Feed Editor (Unlicensed) 2 Feb 2008 13:18:20 GMT Amsterdam-based beer/wine/spirits shop, supporting the independent brewer, wine producer and distiller. http://www.crackedkettle.com/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss en Now in stock: the already-legendary new beer from De Struise Brouwers, Black Albert. An imperial stout weighing in at 13% ABV, with a bitterness of 100 IBU and a color of 160 EBC. Incredibly concentrated stuff, but with a really soft body which makes it surprisingly smooth & easy to drink. The first batch of Black Albert was brewed specifically for a festival at Ebenezer's Pub in Maine, and immediately received rave reviews: beer-rating website Ratebeer.com lists an average rating of 4.47 out of 5, and the average score at Beeradvocate.com is currently at 4.73 out of 5 (surpassing even the famous Westvleteren 12). In addition. Pannepot, Pannepeut & Pannepot Grand Reserva 33cl's are all back in stock. 22 Jun 2008 12:36:26 GMT http:// B2F034C3-8748-4C09-BEB3-BED5E55D4422 Loads of new beer on our shelves! We have a few unusual new Belgian beers, as well as some rare Dutch ones and a few British classics. We present you.. Alvinne's Podge Imperial Stout A 10.5% Imperial Stout by Belgian cult-brewery Alvinne, originally brewed for beer-personality Chris "Podge" Pollard but also available to the general public now. Although it is not as colorful as Podge's attire (its pitch-black), it is complex and a real sipper. It is on the sweet side (I'm pretty sure the Podge analogy stops here?) of the stout spectrum, and you'll find flavors such as vanilla, berries, milk chocolate, aniseed, and liqourice. Bie Zatte Bie From Brouwerij de Bie: the Zatte Bie. Strong, dark and very malty. Dried fruit flavors and honey on the finish, combined with a crisp body and quite a bit of carbonation. Not sticky in the least, this beer is surprisingly drinkable for such a fruity and malty beer. Black Sheep Ale This classic English Bitter from the Black Sheep brewery is a subtle malty beer with a nice hoppy finish. Silky-bodied with soft carbonation, this is very drinkable. Boelen's Bieken Brouwerij Boelen's flagship beer, this is a strong ale brewed with honey. Quite sweet, but with a very nice floral & herbal backbone that balances it out. One of the best honey-beers currently on the market. Caledonian 80 Shilling Great ale from Scotland's Caledonian Brewery. Absolutely amazing how much flavor is packed into this 4% beer. Very soft, barely carbonated, but with a real cavalcade of malty flavors: there is caramel, coffee, honey, heather, vanilla, toasted bread, all balanced out with a subtle hop-backbone. Cantillon 50N 4E The legendary cognac-oak-aged Cantillon. This lambic was aged for two years on second fill Cognac casks, and is very mellow for a Cantillon. The lambic picked up all sorts of flavor from the casks, you'll find vanilla, leather, ripe apples, guava and more. One of Cantillon's most successful and complex efforts, and one of the most successful oak aged beers ever made. ***The following Cantillon's are back in stock: Broscella GC, (plain) Geuze, Iris, Lou Pepe Kriek & Framboise, Rose de Gambrinus, St Lamvinus, and Vigneronne.*** Crombé Oud Kriekenbier Obscure kriek from Brouwerij Strubbe. Real traditional style kriek, mouthpuckering with very pure cherry flavors. Awesome bottle too, with an almost-kitsch '50 label. Definitely one of the better krieks available. 3 Horne Wiegeleir Grand Cru An odd beer from Dutch Brouwerij 3 Horne. Brewed with Australian hops, orange peel, and apricot (amongst other, mundaner ingredients), this is a top-heavy beer that feels much heavier than its 10%, with malty and fruity flavors. Orange, apple, apricot, peaches but also spices like licorice and white pepper will jump out of your glass. Some will hate it, some will love it, but you have to give 3 Horne some credit for making something as outlandish as this. Elgoods Black Dog A lush English Mild from Brewery Elgoods. Very light at just over 3%, but with some surprising malty flavors. There is some burnt sugar, some heather, and a crisp peppery hop-bite. Refreshing and flavorsome, one to drink by the pint. Fuller's 1845 A classic ale from London-based brewery Fullers. Relatively strong at 6.3%, this is a rich and full-bodied beer. Raisiny, with some caramel and cinnamon - some have described it as a liquid christmas cake. Don't worry though, this is very drinkable: flavorsome and fullbodied without getting cloying or sticky in the least. De Graal Slock The most bitter beer from Belgium brewery De Graal so far, this is made with three different strains of American hops. There's lots of that juicy USA-hopbitterness, with a bready malt backbone. At 50 IBU this is hardly a hopbomb but the bitterness and smooth maltiness come together exceptionally well. Balanced and rounded. Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer The well-known Innis & Gunn, a strong & rich ale aged on former whisky-casks. Very oaky, lots of vanilla. Not much carbonation, a full body and a detailed, complex flavor make this a sipper. Kelham Island Pale Rider A nice British pale ale from Kelham Island Brewery. Crisp and slightly citric, this is really thrist quenching. American hops were used as flavoring hops, making it even more zesty and grapefruity. Klein Duimpje Honing Porter Dutch brewery Klein Duimpje has brewed this honey porter, a very roasted bitter porter with added honey. Bittersweet indeed. Light without becoming watery, try drinking this chilled on a hot summer day and be suprised how refreshing a beer like this can be! De Molen Amarillo A punchy IPA from Dutch cult-brewery De Molen. Brewed with Amarillo hops, loads of them. The first sip is like drinking pine resin, and so is the second. After the hop-assault you'll find a really thick malt-backbone, with caramel and raisins. A huge beer for Dutch standards, and dare we say, even for American IPA standards! De Molen Amerikaans A 4.5% ale dryhopped with Amarillo. Tastes not unlike a saison, with some nice peppery and floral flavors. Crisp, light, but flavorsome. De Molen Donder & Bliksem De Molen's pilsener: similar in style to many Czech pilseners, perhaps a bit hoppier. A well made, clean and bitter pilsener. De Molen Engels Cask-conditioned 5% beer, an emulation of traditional English bitters. Refreshing yet surprisingly refreshing. Fruity and zesty with citric flavors, backed up by caramel and bread flavors from the malt, with all sorts of spices sprinkled on top. De Molen Hamer & Sikkel A porter with a classy image of a hammer & sickle on the bottle. Well the only hard work you'll have to do is to pop the champagne cork off. This is a very smooth porter, not much roasted or bitter flavors but rather lots of baked dark fruit and vanilla. De Molen Stoombier De Molen's steambeer: perhaps De Molen's best thristquencher to date? Uncomplicated beer, bittersweet & very more-ish. Nice singular flavors, quite herbal and spicy, with a bone-dry finish. De Molen Storm & Averij Hophead territory again: no pine and grapefruit flavors here though, because the used hop-strains are very European: Premiant as bittering hops, Saaz for flavoring, then some more Premiant for dry hopping. Peppery bitterness galore, this is like a classical Bohemian pils on steroids. This concludes the list of the new beers from De Molen, but the familiar beers Boreft's Stout, Pek & Veren and last but not least Rasputin are back in stock. These beers will no doubt fly off the shelves, and we can only look forward to what Menno Olivier - who runs the whole brewery on his own - brews up next. 22 Jun 2008 12:35:19 GMT http:// 4AD16E06-20EF-41BA-84E4-4C64A8600BDF The new batch of Pannepot has arrived! This '2007 vintage' comes in 75cl bottles, but we'll have it in 33cl's too soon. The 75cl bottles of the 2006 batch are all gone, so if you order a Pannepot 75cl you'll get the 2007 version. 22 Jun 2008 12:35:12 GMT http:// AD6695CC-6067-44D3-BB85-C767EB4810A4 Dupont's excellent winter-seasonal Avec Les Bons Voeux has sold out quickly last christmas, but we have managed to get our hands on another few crates. This complex & spicy saison comes highly recommended, an excellent dry & hoppy alternative to the stronger Belgian tripels. Bottled in corked 37.5cl bottles. 22 Jun 2008 12:34:31 GMT http:// 8F288AD1-8949-41A5-84D0-84E011FA1CCC Now on sale: Watou's Witbier, a refreshing Belgian wheat beer from Brouwerij Van Eecke. It is unusually hoppy for a Belgian wheat beer, with citric and bready flavors. Only 90 cents for a bottle, and 15 euro for a crate of 24! 