Our latest newsletter: Winter 2008
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5% discounts on 6-packs of the same beer, 10% on full crates!
Valid on all beers unless rare/limited.
February 26th 2009: A variety of American beers has been added to our assortment, including a handful of rare and highly sought-after beers. Many of these beers have never been for sale outside America before! Now for sale are..
Russian River's Pliny the Elder, the quintessential IPA, extremely hoppy and resinous with flavors of grapefruit and pine, but still in perfect balance thanks to the malt-backbone.
Three Floyds Dark Lord, a legendary 13% imperial stout that's brewed only once a year (on "Dark Lord Day") and has a huge cult following. Incredibly thick and viscous, one of the richest imperial stouts out there.
Three Floyds Wipeout IPA, an IPA in "San Diego style", brewed with five different hop-strains: crisp and refreshing, yet with a hop-profile that's complex enough for serious tasting also.
Three Floyds Dreadnaught, perhaps the most famous Double IPA ever, a true hop bomb at 9.5%. Enormous hop flavors, kept in balance by enormous malt flavors. Huge.
Three Floyds Behemoth, a rich barleywine, spicy and full-bodied, with an impressively complex malt-profile.
Three Floyds / Mikkeller Oatgoop, a collaboration project between Three Floyds and experimental Danish brewery Mikkeller: an barleywine brewed with oats (oatwine).
Dogfish Head 120 Minutes IPA, an experiment in hoppiness. Brewed to 45 degrees Plato this is one of the thickest beers ever made. Unreal amounts of hop added make for a spectacular treat for the hophead. 21% ABV.
Dogfish Head Theobroma, a spiced ale brewed to an ancient recipe. Contains cacao, honey and a variety of other spices.
Victory Hop Wallop, a strong IPA with plenty of resinous hoppiness. No-nonsense solid IPA.
Bells Expedition Stout, one of the most critically acclaimed imperial stouts of the USA. Incredibly complex, with all sorts of roasted malty flavors and a subtle hop presence.
Bells Eccentric Ale, an 11% heavily spiced ale. Bittersweet, with flavors of berries and fruits. One of a kind!
Bells Third Coast Ale, a strong and rich barleywine with Bells' attention to detail: rounded, complex yet balancsed. Perhaps more comparable with English barleywines in style than the (often very hoppy) USA barleywines.
Bells Hopslam, a monstrous Double IPA of 10%ABV. Incredibly crisp, hoppy and resinous.
Terrapin Wake-N-Bake Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout, perhaps as much as a mouthful as its name would imply, this is a succulent imperial stout brewed with high quality coffee beans and oatmeal. Bittersweet and roasted, very rich.
Founders Breakfast Stout, another oatmeal/coffee stout of amazing richness and density. Bring a spoon!
Lagunitas IPA & Maximus, two clean and crisp IPA's by Lagunitas. The Maximus is the stronger, more concentrated version of the regular IPA.
Brooklyn Local 1, a strong spicy ale by Brooklyn Brewing. A very special yeast gives a characteristic flavor to this beer, slightly peppery with lemon and coriander flavors. 9%.
Lost Abbey Inferno Ale, a dry and spicy Belgian-style 8.5% ale.
Lost Abbey Angel's Share, a barleywine aged for six months on ex-bourbon casks. A rich and malty ale with nicely integrated oak characteristics.
Lost Abbey Judgement Day, a Quadrupel-style ale brewed with raisins. Fruity and spicy.
Stone/Nogne O/Jolly Pumpkin Special Holiday Ale, a collaboration project between three high-quality, experimental brewers. Spiced with chestnuts, juniper berry, white sage and caraway seeds.
February 22th 2009: Another great beer from Belgian brewery De La Senne (Zennebrouwerij), and it's very well hopped as usual: Equinox, a dark-brown ale with 8.5%ABV and an almost stout-like malt profile, with flavors of coffee and chocolate. The assertive hoppiness shows mostly on the finish, a very oily hoppiness as found in the stronger American IPAs. Highly recommended!
February 8th 2009: New in stock: Schneider Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock, the ice-distilled version of Schneider's Aventinus weizenbock. The ice distillation results in a concentrated and complex beer: at 12%ABV and a specific gravity of 1.117, the flavors & aromas of the original Aventinus are amplified enormously. It is rich and malty, with the typical esters from the wheat contributing subtle clove- and bread-flavors. Exceptionally full-bodied. 33cl bottles.
