News Archive

The News Archive

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.

February 17th 2008: New in stock: Rodenbach Vin de Céréale vintage 2004. This is Rodenbach's top offering and comes from one single barrel (nr. 135), where it has been aging for three years. The beer is bottled in corked, silkpaper-wrapped 37.5cl bottles. We have only six bottles for sale.


          *the oak barrels at Rodenbach*


February 10th 2008: 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!


  *Brasserie Fantome's farmhouse ales*

Note: the SNAB beers have arrived!


February 3rd 2008: 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.


February 2nd 2008: New in stock: Boon Faro. This rare style of beer, 'Faro', 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 excessive (as in some other Faro's).




January 26th 2008: 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.


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.



Note: we have started to offer the news-updates on our homepage as an RSS-feed as well. Using an RSS-reader you can keep track of our updates more easily from now on. Click the RSS logo to be pointed to the address of our feed, or use the following direct link: http://crackedkettle.com/ck.rss




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!




December 29th 2007: Back in stock: Struise Brouwers' Pannepot and (a small amount of) De Dolle Brouwers' Dulle Teve (which is Belgian for, well, "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!




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.





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!




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.



November 23th 2007: More Christmas-beer! The Belgian brewery De Ranke has released their 'Père Noël', which is surprisingly light (7%ABV) and unspiced for a Christmas seasonal. Like De Ranke's other beers, this is heavily hopped yet well-balanced, and refreshingly dry as opposed to other Christmas-beers which can be sweet or even cloying. Père Noël comes in 75cl bottles with paper wrappings.

Out of England came the beautiful Fuller's Vintage Ale 2007. Not a Christmas-beer per sé, but an excellent Winter seasonal nonetheless.  To quote John Keeling, brewmaster at Fullers: "I have handcrafted this beer from the finest Fuggles, Target and Super Styrian hops, Maris Otter malted barley and of course, our unique yeast to create a truly extraordinary unique brew."  And he is right: this really is a unique beer, complex & succulent, like a liquid christmas-cake. The Fullers Vintage Ale is bottle-conditioned (which is not very common for British beers) and will improve with aging.



The Fuller's Vintage Ale and the Père Noël make great Christmas-gifts, but if you are looking for a more traditional Dutch present - and if Sinterklaasbier doesn't sound so appetizing to you - you might be interested in our selection of jenevers.
Jenever (also spelled Genever or Geneva) is a traditional Dutch liqour, originally made by flavoring maltwine (distilled malt) with juniper-berries ('jeneverbessen' in Dutch) and other spices.

Distinction is made between so-called jonge (young) jenever, and oude (old) jenever, with the former being only partly made from maltwine (the rest consisting of distilled grain). Oude jenever is often aged on oak casks, for up to 20 years.
We offer almost all the jenevers from the last remaining authentic jenever-distillery in Amsterdam: De Ooievaar. This distillery is over 200 years old, but they actually are remarkably modern, judging by their excellent, informative and bi-langual website: http://www.de-ooievaar.nl/english/

                      


November 18th 2007: The Christmas-beers are slowly trickling in again. We have corked 37.5cl bottles of the stunning Avec Les Bons Voeux from the Dupont Brasserie - a strong, complex and slightly spicy pale ale, a souped-up version of Dupont's regular farmhouse (saison) ales. The new Chouffe N'Ice is available too, as well as the St. Feuillien Cuvée Noël - both typical winter-warmers: dark, spicy, and strong.

Last but not least is the Sinterklaasbier, a beer brewed in honor of the annual Dutch celebration of the day before Saint Nicholas' death, the 5th of December. According to century-long tradition, a man dressed up as Saint Nicolas (flanked by a posse of Zwarte Pieten, men dressed up as Spanish Moor's) delivers presents to children on the night of the 4th of December, by throwing packages with presents through the chimneys of the children's houses. We are not making this up.
This tradition can be seen as the Dutch equivalent of Christmas, with Saint Nicholas being Santa Claus' counterpart, although the celebration of Christmas is also becoming more and more commonplace in the Netherlands - yes, two festivities in one month! So, as if all these festivities were not festive enough, brewery Du Bocq has decided to brew a slightly sweet & spicy dark ale and bottle it in corked 75cl bottles. Bottles with a large painting of Saint Nicholas' face on it - irresistible.




