Brouwerij het Ij Funenkade 7, 1018 AL Amsterdam Tel: 020-6228325 Email: info@brouwerijhetij.nl Homepage: http://www.brouwerijhetij.nl/ Founded: 1985 Annual production: 2,000 hl Beer alc Plato Description score (100) Plzen 5% 12.1° Pils. Excellent bitter beer, second only to Christoffel amongst Dutch pilsners. It does tend to swap around between top- and bottom-fermenting. First brewed in 1989. Bottle-conditioned. coriander, grass and pine aroma. bitter taste with wood and grass aromas; very bitter finish with coriander, pine, wood and clove aromas. Nicely bitter. The coriander and clove flavours give away the use of the Ij house top-fermenting yeast. 61 Natte 6.5% 14.5° Dubbel. First brewed in 1985. Bottle-conditioned. Toast, toffee, coriander, cream and dust aroma; sweetish/bitterish taste with coriander, cream and toast aromas; long bitter finish with chicory, burnt, cream and toffee aromas. The house spiciness (from the yeast, I guess) doesn't sit so well with this style. Reasonable, but not exactly typical of this style. 55 Zatte 8% 17° Tripel. First brewed in 1985. Bottle-conditioned. Fruit, orange, coriander, grass and cream aromas; bitterish taste with coriander, orange and fruit aromas; bitter finish with coriander and orange aromas. Like I say, the brewer's coriander obsession can get wearing. Pleasantly dry, but the coriander overwhelms pretty well everything else. 56 Columbus 9% 19.5° Strong ale. A dangerously drinakable amber ale. Outstandingly good. Biscuit, hop, lemon, coriander, grass and perfume aroma; sweetish/bitterish taste with biscuit, caramel, cream, herbal and nut aromas; very long bitter finish with bisguit, hop, resin and mint aromas. A good combination of biscuity malt and hop bitterness. Dangerously drinkable First brewed in 1987. Bottle-conditioned. 76 Struis 9% 22.1° Strong dark ale. Dates, grape, raisin, apple and nut aroma; sweet taste with chocolate, raisin, dates and cream aromas; long bitterish finish with chocolate, cream, black toffee and toast aromas. (Last tasted 18.08.2004 Currently delicious. Immensely complex dried fruit aroma, joined by a soft chocolate flavour in the mouth. Wonderful. First brewed in 1987. Bottle-conditioned. 82 Speciale Vlo 7%   Spiced ale. Brewed specially for Amsterdam beer shop De Bierkoning. Dark amber colour with a whipped cream head; coriander, citrus, peach, orange and barnyard aroma; sweetish/bitterish taste with coriander, orange, pepper, resin and barnyard aromas; bitter finish with coriander, pepper, resin and wood aromas. An unusual combination of coriander, hop and Brettanomyces flavours. Distinctive and very, very good. Tasted 29/06/2006. First brewed in 1989. Bottle-conditioned. 79 Ij-Bock 6.5% 16.2° Top-fermented. Dark Bock. Seasonal - Autumn. Usually excellent, but does vary. The 2001and 2002 versions featured lots of coriander. I won't bother with a more precise description as it varies hugely each year. 2003: darker than the last couple of years, less spiciness, but nice and clean and generally pretty good. 2004: not great, tastes infected. First brewed in 1986. Bottle-conditioned.   Ijndejaars 9% 19.5° Amber ale. Seasonal - Winter. Usually excellent. The 2002 version was incredibly variable - from barely drinkable to outstanding. Hop, toast, toffee, cherry and coriander aroma; bitterish/sweetish taste with caramel, dates and chicory aromas; bitterish finish with toasted, roasted, fruit and butter aromas. Has lots of roasted malt flavours. Quite pleasant. First brewed in 1987. Bottle-conditioned. 71 Paasij 7%   Golden ale. Seasonal - Spring. Very good beer, with lots of coriander. First brewed in 1989. Bottle-conditioned. 76 Ijwit 7%   Wheat beer with coriander. First brewed in 2002. Bottle-conditioned. Coriander, ginger, clove, grass and elderflower aroma; sweetish/bitterish taste with coriander, orange, herbal and wheat aromas; bitterish finish with hop, ginger, butter and herbal aromas. An unusual combination of wheat, spice and hop that works quite well. Too strong and hoppy for a normal witbier, but so what? It still tastes good. 68 IJ has established itself as one of Holland's leading micro breweries - and rightly so. The quality of its products is consistent (apart from the occasioanl blip) and it brews some interesting and distinctive beers. The brewer's coriander obsession can get irritating at times. In late 2002 the brewery had one of its periodic problems with the yeast. The beers came back into top form in 2003 and I can unreservedly recommend them. Read a report of my visit to the brewery.