January 25th 2009: The Belgian brewery De Struise Brouwers and the Danish Mikkeller have joined forces and brewed a fantastic IPA. Simply called "Mikkeller", bottled in a Struise Brouwers style 33cl bottle, it sports 130 IBU's and has a very American hop-profile: oily, with lots of grapefruit and pine flavor. One for the hop-heads.
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December 31th 2008: Back in stock: Taras Boulba & Zinnebir, the excellent hoppy ales from Belgian brewery De Zenne. Both are very fresh and herbal tasting, light in alcohol but impressively complex and flavorsome!
December 7th 2008: A new batch of beers from Brouwerij De Molen has arrived, along with a small amount of their Bierlikeur. Familiar bottles such as the Cuvee, Hamer & Sikkel, Hel & Verdoemenis, Amarillo, Amerikaans, Stout, Winterbock, and Bloed Zweet & Tranen are back in stock, but a couple of impressive new Molen beers have been added to our selection as well:
Heil & Zegen, a "double" IPA with strong grapefruit flavors and a very bitter & dry finish where the high IBU's really show, and Hemel & Aarde, a big imperial stout made with smoked malt -- malt from the kiln of the single-malt whisky distiller Bruichladdich on the island of Islay. It is a brew where roasted flavors come together with a slightly salty smokiness and an impressive malt-bitterness, quite a rugged ale.
The Bierlikeur is a liquor distilled from De Molen's own beer, aged for six months on French oak and bottled in slender corked bottles. In flavor it reminds of De Molen's stronger stouts, bitter with a very pleasant roastedness. The oak shows with subtle flavors of vanilla and bourbon, but doesn't overwhelm. The finish is long, slightly warming at 21%, ending bone-dry. Only 120 bottles of 50cl were made.
December 7th 2008: The first bottles of this years SNAB Ijsbock and Ezelenbock are on the shelves! As usual, these bocks are absolutely stunning, with the Ijsbok (an "ice-distilled" bock) offering impressive concentration and thickness (layer upon layer of chocolate, caramel and nutmeg flavors) and the Ezelenbock being the lighter & more approachable cousin of the Ijsbok (while still being quite rich and filling). Great cold-weather beers, but be quick as these bocks tend to sell very rapidly.
December 7th 2008: The 2008 edition of De Dolle Brouwers' Stille Nacht is now available! Strong and fruity (similar to the '07 and '06), slightly spicy but without the licorice flavors that marked older batches. Very friendly and easy-drinking for a Stille Nacht (let alone for a 12% ale!). Will certainly gain more spice flavors and complexity with age, but is already surprisingly approachable for a young Stille Nacht!
November 9th 2008: A couple of interesting new rarities are now available. Amongst them are bottle of Westmalle Extra, the blond ale that's brewed only twice per year and is meant for Westmalle's monks' personal consumption, a bottle of Westvleteren 6 (red cap) from 1995 (the long discontinued Westvleteren beer), an old yet well-preserved Westvleteren chalice-glass from the late 1980's, when Westvleteren was being brewed at the St. Sixtus brewery, a couple of bottles of very old Westvleteren 12 from the same period (age estimated at 20 years) but still in very good shape, and a bottle of Struise Brouwers' Mon Dijou, a fruity blond ale brewed only once for Belgian hotel Mon Dijou.
October 20th 2008: This year's bock beers are slowly but surely starting to appear on the shelves. Amongst them are classics like the rich & fruity Barbar Winterbock, the complex & very smoky Schlenkerla Urbock, the new version of De Molen's Borefts Bock, the slightly eccentric but interesting Nelis from Amsterdam-based brewery De Prael and the prototypical Dutch bock Jopen's Bockbier.
But we also offer a few bock beers that we haven't had in previous years: Mommeriete's excellent Gramsbarger Najaars Bock, a very dry and slightly smoky/roasty bock with plenty strength, in line with the high quality beers Mommeriete has been producing lately, and Emelisse Dubbelbock, one of the few bock beers that are still bottom-fermented, with flavors not unlike the strong German bocks, quite soft and full-bodied but with tons of flavor, a very nice surprise from this small brewery.
