A day in Bodegraven (part two)

Rather than wait for the possible arrival of the stragglers, Kevin gives us a quick rundown of the brewing kit. It's nice and shiny. And quite a decent size, with a 35 hl brew house and fermenters between 50 and 160 hl. But that's just the start. De Molen has recently taken up the other half of the building and plans a big expansion.

Tom Kehoe, owner of Yards brewery in Philadelphia and his wife Linda turns up after not too long.

"We've met before, haven't we?" I say to Tom.

"You're the guy with the book, aren't you?"

"Yep, that's me."

I had a book event at Yards in 2014. The thing I most remember about it is one of the audience trying to take over my talk. Very odd. Only time I've had that happen. Usually I talk so much no-one has chance to jump in. He had to be discretely led away and strangled in a back room.

Kevin is keen to give Tom a hands-on experience of brewing De Molen Style. Or just wants to dodge some work. It's fun to watch Tom play with the hoses. Mostly because it isn't me doing it. It looks like quite heavy work. Past experience (stirring the mash with a paddle) has taught me to be wary of volunteering in a brewery. Unless it's pouring the hops into the kettle. I'm cool with that. Quick, not too strenuous, lovely smell.

"Would you like a coffee or a beer?" Menno asks the new arrivals.

"I'll have a beer, please, Menno." I reply, without really having been asked. He doesn't look surprised. We've known each other for a while. He brings me a bottle of Licht & Lustig.

"Mmmm . . nice hop aroma."

"You've changed your tune. You didn't use to like American hops."

"I've been spending too much time on the other side of the Atlantic."

A little texting reveals that the remainder of the party is still in Amsterdam. So those of us that could be arsed to turn up set off on a tour with Menno.

It's amazing how much the brewery has grown since my first visit. Back when Menno only had the windmill and it was home to brewery, restaurant and shop. The current premises have more than ten times the floor area of the original brewery. Though much hasn't been filled yet. Sure, there is an impressive rack of wooden barrels along one wall. But there remains a lot of empty space. Not for too long. Twelve 150 hl conicals are due to be installed. Along with new bottling equipment and a bar. I'm sure it will be dead impressive, when finished.

Will the remainder of the party make lunch?

No time

I usually like to write little reports about my travels in search of beer. But I've been very lax of late. Been too busy.

The Kimchi Farm Festival, the first anniversary part of Truman and last weekend the Borefts Festival. All events I've been too busy to write about.

Maybe you think I'm about to put that right. Well, not really. Sort of. This will be a very brief write-up.

The Kimchi Festival must be one of Amsterdam's best-kept secrets. Held annually on an urban farm, wedged between railway lines and an industrial estate, it's billed as a food festival. But there's quite a big beer element. One which seems to be growing. They have the usual local(-ish) suspects: Oedipus, Two Chefs, Butcher's Tears, Pampus and Rooie Dop; but also Oersoep from further afield and home brewers.

The small plastic cups are a bit annoying and a double measure rarely seems any larger than a single one. The food is quite pricey, too. On the other hand, it's a great setting and it's easy enough to bring along your own food and drink. Which is what we did. Got the best table in the garden again, too.

I really shouldn't be telling you about it. Don't want you grockles clogging the place up next year.

A couple of weeks back I took Dolores for a whirlwind visit to London. Mostly just to drop by the Truman's first anniversary party in Hackney Wick. We flew in Saturday morning and back out again early Sunday evening.

I showed her the high life again with curry down Drummond Street. Seven quid for all you can eat (vegetarian) plus BYO booze from the supermarket opposite. Not even Wetherspoons can match that for value. Then we were off to Greenwich. Not to see the observatory, Cutty Sark, the Naval College or any crap like that. I'd a date for a few beers and a chat with Rod Jones in Greenwich Union. And to marvel at the lovely label collection on the wall. Lots of old Eastern European ones, which are amongst my all-time favourite designs.

Next day I showed Dolores the Olympic Park. "Look, there's the Olympic Park" I said as we got off the train at Hackney Wick. It's true, you could see the back of the olympic stadium and that hideous pile of scrap iron that looks like a bomb-damaged helter-skelter. And then proceeded to drag her through an industrial estate, past a stinky skip yard and along the side of an urban motorway. And Dolores says I never take her anywhere.