November 4th 2007: Since 1405, the German town of Bamberg is home to the Schlenkerla brewery, a brewery which brews its beers with a unique & very characteristic house-malt - the malt is dried over beechwood-smoke and gives the beer a distinctive full-bodied smoky taste, resulting in some of the finest examples of the traditional German stye of Rauchbier ('Smokebeer'). Those who enjoy Lapsang Souchong tea, or the heavily peated whisky from the Scottish isle of Islay will definitely appreciate these bold & smoky beers. We are proud to offer the full line-up of Schlenkerla's beers: the Märzen, Urbock (a bockbeer, arguably the most assertively smoky of all the Schlenkerla beers, yet with a nicely rounded bock-backbone), the Weizen (a traditional hefeweizen, brewed with both wheat and Schlenkerla malt), and the Helles Lagerbier (which is a crisp pale lager, well balanced, with just a tiny hint of smokiness).




October 26th 2007: The PINT Bockbier-festival has kicked off! The Bockbier-festival is the largest beer-festival in The Netherlands and is focused exclusively on bock-beers. Most beers are available on tap, at fair prices, and there will be smoke-free area's. The festival will be on Friday from 17.00 to 23.00, on Saturday from 12.00 to 23.00 and on Sunday from 12.00 to 19.00. The entrance-fee is 7 euro's and each beer (20cl glasses) will be 2 euro's. The festival is held in De Beurs van Berlage, in the center of Amsterdam. If you are in town, make sure to drop by!




October 24th 2007: We have received a rather large batch of Scandinavian beer! The Scandinavian microbrewers have built up a considerable reputation and we are proud to offer some of their best products. In stock are:

Nøgne Ø's Saison, Porter, Imperial Stout and Pale Ale.
Haandbryggeriet's Porter and Dark Force (Imperial Stout).
Slottskällans' Imperial Stout.
Nils Oscar's Barley Wine and Imperial Stout.
Mikkeller's Jackie Brown.
Huvila's ESB and Porter.
Ølfabrikken's Brown Ale and Porter.

...and more coming up!

October 19th 2007: In addition to the 'Danish Version' and the 'Reserva', we now also offer the 'regular' Pannepot! This version of the Pannepot - which is not meant for export to Denmark, or for aging on Barrique oak-barrels - is a tad sweeter with more liquorice character than the Danish version (which has more yeast presence, giving a more tart and sourish impression). It is a huge, bold & complex brew with excellent long-term cellaring potential. 

The brewer, De Struise Brouwers, also announced that the Pannepot Grand Reserva will be bottled in 33cl bottles at the end of this month. The Grand Reserva is made by giving the regular Reserva (which was already aged on Barrique oak for 14 months) an 8-months Calvados wood finish. We, for one, are looking forward to the Grand Reserva very much, even though we wonder if it is really possible to improve on the 'regular' Reserva that much.

                         *click on the picture for a larger version*


October 18th 2007: Let's focus on the spillage of drinking water for a moment. Yes, it is that time of the year again...

..the Crap Beer List 2007 is here! Please take a careful look at this list of horrors, for drinking one of these putrid brews will only heighten your appreciation of good beer! Five of the most absolutely abominable bottled liquids that we currently are selling:

5. Grolsch Kanon
A full bottle of this syrupy mess could kill a diabetic in mere seconds. Come to think of it, a full bottle of this could probably kill any living organism. I wouldn't know for sure though, I have never brought myself to drink more than a few sips.

4. Heineken
This beer makes our economy tick. I have tried very hard but I couldn't come up with any other positive comment about this vile liquid. The best thing about the Heineken bottles is that they are recyclable - the cans, however, are just beyond redemption.

3. Cobra
A shamelessly boring brew. The fact that this comes in a 66cl (23.3oz) bottle makes its bland character even more offensive - there's just so much of it! Those who are seeking complex aroma's and flavors will be better off with a glass of water.