The PINT bokbier festival -- the largest beerfest in the Netherlands -- will kick off next week (lasting from the 24th to the 26th) and you'll be able to sample many of the bockbeers that'll appear on our shelves later in the season there, as well as most of the previously mentioned ones!
October 19th 2008: Most of the familiar beers from brouwerij De Molen are back in stock, and.. we have also added two of De Molen's new beers to our assortment: Bloed Zweet & Tranen, a strong 8% stout made with smoked malt (part peat-smoked malt, part Bamberg-style beechwood-smoked malt), and Steen & Been, another smoked stout, even stronger than the previous one at 11%ABV, with peat-smoked malt only. Both new beers are bottled in corked 75cl bottles.
October 12th 2008: Exciting times! A batch of very interesting Danish beers has arrived last week, with some heavyhitters from Mikkeller and a selection of intruiging bottles from Amager.
The Mikkeller beers currently in stock are: All Others Pale Ale, a nice and crisp 6% pale ale in the American tradition, lots of citric hops; Beer Geek Breakfast, their infamous oatmeal stout, brewed with a bit of coffee -- "it goes extremely well with breakfast" according to the Mikkeller brewers themself; the Big Worse Barleywine, a 12% barleywine with a slightly spicy malt profile, a very complex sipper; Black Hole, a 13.1% imperial stout, absolutely huge with all sorts of roasted and chocolate-y flavors; the behemoth imperial stout Black, sporting a 17.5% alcohol content (!) and an extremely concentrated flavor profile, gargantuan; Draft Bear, Mikkeller's take on pilsener (they call theirs an "imperial pilsener"), very (Noble-)hoppy, top-fermented with lager yeast, boosted up to 8%; IT'S ALIVE!, a Brett-y brown ale, slightly musky, slightly sweet, spicy -- an odd one; and Jackie Brown, the crisp & hoppy brown ale, very balanced and drinkable.
From Amager we stock Batch One, a strong IPA-like ale, hopped with Simcoe hops only, highlighting their flavors & aromas; their Imperial Stout, a very bitter take on the style, with 140+ IBU according to the brewers; Papsoe, a quadrupel brewed in honour of the ratebeer.com member "Papsoe" who recently tasted & reviewed his 10000th new beer, it's a real winterwarmer with quite a bit of alcohol, some sweetness and a spiciness of cloves & cinnamon; Frederiksen, a full-bodied imperial stout, almost chewy, with nice chocolate/vanilla/licorice flavors to it.
September 21th 2008: We now sell Cracked Kettle T-shirts and hooded sweaters, in addition to T-shirts from Amsterdam-based Brouwerij 't IJ! The T-shirts and sweaters are made from high quality cotton and are available in sizes S to XL. The Cracked Kettle T-shirts come in the colors black, grey and steel blue; the T-shirts from Brouwerij 't IJ in black and light blue.
September 21th 2008: The annual PINT Bokbier-festival is drawing near again! Holland's largest beerfest is all about bock beers and there will be over 50 varieties on tap, most of them from Dutch breweries. Spectacular! The festival will be held in the weekend of October 24th, 25th and 26th in De Beurs van Berlage, in Amsterdam. If you are in town, do not miss it! More details on the PINT website: http://www.pint.nl/pint/bbf.htm
August 19th 2008: Now in stock: the beers from Belgian brewery De Rulles. This tiny brewery has been producing their ales in the south-east of Belgium for seven years now. We managed to get a hold of just a few of their bottles: Blonde, a light yet complex ale with a surprisingly spicy hop-bite. Tripel, a stronger and slightly less dry version of the Blonde, with some light honey flavors, nice and chewy. Estivale, the springtime seasonal beer, is a crisp blond beer with a hefty dose of USA hops (Amarillo, Warrior), that manages to be flavorsome while still being low of alcohol (5.2%ABV). Brune, very malty with flavors of caramel and chocolate, and also deceptively full of flavor for its 6.5%ABV. All of De Rulles' beers come in 75cl bottles.