Cask Ben Truman was the main reason I'd traipsed over. A beer I've dreamed of trying, I've seen it so often in Truman's logs. P1B as it was called in the brewhouse. Bit more prosaic. The beer didn't disappoint. Firmly hoppy but still drinkable by the pint. Well, if you're a pisshead like me.

Derek Prentice surprised me with the bestest present ever: a 1913-1914 Truman Brick Lane brewing log. I was speechless, which, after a few beers, is a rare occurrence. I'll never be able to thank him enough.

The other reason I was over - apart from getting a chance to meet Derek Prentice again and the boys from Truman for the first time - was the London Keeper. It's a late 19th-century Double Stout. At 8% ABV, it's the perfect afternoon session beer. At least that's the way I was drinking it. We only had a couple of hours before needing to dash to Liverpool Street.

There we dashed around the Tesco, plonked ourselves on the Stansted Express and let out a sigh. Just time for a pint in the airside Wetherspoons before getting on the plane.

Just one event to go - last weekend's Borefts Festival. One of my favourites, with one important proviso: that I take my own glass.

There are always loads of people I know there. Can be a bit of a disadvantage. I'd go to fetch a beer and bump into several acquaintances on the way to and from the bar. I was sometimes gone for more than an hour. That's one of the reasons I take along and imperial pint glass. With three or four measures poured into it, I've even beer to perhaps even last all the way back to my seat. Though there were times I was on my second refill by the time I returned.

There was a bit less cask than last year. Which was worrying, because cask Bitter was how I'd tempted Dolores out into the countryside. Luckily she seemed to like the beers of Närke. The weaker ones, obviously. She's not in the same pisshead league as me.

We'd taken our own food again. No point throwing money down the drain. I have my expensive international lifestyle to finance.

I was so busy, I didn't even have time to take my camera out of its bag. Let alone take any notes. I never do seem to have time for that sort of stuff nowadays.

We didn't stay late. "Arrive early, grab a seat and piss off when it gets full." is my standard advice for beer festivals. We were back in time for Dr. Who.

Borefts Festival

I'll be at the Borefts Festival tomorrow. Just in case any of you feel like pushing beer into my hands.

I'm eagerly anticipating the Thornbridge/Kernel Burton. You can never have too much Burton.

Smoke and Fire

I was gutted at missing the De Molen Festival a few weeks ago. Thinking back, I realised it had been ages since my last visit to Bodegraven. I put that right yesterday.

Stupid. I must be stupid. Every time I go, Menno offers me a load of his latest brews. Why on earth don't I go more often?

Some things are just a bad idea. Coffee Stouts. Bourbon Stouts. I've still not forgiven Mike for slipping me that chili beer unannounced. Chili beer. What a shit idea.

Chili, shit, coffee. Funnily enough, those all featured in the beers Menno forced on me yesterday.

Rook en Vuur. Understanding a smattering of Dutch, I wondered what the name was about. Smoke and Fire. A sip told me where the first part of the name came from. Smoked malt. But the fire.

"Chili. Can you feel a slight prickle on your tongue?" Menno explained the Vuur bit.

Very subtle and unexpectedly good.

Mout en Mocca. That was an easy one to guess. Coffee Stout. I've had too many that were loaded up with roasted barley and black malt, then coffee on top of that. Roast overload. Mout en Mocca isn't like that at all. It has an incredibly complex coffee aroma.The tastes is rich, roasty and very, very layered. Top stuff. There's my opinion of Coffee Stout changed.

That's coffee and chili covered. Just the shit to go. Enter yet another Coffee Stout. Kopi Loewak. This one made with the world's most expensive coffee. You know, the stuff the cats shit out. Now there are two Coffee Stouts I like.

A revelatory day.



In the interests of full disclosure, I will reveal that I did not pay for the beers consumed. Menno is a really nice guy.

Family trip to Bodegraven

Not much need of an introduction. The title says it all. The kids had already visted De Molen a couple of times, but it was Dolores's first time.