2. Dragon Stout
A sweet stout from Jamaica, which pours a nearly opaque black with a dense & long-lasting tan head, leaving webby lacing. The roasted malt is well-integrated with the cane-sugar, vanilla and liquorice, carried by a thick & almost syrupy (yet not cloying) body with low carbonation and a long, sweet & roasty finish. A succulent brew. What? What do you mean 'this is the crap beer list, what the hell are you thinking' ..? Ah, I see... oh well, lets move on to #1.

1. Mongozo Banana
The label on the bottle reads 'Exotic beer - based on original recipe'. I wonder what that original recipe is - how do they make this? Is this the definite proof that it is possible to ferment shoe polish? How does this chemical mess even get past the customs? The Fair-Trade logo may have something to do with that. Any beer that is 'often served in a coconut shell' (according to the brewer's website) fully deserves the #1 spot on this list. Should be consumed for research-purposes only, but make sure that medical support is standing by.


October 6th 2007: A large amount of new bock beers just came in. The critically acclaimed Ijsbok from SNAB is back, along with their Ezelenbock. Also in, are Volenbock (last year's winner of PINT's Bokbier-festival), Weihenstephaner Vitus (a weizenbock), and Jopen's Bockbier.
Furthermore, we have a bock with smoked malt (Moenen, from De Hemel), Skendelse Bock from the St. Servattemus brewery, Wagenings Bokbier, Hoeksch Bok, and Kluytmans Bokbier.



Contact us if you have any questions!


September 29th 2007: We have received a number of beers from the American Left Hand Brewery: a heavy & assertive Imperial Stout, an English-style Black Jack Porter, and a lush & succulent Milk Stout.


September 21th 2007: A very special new batch has arrived: a few bottles of pre-1990 St. Bernardus 12 (8.5% ABV, from the era when it was still being brewed at the St. Sixtus monastery, where the Westvleteren is currently being produced), along with some matching old St. Sixtus glasses. As well as those old gems, we have procured some extremely old Westmalle Dubbel & Tripel. Those bottles don't have labels, the caps are rusty, and they must be several decades old! Contact us for more information...



We are also happy to announce that we have ample stock of De Struise Brouwers' flagship beers again! Copious amounts of Pannepot Reserva 2006, Pannepøt (both the 33cl and the 75cl bottles) and Aardmonnik were brought from Belgium to our shop. Along with them came a batch of the Fantôme as well as two new beers: Totentrekker, a Flemish Red Ale, and Buitenlust, a strong pale ale. Both are brewed at De Proefbrouwerij.


September 16th 2007: The first batch of bock beers has arrived: Budels Bok, Scheldebrouwerij's Wildebok, Van Steenberge's Leutebok, 't IJ Biobok, De Prael's Nelis, and the American Dogtoberfest from the Flying Dog Brewery.


September 13th 2007: New Gouden Carolus Cuvée van de Keizer has arrived! This flagship beer from Brouwerij Het Anker never dissappoints, and the 2007 bottling is no exception. Brewed only once a year, on the 24th of Februari (the birthday of Charlemagne), it is released in very limited amounts, bottled in corked 75cl bottles.
This dark, rounded & full-bodied ale, weighing in at 11% ABV, is notorious for aging well. After a few years in the cellar, this beer will rival the best of Westvleteren or Rochefort. Conveniently, we also still have a few stray bottles of the 2004 bottling laying around..


September 12th 2007: Stay tuned for this year's line-up of bock beers. Coming up are some of the very best Dutch & German bocks (as well as a handful of Belgian, Polish and even American ones), amongst them the SNAB Ezelenbok (1st place at the 2001, 2002 and 2005 Dutch Bockbierfestival) and the SNAB Ijsbok (a hefty bock in the style of the German Eisbocks, winner of the Silver Award at the World Beercup 2006). Brouwerij De Hemel will present their Rookbok (a bock with smoked malt). Last years Bockbierfestival winner, the Vølen bockbier (from a tiny brewery in the Dutch town of Volendam) will also be present. From Germany will arrive the critically acclaimed Andechs Doppelbock as well as a Weizenbock from Unertl.


September 8th 2007: The excellent Nieuw Ligt Grand Cru 2005 from Brouwerij De Hemel is back in stock. This heavy & complex dark ale comes in a beautifully silk-screened bottle, sealed with red wax. Even though it is still a young beer (according to the brewer the 2005 bottles will reach their peak in 2010), it has already won the 1st pr