*the brewhouse of De Rulles*
July 13th 2008: More beer from Brouwerij De Molen! The most spectacular of which is Bommen & Granaten, a barleywine brewed with champagne yeast, clocking in at 15.2%ABV (398 bottles only). Incredibly concentrated beer, with lots of aging potential. Hel & Verdoemenis is the third beer in De Molen's Imperial Porter/Stout series (Tsarina Esra, Rasputin). It is brewed with types of malt that were originally used for stouts from the early 20th and the 19th century, emulating the style of the stouts from that period. Oud Hollands Tuig is a light, spicy and citric beer, very flavorsome for its 5%ABV. Apart from the new beers, most of the other beers from De Molen are back in stock: Amarillo, Amerikaans, Donder & Bliksem, and Storm & Averij.
July 2nd 2008: Two new American heavy-hitters on our shelves: Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron and Pizza Port Hop-15. The former is a 12%ABV dark ale that was aged in 10000-gallon oak barrels, which were specially built by Dogfish Head - it is very delicate and complex beer, with flavors like caramel, vanilla and cinnamon. The latter, Hop-15, is less delicate, a monster of a Double IPA that's about the closest you can get to pure hop oil. Well, to be fair, it also has a strong malt backbone but the hops definitely steal the show here. Both beers are available in very small quantities only..
July 2nd 2008: We have a couple of new rarities for sale. A few bottles of Westvleteren 8 and 12 dating from 1995, and six 1.5 liter magnums of Rochefort 8. The Rochefort 8 magnums were brewed only once in a 500-bottle batch and, needlessly to say, Westvleteren from 1995 isn't very easy to come by either, so don't sleep on this if you are interested! Contact us for pricing.
June 8th 2008: 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.
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June 6th 2008: 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.
June 1st 2008: 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.
May 23th 2008: 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.
May 18th 2008: 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!
May 9th 2008: Back in stock: De Dolle Brouwers' Boskeun! De Dolle Brouwers' spring-seasonal never disappoints. Strong blond beer with flavors of peppery hops and coriander, but also vanilla and almonds - chill it slightly and it'll be stunning: enough complexity for sipping but also enough crispness for quaffing.
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5% discounts on 6-packs of the same beer, 10% on full crates!
Valid on all beers unless rare/limited.
February 26th 2009: A variety of American beers has been added to our assortment, including a handful of rare and highly sought-after beers. Many of these beers have never been for sale outside America before! Now for sale are..
Russian River's Pliny the Elder, the quintessential IPA, extremely hoppy and resinous with flavors of grapefruit and pine, but still in perfect balance thanks to the malt-backbone.
Three Floyds Dark Lord, a legendary 13% imperial stout that's brewed only once a year (on "Dark Lord Day") and has a huge cult following. Incredibly thick and viscous, one of the richest imperial stouts out there.
Three Floyds Wipeout IPA, an IPA in "San Diego style", brewed with five different hop-strains: crisp and refreshing, yet with a hop-profile that's complex enough for serious tasting also.
Three Floyds Dreadnaught, perhaps the most famous Double IPA ever, a true hop bomb at 9.5%. Enormous hop flavors, kept in balance by enormous malt flavors. Huge.
Three Floyds Behemoth, a rich barleywine, spicy and full-bodied, with an impressively complex malt-profile.
Three Floyds / Mikkeller Oatgoop, a collaboration project between Three Floyds and experimental Danish brewery Mikkeller: an barleywine brewed with oats (oatwine).
Dogfish Head 120 Minutes IPA, an experiment in hoppiness. Brewed to 45 degrees Plato this is one of the thickest beers ever made. Unreal amounts of hop added make for a spectacular treat for the hophead. 21% ABV.
Dogfish Head Theobroma, a spiced ale brewed to an ancient recipe. Contains cacao, honey and a variety of other spices.
Victory Hop Wallop, a strong IPA with plenty of resinous hoppiness. No-nonsense solid IPA.
Bells Expedition Stout, one of the most critically acclaimed imperial stouts of the USA. Incredibly complex, with all sorts of roasted malty flavors and a subtle hop presence.
Bells Eccentric Ale, an 11% heavily spiced ale. Bittersweet, with flavors of berries and fruits. One of a kind!
Bells Third Coast Ale, a strong and rich barleywine with Bells' attention to detail: rounded, complex yet balancsed. Perhaps more comparable with English barleywines in style than the (often very hoppy) USA barleywines.