22 Jun 2008 12:34:16 GMT http:// D6F8C1E0-A93A-414B-9E21-D8E050917FF1 Just in: Kindl's Berliner Weisse, a beautiful example of the rare & old Berliner Weisse style. It used to be a widespread spring- and summertime beer in the Berlin of the late 19th and early 20th century, although it is much less common nowadays. With a low alcohol percentage (3%ABV) and a zesty, sour & citric taste it is unlike other German white beers. Kindl's Berliner Weisse is an authentic Berline Weisse: Kindl's brewery was dismanteled during Stalin's regime & was shipped off to the USSR, but has recently been rebuilt in the original style and still uses equipment very similar to the equipment that was used over a century ago. 22 Jun 2008 12:27:50 GMT http:// B66D7883-8683-4685-8B50-231A063D828C Dany Prignon, owner of Brasserie Fantome, is to Belgian beer what Thierry Puzelat is to Loire wine - the eccentric brewmaster brews his beer in small batches, makes no concessions to whatever is trendy at the moment, has a healthy aversion to unnatural additives, and produces a very distinctive & wonderful product. His infamous brewery has garnered a cult-following of beer-drinkers over the years. But be warned, the beer is as quirky and outspoken as the brewer himself! Although the brewery lays in rural Wallonia, it shouldn't be lumped in with the other farmhouse ales from that area. After all, this is the brewery that used dandelions in their 'Pissenlit' beer and numerous locally-grown spices and herbs in other beers. The output of the brewery is very small so we don't get their beer very often, but this week we got a batch of no less than four different Fantome beers! We will sell some of the bottles, the others we will drink ourselves! Fantome Saison, a crisp and complex Saison. Citric, fruity, but also musky and malty. Legendary stuff. Fantome de Noël, the christmas seasonal. Strong and spicy, but still with that Fantome character of fruity acidity and muskiness. Fantome Hiver, another winter seasonal. This year it is a fruity and spicy beer, with flavors of mint, pepper, mango, apricot and more. Fantome La Dalmatienne, a leathery and citric beer, bracing acidity, lots of complexity - true Fantome! Note: the SNAB beers have arrived! 10 Feb 2008 19:51:45 GMT http://www.crackedkettle.com/ 97D84736-497B-4294-999E-82F8705575C5 A large shipment of beers from the critically acclaimed Dutch brewery SNAB will arrive this week. Their beers are unfiltered and unpasteurized. We will stock the following beers: Maelstrom, a strong Barleywine made in American style: lots of (Cascade) hops, dryhopping, even more hops, clocking in at nearly 10%ABV and weighting more than 22 degrees Plato. It is a complex, dry beer with lots of grapefruit flavor from the hops. The brewery describes the beer as a quaffable alternative to the increasingly sweet Tripels. In our opinion it is one of the finest Dutch beers available at the moment. Czar Peter, a distinctive Russian Imperial Stout, brewed with malt, hops, yeast, and Zaanse Cacao. The addition of this traditional Dutch cocoa (made in the town of Zaanstad) doesn't only contribute to the roasted & bitter taste of the beer, but it also emphasizes the relation between Russia and The Netherlands: Czar Peter The First used to be a carpenter in Zaanstand in the year 1697, and although you won't find many Russian monarchs working as carpenters in Zaanstad nowadays, it shows that SNAB know their history, and you can taste that in the beer. Unlike some of the overblown Russian Imperial Stouts that have been appearing on the market, this stout is relatively subtle and true to the old Imperial Stout recipes. This beer ages gracefully and will soften out & gain complexity with time. Koning Honing, a malty & full-bodied beer brewed with Sicillian orange-blossom honey and Canadian clover honey. The honey was added after the primary fermentation to preserve its outspoken taste: the Canadian honey has a very pronounced, full & rich flavor of butter and vanilla. But, unlike one might expect, the resulting beer is not sickly sweet, cloying or heavy at all. It is rather spicy, and slightly bittersweet - a surprisingly characterful and drinkable honeybeer. SNAB Pale Ale, a refreshing and hoppy Pale Ale inspired by the west-coast USA classics. Even though brewing a beer in this style is rarely attempted by European brewers, SNAB picked up the gauntlet and created a brew that rivals the best American Pale Ales in sheer quaffability. Cascade hops from the Yakima valley in Washington are used, as well as a yeast from Oregon. One to drink by the pint. Speculator, a strong brown ale with a very pronounced spiciness (cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon) along with flavors of bitter cherries and licourice. The beer is full-bodied and soft. The name of the beer refers to a Dutch type of spicy cookie called 'speculaas' and indeed, this beer is like fluid speculaas. This beer is bottled in 75cl corked bottles. 3 Feb 2008 19:51:28 GMT http://www.crackedkettle.com/ CB503C3D-C300-4C6E-A5E9-3523080E3135 New in stock: Boon Faro. This rare style of beer is made by adding brown sugar to an (usually unblended and three-year-old) lambic. The resulting beer is low in alcohol and has a sweet & sour taste. Boon's Faro is an excellent example, since high-quality lambic was used and the use of brown sugar is not as excessive (as it can be in some other Faro's). 