, the style was very broad and indistinctive. This still is the case today, as many different versions of the style exist. In modern times however, it is often agreed upon that the Saison Dupont, or the Saison Dupont Vieille Provision, represent the style's archetype.

Saison Dupont, the style's archetype (My picture wasn't great, so I took this one)

Saisons today often contain 5-8% ABV and are usually high in carbonation, dry, and contain fruity notes. But, as mentioned earlier, many different variations of the style exists such as spicy variants, or those aged on barrels.

Enjoying an Imperial Saison aged on white wine barrels! 

Although we are in the middle of winter right now, modern brewing techniques are no longer dependant on the weather for good brewing months. Therefore, there is no excuse to go out and give this great style a try!

Cheers!

Cape Town = Craft Town

I recently visited my girlfriend who is on an internship in Cape Town, South Africa. Whilst there, I couldn't resist doing a little bit of beer discovering, well at least as much as my girlfriend would allow anyway.

The following is my experience with the craft beer scene in Cape Town (CPT), in the few days that I was there.

Cape Town = Craft Town!

1. The Scene

I really had no idea on what to expect, in terms of beer, in CPT.

My first experience with CPT Craft beer, Firebird IPA !

However, I was soon to be pleasantly surprised. What became apparent very quickly was that each bar and restaurant we visited had, at least, a choice between a number of different brews.

Off course this included a selection of different lagers both local and international (always good to have a choice), with the apparent flagship lager "Castle" being available pretty much everywhere.

Enjoying a Castle Lager

But apart from having a selection of different lagers, most restaurants and bars provided a selection of local craft beer, which is awesome. Furthermore, most beer is served in pint or large glasses, including craft beer. This in combination with relatively low prices compared to what im used to in Europe, this gives you plenty of 'bang for your buck'.

Enjoying a Passionate Blond, with some seafood 

But craft beer in pint glasses, isn't that way too much? No, not really. If Russian imperial stouts or barley wines were commonplace, and those were served in pint glasses, I would wholeheartedly agree. But, based on my experience, the majority of local brews are represented by low ABV, fresh styles such as IPA's, Blonde's, Golden Ales, Pale Ales and a few Stouts/Milk Stouts here and there.

Beer Bar at Old Biscuit Mill Food Market

Craft beer also has a presence at events apparently. When visiting the Old Biscuit Mill food market, there were two craft beer bars (one pictured above), and a bottle shop selling chilled wines and craft beer.

Enjoying a Butcher Block Pale Ale to go from the bottle shop

In terms of availability craft beer is everywhere in Cape Town, most bars and restaurants have a selection of both lagers and craft on their menu's, although the menu's were not very extensive, they usually did provide a nice choice of locally crafted brews. Moreover, I also encountered a pub which had their own brew (but as often is the case, I expect it was brewed by someone else).

Drinking Tiger's Milk at Tiger's Milk

What I didn't encounter was imported craft beer on any of the menus, but since I was there to try local, that was fine by me.

2. The Breweries

Cape Town has a number of different breweries, some of which are open for visits!

In the few days visiting my girlfriend in CPT, I visited 2 breweries, or one and a half, i'm not really sure...

The first brewery I visited was Devils Peak Brewing Company, aptly named after Devil's Peak mountain which is close by.

Devils Peak Brewing Co

Starting as a brewery in 2012, and when demand outstripped supply, moving to the location featured above, Devils Peak is now a full fledged brewery and pub, or brewpub.

Brewery and Bar

And since this was a one time visit, it was tasting paddle time!

Tasting 7 Devil's Peak brews, with a view of Devil's Peak!

Originally, the tasting paddles include 5 DP brews, but as our kind waiter pointed out, i was also able to get 7 tasting glasses including their new experimental brews. As the only real option was to order all 7, I did just that, and i wasn't disappointed.

Like I had encountered so far, the tasting paddle included popular CPT styles such as lager, IPA, Golden Ale and Pale Ale. These tasted fine, but it was DP's more experimental brews which really stood out for me.

The first was the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (WTF) stout, my first bourbon barrel aged local brew in CPT. The second being the grapefruit express, a grapefruit IPA and the best IPA I had in my few days in Cape Town. The last, and probably my favourite beer of the whole trip, was the Vin de Saison. A farmhouse ale which was infused with South African Chenin Blanc, giving a nice dry, sourish, acidic, fruity flavour!