Bells Hopslam, a monstrous Double IPA of 10%ABV. Incredibly crisp, hoppy and resinous.
Terrapin Wake-N-Bake Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout, perhaps as much as a mouthful as its name would imply, this is a succulent imperial stout brewed with high quality coffee beans and oatmeal. Bittersweet and roasted, very rich.
Founders Breakfast Stout, another oatmeal/coffee stout of amazing richness and density. Bring a spoon!
Lagunitas IPA & Maximus, two clean and crisp IPA's by Lagunitas. The Maximus is the stronger, more concentrated version of the regular IPA.
Brooklyn Local 1, a strong spicy ale by Brooklyn Brewing. A very special yeast gives a characteristic flavor to this beer, slightly peppery with lemon and coriander flavors. 9%.
Lost Abbey Inferno Ale, a dry and spicy Belgian-style 8.5% ale.
Lost Abbey Angel's Share, a barleywine aged for six months on ex-bourbon casks. A rich and malty ale with nicely integrated oak characteristics.
Lost Abbey Judgement Day, a Quadrupel-style ale brewed with raisins. Fruity and spicy.
Stone/Nogne O/Jolly Pumpkin Special Holiday Ale, a collaboration project between three high-quality, experimental brewers. Spiced with chestnuts, juniper berry, white sage and caraway seeds.
February 22th 2009: Another great beer from Belgian brewery De La Senne (Zennebrouwerij), and it's very well hopped as usual: Equinox, a dark-brown ale with 8.5%ABV and an almost stout-like malt profile, with flavors of coffee and chocolate. The assertive hoppiness shows mostly on the finish, a very oily hoppiness as found in the stronger American IPAs. Highly recommended!
February 8th 2009: New in stock: Schneider Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock, the ice-distilled version of Schneider's Aventinus weizenbock. The ice distillation results in a concentrated and complex beer: at 12%ABV and a specific gravity of 1.117, the flavors & aromas of the original Aventinus are amplified enormously. It is rich and malty, with the typical esters from the wheat contributing subtle clove- and bread-flavors. Exceptionally full-bodied. 33cl bottles.
January 25th 2009: The Belgian brewery De Struise Brouwers and the Danish Mikkeller have joined forces and brewed a fantastic IPA. Simply called "Mikkeller", bottled in a Struise Brouwers style 33cl bottle, it sports 130 IBU's and has a very American hop-profile: oily, with lots of grapefruit and pine flavor. One for the hop-heads.
December 31th 2008: Back in stock: Taras Boulba & Zinnebir, the excellent hoppy ales from Belgian brewery De Zenne. Both are very fresh and herbal tasting, light in alcohol but impressively complex and flavorsome!
December 7th 2008: A new batch of beers from Brouwerij De Molen has arrived, along with a small amount of their Bierlikeur. Familiar bottles such as the Cuvee, Hamer & Sikkel, Hel & Verdoemenis, Amarillo, Amerikaans, Stout, Winterbock, and Bloed Zweet & Tranen are back in stock, but a couple of impressive new Molen beers have been added to our selection as well:
Heil & Zegen, a "double" IPA with strong grapefruit flavors and a very bitter & dry finish where the high IBU's really show, and Hemel & Aarde, a big imperial stout made with smoked malt -- malt from the kiln of the single-malt whisky distiller Bruichladdich on the island of Islay. It is a brew where roasted flavors come together with a slightly salty smokiness and an impressive malt-bitterness, quite a rugged ale.
The Bierlikeur is a liquor distilled from De Molen's own beer, aged for six months on French oak and bottled in slender corked bottles. In flavor it reminds of De Molen's stronger stouts, bitter with a very pleasant roastedness. The oak shows with subtle flavors of vanilla and bourbon, but doesn't overwhelm. The finish is long, slightly warming at 21%, ending bone-dry. Only 120 bottles of 50cl were made.
December 7th 2008: The first bottles of this years SNAB Ijsbock and Ezelenbock are on the shelves! As usual, these bocks are absolutely stunning, with the Ijsbok (an "ice-distilled" bock) offering impressive concentration and thickness (layer upon layer of chocolate, caramel and nutmeg flavors) and the Ezelenbock being the lighter & more approachable cousin of the Ijsbok (while still being quite rich and filling). Great cold-weather beers, but be quick as these bocks tend to sell very rapidly.
