This post is a continuation of the 2015 New Beer Every Day Beer Diary Challenge, #ottbeerdiary. Over the course of 2015, I drank at least one new beer every day. Please read the background in the link above, and enjoy reading about the most recently tasted beers below. This year I may deviate from the diary format in some posts, hoping to concentrate more on the locations and the breweries I am enjoying. If you’d like to join the challenge as well, let me know in the comments below. You can catch up on all of our posts as part of the challenge under the tag ottbeerdiary.
Day 389: January 24, 2016
Diary entry:
A couple of nice beer events gong on today in Eindhoven, with an IPA event being held at the Drinker’s Pub starting at 1PM and a tap takeover by two of the better new Belgian breweries, Het Nest and Brouwers Verzet, at Van Moll starting at 3PM.
Perfect timing, so I decided to take part in both events, arriving for the 1PM start of the IPAs, and continuing on to the tap takeover a bit after 3. My friend / colleague John and his family joined for the IPA event, and ran into another colleague and couple of friends, Joris and Judy there as well, and they also joined me for the tap takeover. These events are definitely more fun when you’re not there by yourself.
There were quite a few beers sampled, including:
Drinker’s Pub IPA Day
Actually, I starter off with a few non-IPA’s, as John was delayed due to some school visits with his son, and Drinker’s had a few interesting other beers I wanted to try:
Triple Sec by Oldskool Brewery – 8% Belgian Tripel – Only a week old! Carbonation is still building, but the flavors are excellent already. Slightly bitter. Nice citrus base. Tasty!
Goudblond by Budelse Brouwerij – 6% Blond Ale – Not the normal bottled Goudblond, but a special, unfiltered edition. Surprisingly clear for an unfiltered beer. Fruity aroma. Decent flavors.
ALTernative by Brouwerij Rodenburg – 6.5% Rauchbier – Collaboration with Bamberg Bier of Brazil, whose brewers I met at Zwanze Day in Brussels in 2013! Excellent smokey aroma. Nice smoke flavor. Good base. Could be a little richer to reach that true Bamberg Rauch. But very nice.
Dabinett by Ross on Wye Cider & Perry – 8.4% Cider – Apple aroma. Goat cheese on the flavor. Quite nice!
And then into the hops (all of which were 33cl bottles that John and I split):
Gulpener Ur-Hop by Gulpener Bierbrouwerij – 6.5% India Pale Lager – Clean and good.
Underall Mosaic by Mikkeller – 4.6% Session IPA – Nice hoppiness. Not very strong, but clean. Part of Mikkeller’s Single Hop Session IPA Series, in collaboration with To Øl, and brewed at De Proefbrouwerij in Belgium.
Triporteur Total Loss by BOMBrewery – 7.7% Black IPA – Quite good. Bitter. Not too sweet for a dark ipa. Well done!
Harviestoun IPA by Harviestoun Brewery – 5.7% English IPA – Nice IPA, with Sutra, Simco, Amarillo, and Apollo hops. Decent bitter. Citrus. Mild.
Alien Claw by Naparbier – 6.8% Belgian IPA – The name rings toy story, but the label is all Ridley Scott. The beer is bitter, but I expected more from Naparbier. Saphir, Simcoe, and Chinook Hops give 50 IBUs.
Bald Eagle DIPA by Morebeer Brewing – 8.2% Double IPA – Collaboration with Brouwerij Kees, and brewed in the Netherlands. Very nice. Very hoppy, with 20 grams of hops per liter. Excellent bitterness.
Van Moll Tap Takeover
Luckily I had already tried a number of beers on tap here today, so focused on the new ones for me, and then a few additional beers that seemed particularly interesting.
Hertenheer Blond & Bitter by Brouwerij Het Nest – 6.5% and 85 EBU Belgian Pale Ale – Nice bitter and fruity blond flavors.
Golden Tricky by Brouwers Verzet – 7.5% Belgian IPA – Quite a nice IPA! Good bitter flavors.
Super NoAH by Brouwers Verzet – 4.9% Belgian Blonde Ale – Good. Decent.
Oud Bruin – Cherry by Brouwers Verzet – 7% Flanders Oud Bruin – 7% cherry infused sour ale. Quite sour. Very sour. But enjoyable.
Hopruiming 2015 by Van Moll – 6.5% American IPA – Very nice hop and malt balance. Pretty good!
Porter Baltique by Les Trois Mousquetaires – LTM – 10% Baltic Porter – Beautiful. Rich dark flavors. Everything you look for in a dark beer. Slightly subdued. Lovely after sitting in the glass. One of the best Porters I’ve had!
Raspberry Tart by Oersoep – 6.5% Sour Ale – Oh lovely! Sour fruit aroma. Raspberry and bitter sour flavors.
The Beer:
Name: Full of Hops
Style: Belgian Trippel IPA
Producer: Marina in collaboration with Het Nest
Alcohol content: 10.0%
Bottle size: 0.2 l draft
Purchased from: Van Moll in Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Full of Hops, a collaboration between Marina of Blanes, Spain and Het Nest of Oud-Turnhout, Belgium. A 10% Belgian Trippel IPA collaboration between Costa Brava and Belgium. Very smooth. Nice bitter, a little malty. Very well balanced. Not one for the hop heads looking for caustic bitter. The Triple in this Trippel IPA is Belgian Trippel, not the normal Triple of bitterness as well as the 10%+ of ABV. Very nice.
Interesting to note that just like the Rauchbier at the first stop, I also have met the collaborating brewer of this beer, having met Pep Andreu Mc Carry at TBEX in Lloret de Mar last year, and at the Birrasana beer festival in Blanes that he organizes.