Mitchells Brewery Tasting Paddle 

That night we stumbled upon an ale house which had five taps dedicated to one brewery, Mitchells. When I asked the waitress for a what she would recommend, she told me to get a tasting paddle of 'our own beers', so not being one to pass up such excellent advice I decided to order said tasting paddle. This tasting paddle was very traditional, including styles such as bitter, pale, lager, imperial lager and honey ale.

I later discovered this was in fact not the brewery, although there was plenty of space in the back for it to be one, but a brewery pub outlet. But, still nice to try a whole selection of local brews.

3. The Stores

As craft beer was so widely available in terms of bars, restaurants and breweries, it came as no surprise that a number of bottle shops and specialty stores also followed this trend.

Bottle Shop

Bottle shops sold a wide variety of different brews, mostly local, and some import from the larger craft brewers (or macro owned brands) such as Brewdog or Duvel. But, one of the biggest surprises in terms of craft beer came when I expected it least: at the local SPAR supermarket, around the corner from where I was staying.

Surprise!

As we finished doing some groceries, I noticed that the supermarket had a seemingly small bottle shop attached to it. What I found inside blew me away, the above picture doesn't do it justice as it only shows about half the brews available.

The shop, apart from selling a wide variety of local brews, sold internationally acclaimed craft brews such as Brewdog Tokyo Black and a wide variety of import beer for very good prices. Moreover, it was very surprising to see quite a number of Dutch breweries (me being Dutch), such as de Molen and Hertog Jan, represented.

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As the purpose of my trip was really not about beer, it was really nice to see so much of the craft beer scene in Cape Town in such little time. I'm sure I missed out on some great breweries, pubs, shops or other beer related things, leaving plenty of more things to be discovered in this great city. If you havent already, I highly recommend checking out craft beer in CPT if you're there!

Cheers!

Beer Style Discovery: Barley Wine

Beer Style: Barley Wine

No, this is not a blog about wine..

Barley Wine, like the Quadrupel or Imperial stout, often represents pinnacle of a breweries arsenal.

But where does this fancy sounding beer style come from?

The earliest known origins of the style come from ancient Greece, where a barley wine beverage (also referred to as barley wine) was apparently quite popular. As hops weren't yet being used to brew beer, these early barley wines were based on fermented grain.

Early Barley Wine Advertisement

The modern variant of Barley wine, which we know and love today, has its origins in 19th century Britain. The first usage of the name "barley wine" was by Bass & Co, at the end of the century. Marketed as a "royal" tonic or beverage, the style often represented the more expensive and high class beer style.

The reasons for this were twofold: Firstly, the original process for creating barley wine was the traditional method of using single mash or wort for all the beers. This meant that the first beers brewed were the strongest, darkest, and with the most flavour. As the mash was used again and again, consequent brews became lighter both in colour and alcohol percentage. Barleywine was exclusively made from the very first mash running by Bass & Co.

Some more early advertisement 

Secondly, due to its high alcohol percentage (traditionally around 11%) the style often suffered from alcohol based taxation, meaning: more alcohol = more tax. This resulted in the cases where such taxation was present, that the beer was significantly more expensive than other brews (something which is often still the case today).

Enjoying an English style Barley Wine

The 'original' British barley wine style is characterised by a balanced flavour between malts and hops,  fruity and sweet, with a varying alcohol percentage (usually between 7-12% ABV). But, as is the case with several beer styles, the United States has its own variant.

The American style contains significantly more hop, resulting in more bitterness and pronounced flavours. This variant is often also more lightly coloured. Anchor Brewing Company was the first US brewer to brew the style, which resulted in 'Old Foghorn Barleywine Style Ale'

Enjoying the original US Barleywine: Old Foghorn

You might have noticed that the Anchor Brewing Company also changed the style name somewhat, from Barley Wine to Barleywine Style Ale. At the time, the brewers were afraid that if they used the original style name 'barley wine', that the word wine would displease and scare away potential customers.

So there you have it, the origins of the brew sometimes referred to as the 'wine of beers'. If you havent already, give this great (and dangerously strong) beer style a try!

Cheers!