December 7th 2008: The 2008 edition of De Dolle Brouwers' Stille Nacht is now available! Strong and fruity (similar to the '07 and '06), slightly spicy but without the licorice flavors that marked older batches. Very friendly and easy-drinking for a Stille Nacht (let alone for a 12% ale!). Will certainly gain more spice flavors and complexity with age, but is already surprisingly approachable for a young Stille Nacht!
November 9th 2008: A couple of interesting new rarities are now available. Amongst them are bottle of Westmalle Extra, the blond ale that's brewed only twice per year and is meant for Westmalle's monks' personal consumption, a bottle of Westvleteren 6 (red cap) from 1995 (the long discontinued Westvleteren beer), an old yet well-preserved Westvleteren chalice-glass from the late 1980's, when Westvleteren was being brewed at the St. Sixtus brewery, a couple of bottles of very old Westvleteren 12 from the same period (age estimated at 20 years) but still in very good shape, and a bottle of Struise Brouwers' Mon Dijou, a fruity blond ale brewed only once for Belgian hotel Mon Dijou.
October 20th 2008: This year's bock beers are slowly but surely starting to appear on the shelves. Amongst them are classics like the rich & fruity Barbar Winterbock, the complex & very smoky Schlenkerla Urbock, the new version of De Molen's Borefts Bock, the slightly eccentric but interesting Nelis from Amsterdam-based brewery De Prael and the prototypical Dutch bock Jopen's Bockbier.
But we also offer a few bock beers that we haven't had in previous years: Mommeriete's excellent Gramsbarger Najaars Bock, a very dry and slightly smoky/roasty bock with plenty strength, in line with the high quality beers Mommeriete has been producing lately, and Emelisse Dubbelbock, one of the few bock beers that are still bottom-fermented, with flavors not unlike the strong German bocks, quite soft and full-bodied but with tons of flavor, a very nice surprise from this small brewery.
The PINT bokbier festival -- the largest beerfest in the Netherlands -- will kick off next week (lasting from the 24th to the 26th) and you'll be able to sample many of the bockbeers that'll appear on our shelves later in the season there, as well as most of the previously mentioned ones!
October 19th 2008: Most of the familiar beers from brouwerij De Molen are back in stock, and.. we have also added two of De Molen's new beers to our assortment: Bloed Zweet & Tranen, a strong 8% stout made with smoked malt (part peat-smoked malt, part Bamberg-style beechwood-smoked malt), and Steen & Been, another smoked stout, even stronger than the previous one at 11%ABV, with peat-smoked malt only. Both new beers are bottled in corked 75cl bottles.
October 12th 2008: Exciting times! A batch of very interesting Danish beers has arrived last week, with some heavyhitters from Mikkeller and a selection of intruiging bottles from Amager.
The Mikkeller beers currently in stock are: All Others Pale Ale, a nice and crisp 6% pale ale in the American tradition, lots of citric hops; Beer Geek Breakfast, their infamous oatmeal stout, brewed with a bit of coffee -- "it goes extremely well with breakfast" according to the Mikkeller brewers themself; the Big Worse Barleywine, a 12% barleywine with a slightly spicy malt profile, a very complex sipper; Black Hole, a 13.1% imperial stout, absolutely huge with all sorts of roasted and chocolate-y flavors; the behemoth imperial stout Black, sporting a 17.5% alcohol content (!) and an extremely concentrated flavor profile, gargantuan; Draft Bear, Mikkeller's take on pilsener (they call theirs an "imperial pilsener"), very (Noble-)hoppy, top-fermented with lager yeast, boosted up to 8%; IT'S ALIVE!, a Brett-y brown ale, slightly musky, slightly sweet, spicy -- an odd one; and Jackie Brown, the crisp & hoppy brown ale, very balanced and drinkable.
From Amager we stock Batch One, a strong IPA-like ale, hopped with Simcoe hops only, highlighting their flavors & aromas; their Imperial Stout, a very bitter take on the style, with 140+ IBU according to the brewers; Papsoe, a quadrupel brewed in honour of the ratebeer.com member "Papsoe" who recently tasted & reviewed his 10000th new beer, it's a real winterwarmer with quite a bit of alcohol, some sweetness and a spiciness of cloves & cinnamon; Frederiksen, a full-bodied imperial stout, almost chewy, with nice chocolate/vanilla/licorice flavors to it.