We started not at the brewery itself, but the fermentation and packing department. It's in a former cheese warehouse. Bodegraven is still big on cheese. In the streets around the one used by De Molen, there are half a dozen other cheese warehouses, mixed in amongst quaint, little houses.

Menno's full of ideas. As usual, he had half a dozen new beers for me to try. We started with something light: Amerikaans. This is a version of the cask-conditioned Engels he exports to Britain. Except it uses American hops. And is a bottled beer. It's remarkably tasty for just 4.5% ABV. Dolores was convinced that it was much stronger.

Bloed, Zweet & Tranen (Blood, Sweat and Tears) was next. Brewed from a combination malts that includes brown and peated, it's rich, deep and satisfying. I'd only just about had time to finish my glass when the next beer arrived.

Hel & Verdoemenis is another powerful and complex dark beer. Maybe this was the one with the peated malt. I wasn't taking notes. This one was 12% ABV (I know that for sure) and it wasn't the strongest I was offered.

Cuvee, matured in a wine barrel for six months, which came next is almost 13% ABV. The third fermentation in the barrel has added a zesty lemon aroma that is odd, but certainly not unpleasant, in such a strong dark beer. The beer itself is a blend of Rasputin and Tsarina Esra.

A dessert beer, called B & G, was next in my glass. To hit its 15% ABV, champagne yeast is used for the final part of the fermentation. Malty, sweet and with a touch of raisn that's reminiscent of a sherry. This was much more to Dolores's taste than most of the other beers. Very tasty and really suitable as a substitute for dessert wine. It reminded me a little of Whitbread Gold Label, but richer.

To finish was something really special. Beer Liqueur. The only one in the world made exclusively from beer and nothing else. It's really a fortified beer. First Menno brews an unhopped strong beer. This is fortified by the addition distilled beer. I think the result is delcicious. No idea if you could still count it as beer, but who cares?

After the liqueur, we had a quick tour of the warehouse, paying particular attention to his wooden barrels. If you're going to the Copenhagen festival, you're in for a treat. There's a barrel of Cuvee heading there. Yum.

We eventually made it to the pub and brewery. There I had a draught Borefts Stout. SOme of the last, as it won't be brewed again. Pretty nice, Then a draught Tsarina Esra. Really was yummy, despite being a tad too cold. I finished with a bottled Tsarina Esra that was very close to perfection.

Of course, Menno and I chatted about what he'll be brewing for me next. But not before November. It's just too expensive to buy the hops until the new crop arrives. Barclay Perkins Russian Stout and Whitbread KKK. That's what the plan is.

What a dull post. Apologies. I was having so much fun I didn't pay proper attention. Or take notes. I've let you down. Just drank some wonderful beers and had the brewer explain how he created them. How does that Edith Piaff song go? I think I had my priorities right.

Go to de Molen yourself. Menno has some magnificent beers. Say I sent you, and you might even get to try a few.

P & SSS

Forgive me for not posting much this week. Monday I dropped by Bodegraven to pick up some beer. My beer. Six bottles each of Porter and SSS. They've given my evenings purpose.

Words, words, words. I have literally several of them. Not all different, but you can't make proper sentences for long without repeating some. Try it yourself.

"Where can I buy these exciting new beers?" There's a long answer and a short answer to that question. Let's go with the short option. My tea's getting cold (colder, it was already cold when I started eating it). The USA. As you read this, it should be in transit. The Shelton Brothers have bought both batches in their entirety.

Apart from my bottles. One of the main reasons for the whole project was that I wanted to try the beers. Not just a couple of times, but often. So I have my own stash. I'm hoping that I can keep my hands off some of the SSS and let it age a year or ten. I'm an optimist.

And a few bottles will be on sale in De Molen's shop. You'd best be quick. It really is just a few bottles.

To summarise: in Europe, your best chance of getting hold of any is to be nice to me. I'm a weak man. I can be bribed in so many different ways. I'm cheap, too. So it won't even cost you very much. Just listening to me talk about extinct German top-fermenting styles for fifteen minutes would probably be enough. Few last more than 11 seconds voluntarily.