How to: Eisbock

After having seen numerous posts on both Facebook and on other blogs about eisbocking, I decided to give it a try!

But before I start rambling on about my own attempt at eisbocking, ill give you guys a short summary about what eisbocking is. 

Eisbock is actually one of the rarer beer styles out there, whilst not brewed it is made by using existing beer as a base. Due to the fact that it really takes quite a lot of beer to create a relatively small amount of eisbock, not many breweries craft it, which is a shame. 

Enjoying Aventinus Eisbock

Ive only come across a few of them over the last couple of years, including the awesome tasting brew displayed above. 

Funnily enough, the process for creating eisbock (ice-bock) is really quite simple. The whole process revolves around freezing strong beer and then fractionally melting it, so that the concentrate is removed from the water. This results, if done well, in a version of the original beer which is up to two times as strong, and has accentuated flavours! 

So I gave this a try, and I was very happy with the results!

Rochefort 10 as the base beer

It takes around three bottles of base beer to create one bottle of eisbock. I decided to use rochefort 10 as my base beer, as this is a very robust quadruple with great complexity and flavours (something which I was eager to see accentuated). Moreover, with its 11.5% ABV, it would create a hell of a strong beer.

Step 1: pour three 33cl bottles into a 1.5l plastic bottle

The first step is to pour all three beers into a clean 1.5l plastic bottle, this might take a while as some beers will have a tendency foam. (if you use less bottles, a smaller bottle also works, just make sure to leave some space)

Letting the foam settle a bit

After filling the bottle with the base beer, put the cap back on the bottle and store it in a freezer.

Ice ice baby

After about 24 hours (more or less, depending on your freezer), the bottle will be sufficiently frozen, whilst the alcohol will still be liquid (as that freezes only at around -100 degrees celsius). The next step is the most complicated in this very simple process: 

Drip Drip

Remove the cap, and place the bottle upside down into something which can collect the concentrate dripping out, i used half of a different plastic bottle to achieve this, it created an air tight reservoir and provided enough stability for the bottle to stay upright (with a little help from my kitchen wall). 

Eisbocking in action!

At this point in the process, the environment in which it takes place is very important. Temperature influences how much eisbocked beer you can get out of the bottle. The best place for conducting this step would be to place the bottle and reservoir in the fridge, but if like me there really isn't much space there, the kitchen counter makes for a good replacement. 

You should never extract more than 33cl from the plastic bottle, in order to prevent too much water from diluting the eisbock. I eisbocked my beer on a particularly warm day, and as such i could only extract around 20cl, as the water in the bottle started melting quite quickly, so stop process if you start seeing clear water droplets. 

The result!

After extracting the concentrate, refill one of the (cleaned) original bottles, place the cap back on, and refrigerate. After all this work i was off course very eager to try my own eisbock!

Delicious!

Sweet, sirupy, bitter, spiced, and damn strong! Thats how I would describe the taste of the rochefort 10 eisbock, and with around 20% alcohol, it really gives a kick!

I was surprised at how easy the process was, and how awesome the result! I will definitely do some more eisbocking in the future, and experiment with different base beers and with the adding of additional ingredients.

Thanks for reading, and until next time!

Cheers!

-UPDATES-

I have since made the following Eisbocks:

(13/10/16) 2x Chimay Bleue, 1x Kasteel Rouge Eisbock Blend (Cherries, sweet, syrup, alc), I liked this one better than the Rochefort eisbock.

(15/11/16) 3x Piraat Strong Belgian Pale Ale Eisbock. Didnt know what to expect with this one, I felt like some experimentation. The sweetness became more pronounced, and the bitterness was accentuated, an oke Eisbock but nothing special

(06/02/17) 3x Brand Dubbelbock and Red Pepper Eisbock. This was the first time I added extra ingredients to the eisbock blend, and I was pleasantly surprised at how it turned out. The sweetness of the Bock was greatly accentuated and the spicyness of the red pepper really came to the fore, a fun little addition and something I will be using again sometime in the future.

(17/03/17) 3x Bulldog IPA Eisbock. My first foray into eisbocking IPA. Transformation into a strong, syrupy, thick imperial IPA monster. Sweetness and bitterness definitely more pronounced. Since I have about 15 bottles left of this brew, im most likely going to experiment some more with additional ingredients.