September 21th 2008: We now sell Cracked Kettle T-shirts and hooded sweaters, in addition to T-shirts from Amsterdam-based Brouwerij 't IJ! The T-shirts and sweaters are made from high quality cotton and are available in sizes S to XL. The Cracked Kettle T-shirts come in the colors black, grey and steel blue; the T-shirts from Brouwerij 't IJ in black and light blue.
September 21th 2008: The annual PINT Bokbier-festival is drawing near again! Holland's largest beerfest is all about bock beers and there will be over 50 varieties on tap, most of them from Dutch breweries. Spectacular! The festival will be held in the weekend of October 24th, 25th and 26th in De Beurs van Berlage, in Amsterdam. If you are in town, do not miss it! More details on the PINT website: http://www.pint.nl/pint/bbf.htm
August 19th 2008: Now in stock: the beers from Belgian brewery De Rulles. This tiny brewery has been producing their ales in the south-east of Belgium for seven years now. We managed to get a hold of just a few of their bottles: Blonde, a light yet complex ale with a surprisingly spicy hop-bite. Tripel, a stronger and slightly less dry version of the Blonde, with some light honey flavors, nice and chewy. Estivale, the springtime seasonal beer, is a crisp blond beer with a hefty dose of USA hops (Amarillo, Warrior), that manages to be flavorsome while still being low of alcohol (5.2%ABV). Brune, very malty with flavors of caramel and chocolate, and also deceptively full of flavor for its 6.5%ABV. All of De Rulles' beers come in 75cl bottles.
*the brewhouse of De Rulles*
July 13th 2008: More beer from Brouwerij De Molen! The most spectacular of which is Bommen & Granaten, a barleywine brewed with champagne yeast, clocking in at 15.2%ABV (398 bottles only). Incredibly concentrated beer, with lots of aging potential. Hel & Verdoemenis is the third beer in De Molen's Imperial Porter/Stout series (Tsarina Esra, Rasputin). It is brewed with types of malt that were originally used for stouts from the early 20th and the 19th century, emulating the style of the stouts from that period. Oud Hollands Tuig is a light, spicy and citric beer, very flavorsome for its 5%ABV. Apart from the new beers, most of the other beers from De Molen are back in stock: Amarillo, Amerikaans, Donder & Bliksem, and Storm & Averij.
July 2nd 2008: Two new American heavy-hitters on our shelves: Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron and Pizza Port Hop-15. The former is a 12%ABV dark ale that was aged in 10000-gallon oak barrels, which were specially built by Dogfish Head - it is very delicate and complex beer, with flavors like caramel, vanilla and cinnamon. The latter, Hop-15, is less delicate, a monster of a Double IPA that's about the closest you can get to pure hop oil. Well, to be fair, it also has a strong malt backbone but the hops definitely steal the show here. Both beers are available in very small quantities only..
July 2nd 2008: We have a couple of new rarities for sale. A few bottles of Westvleteren 8 and 12 dating from 1995, and six 1.5 liter magnums of Rochefort 8. The Rochefort 8 magnums were brewed only once in a 500-bottle batch and, needlessly to say, Westvleteren from 1995 isn't very easy to come by either, so don't sleep on this if you are interested! Contact us for pricing.
June 8th 2008: 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.
June 6th 2008: 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.
June 1st 2008: 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.
May 23th 2008: 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.
May 18th 2008: 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!
May 9th 2008: Back in stock: De Dolle Brouwers' Boskeun! De Dolle Brouwers' spring-seasonal never disappoints. Strong blond beer with flavors of peppery hops and coriander, but also vanilla and almonds - chill it slightly and it'll be stunning: enough complexity for sipping but also enough crispness for quaffing.
May 2nd 2008: A few more beers from USA brewery Flying Dog have been added to our assortiment: the thick and malty Road Dog Porter, and the crisp and light In-Heat Wheat Hefeweizen. PS.. we also have a few bottles of Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA on sale for our regular readers, email us if you are interested...
April 6th 2008: 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.