2 Feb 2008 14:13:00 GMT http://www.crackedkettle.com/ 4BBC0F0C-70FD-4E09-B42E-70FE6F405EDA We now sell Hanssens' Mead the Gueuze - a unique blend of 70% Hanssens gueuze and 30% Lurgashall mead. The combination of the crisp & citric gueuze with the rich & full-bodied mead works surprisingly well - the mead's sweetness is subtle and totally integrated, and together with the pleasant acidity and liveliness from the gueuze it brings to mind the great dessert-wines from Tokay and Sauternes. Mead the Gueuze comes in corked 37,5cl bottles and is available in limited supplies. 26 Jan 2008 14:12:06 GMT http://www.crackedkettle.com/ 60195D75-E512-4FA7-9EAD-3591DD2697AE January 20th 2008: The Amsterdam-based brewery De Prael has released their two winter-beers again: Willy, and Willeke. Both are solid & full-bodied winter-warmers, high in alcohol and complex in taste. Willy is the stronger of the two at 9.5% ABV and has a bittersweet and slightly tart taste-profile. Willeke, a blond beer, is slightly less strong (7.5% ABV); spicy and zesty, with refreshing crispness. Both beers come in 75cl bottles. 20 Jan 2008 13:18:20 GMT http://www.crackedkettle.com/ BA8035E3-AAE2-4A25-94F0-E7E53389179C January 12th 2008: We now sell brewery Urthel's flagship-beers: Samaranth, a huge & complex dark ale in the style of the abbey quadrupels (clocking in at nearly 12%ABV), Hibernus Quentum, a full-bodied tripel, and Hop-It, a beer for the serious hopheads, brewed with a combination of (lots of) European and (lots of) American hops - some have dubbed it a Belgian IPA! 20 Jan 2008 13:18:20 GMT http://www.crackedkettle.com/ B95A007E-D0CF-4EF4-BA41-2866ACE03332 December 29th 2007: Back in stock: Struise Brouwers' Pannepot and (a small amount of) De Dolle Brouwers' Dulle Teve (which is Belgian for "Mad Bitch"). The Pannepot is a batch from 2006 so it already has a bit of age on it, which smoothened it out & brought out more pronounced notes of cinnamon, vanilla and licourice. Full-bodied and with awesome balance, this rivals the best dark trappist ales. The Dulle Teve is fresher, a very assertive tripel - fruity and dry for the style, crisp. The last batch of Pannepot went very quickly, and we have less than a crate of the Dulle Teve left, so get them before they're gone! 20 Jan 2008 13:18:20 GMT http://www.crackedkettle.com/ 8B8DBFD1-B365-40D3-AFD4-3E626E615248 December 21th 2007: The Dutch distiller Van Wees was not allowed to let their customers sample their spirits at the distillery, so they simply offered their spirits in the form of liqour chocolates, an old traditional dutch candy. Each chocolate has a small amount of spirit in it, and gives a strong impression of the taste of the spirit when eaten. The chocolates were very popular with clients and as such Van Wees now stocks them in their regular assortiment. The chocolates come in lovely boxes with either 10 or 18 pieces of chocolate in them. You can order them in our shop. 20 Jan 2008 13:18:20 GMT http://www.crackedkettle.com/ D4606001-BDFF-4969-96DF-EB73BBD3299B December 9th 2007: Westvleteren 12 - the ultimate gift for anyone who is seriously into beer? We don't think so. The ultimate gift would be our custom-made Westvleteren giftpack: a beautiful wooden holder with a Westvleteren Blonde, a Westvleteren 8, a Westvleteren 12 plus a Westvleteren glass. If you prefer Rochefort, you can try our custom-made Rochefort giftpacks, which have the three Rochefort beers & the Rochefort glass instead (pictured below). These giftpacks are all made by hand in our shop and will all be unique and different. They are not mass-produced and therefore will have various blemishes... and perhaps even a hole where one should not be. We feel that these imperfections add to the character of this product. Custom giftpack configurations are possible, just ask us! 20 Jan 2008 13:18:20 GMT http://www.crackedkettle.com/ C97D8911-9A14-47AE-A3F4-CFA58750AAA0 December 3rd 2007: Good news for lambiek-enthusiasts; we managed to get our hands on some special Cantillon beers. We offer Lou Pepe Kriek 2004 and Lou Pepe Framboise 2005; as well as the splendid Grand Cru Bruocsella 2003. The first two are Cantillon's top-of-the-range fruit beers, and the latter is an unblended lambiek, aged on oak for three years. We also have a few bottles of Iris 2003 left - all top notch lambiek. 20 Jan 2008 13:18:20 GMT http://www.crackedkettle.com/ 8BCDE6AA-C3F0-4F4A-B0EF-1E946DEB076E