Jopen Bier Haarlem Minckelersweg 2a, 2031 EM Haarlem Tel.: 023-5334114 Fax: 023-5402192 Email: info@jopenbier.nl Homepage: http://www.jopen.nl/ Founded: 1995 Annual output: ? Beer alc Plato Description score (100) Adriaan 5%   Amber spiced beer. Based on a recipe from 1407. Unfiltered.   Jopen Extra Stout 5.5%   Stout. Unfiltered. Bitterness 45 EBU. Black colour with a small head; liquorice, burnt, toffee and cream aroma; sweetish/bitter taste with burnt, smoke, cream and liquorice aromas; bitter finish with burnt, expresso, chicory and liquorice aromas. A very dry, espresso-like stout. Tasted February 2006. 63 Jopen Hoppenbier 6.5% 15.3º Amber hop beer. Unfiltered. Based on a recipe from 1501 of one of the earliest types of hopped beer made in Holland. The style originated in Hamburg. Uses 3 grains - barley, wheat and oats. Pepper, coriander, ginger and cloves aroma; bitter taste with orange, fruit and hop aromas; bitter finish with hop, orange and spice aromas. A very pleasant spicy, hoppy beer. 71 Jopen Koyt 8.5% 18.5º A dark "gruit" beer (gruit is a mixture of spices that was used to flavour beer prior to the use of hops) based on a recipe from 1407. Unfiltered. True to beers of that period it uses barley, wheat and oats. Apple, raisin, fig, toffee, ginger and herbal aroma; sweet taste with ginger, cloves and fig aromas; bitter finish with ginger , cloves and toffee. Unusual fruity/spicy beer that is one of Holland's very best.. 75 Jopen Lentebier 7%   Blonde Ale. Brewed from barley, wheat and oats. Seasonal - Spring. Golden colour, thin, fine-beaded head; butter, coriander and elderflower aroma; sweetish/bitterish taste with coriander, pepper, spice and peach aromas; bitter finish with butter, coriander and pepper aromas. A bit to buttery for my taste, but drinakble enough. At least not overly sweet, like many Dutch spring beers. Tasted 03/07/2006. 61 Jopen vier granen Bokbier 6.5% 16º Dark bock. Uses 4 grains in the grist - barley, wheat, rye and oats. Consistently good. Unfiltered. Colour 50 EBC; bitterness 23 EBU. 70 Contract brewer. (Though they have started building a brewpub in the centre of Haarlem) Founded with the intention of recreating old beer styles from Haarlem. The beers were first brewed at De Halve Maan in Hulst, then moved to De Koningshoeven (La Trappe) and are now brewed at Van Steenberge in Belgium. They deserve praise for their attempts to resurrect old Dutch styles. These are the beers that you have to drink if you visit Holland. Other Dutch beers may be slightly better, but these are the styles that you won't find anywhere else in the world. Even though they don't try to recreate exact copies of beers from centuries ago, they do use them as an initial concept. It's important for brewers to have a framwork to build their beers around. There are too many Dutch micro beers of indistinct style and without memorable characteristics, unless they're negative. As the guys from Haarlem have shown, there's plenty of information about the ingredients used in the 17th, 16th and even 15th century. Why isn't anyone else interested in giving these recipes a try? So go and drink some Jopen beer. Support indigenous beer culture.

Klein Duimpje Huisbrouwerij Parallelweg 2, 2182 CP Hillegom. Email: Info@kleinduimpje.nl Homepage: http://www.kleinduimpje.nl Founded: 1997 Annual production: 250 hl (2003) Beer alc Plato Description score (100) Honing Porter 5.5% 12º Porter with honey. Bottle-conditioned.   Porter 5.5% 12º Porter (the base for the other porters). Bottle-conditioned. Coffee, toast, liquorice and chocolate; sweetish/bitterish taste with coffee, burnt, cream and chocolate aromas; bitter finish with burnt, chocolate, liquorice and toffee aromas. Not a bad go at a porter - about the right strength and with lots of roast malt flavours. 74 Hillegoms Tarwebier 5.5% 12º Wheat beer. Bottle-conditioned. Ingredients: pils malt, wheat malt, oat flakes, wheat flakes, coriander, curacao peel. Sherbert, lemon, orange and coriander aroma; sweetish taste with malt and orange aromas; caramel, fruit and orange finish. Quite good, very orangey wheat beer. 62 Hazelnoot Porter 5.5% 12º Porter with a small amount of ground hazelnuts in it. Bottle-conditioned. Liquorice, apple and malt aroma; sweetish/bitterish taste with liquorice, chocolate and burnt aromas; bitter finish with burnt, cream, toffee and liquorice aromas. A very, very nice porter with lots of black malt character. 76 Slobberbok 6.5% 15.8º Dark bock made with 4 different types of grain. Seasonal - Autumn. Yeast, hop and fruit aroma; bitterish taste with fruit, cream and chicory aromas; very bitter finish with liquorice and hop aromas. A very dark and surprisinhgly dry bock. It lacked the maltiness you would expect in the style and I've marked it down for that. Colour 80 EBC; bitterness 33 EBU. 48 Springbok 6.5% 15.6º Pale bock with added honey. Seasonal - Spring.   Kruiden Ale 7%   A "gruitbier" (i.e. pre-hop style beer), made with cloves, star anis and ginger.   Zevenmijlslaarzen 7% 15.6º Pale, top-fermented beer. Bottle-conditioned.   Bollenstreek Ale 7%   Amber, top-fermented beer. Bottle-conditioned.   De Blauwe Tram 7.5%   Tripel. Bottle-conditioned. Spiced with coriander. Smoke, lemon and hop aroma; sweet taste with perfume, smoke and sugar aromas; bitterish finish with herbal and sugar aromas. A bit too sweet and there'e a whiff of Brettanomyces that I'm not certain is intentional. (Tasted 12.11.2004.) 36 Hillegoms Hangkous 8.5%   Scotch ale flavoured with cloves and curaçao peel.   Imperial Russian Stout 8.5%   Imperial stout. Bottle-conditioned. Chocolate, burnt, coffee and liquorice aroma; sweet/bitterish taste with fruit, cream, toffee and chocolate aromas; very bitter finish with chocolate, burnt, coffee, liquorice and chicory aromas. Like a beefed-up version of the porter. Has a pleasant intense coffee finish. 76 Erik de Noorman 9.5% 20º Dark amber winter beer. Bottle-conditioned. Peach and orange aroma; sweetish taste with peach aroma; sourish orange finish. Very fruity strong beer - a bit too one-sidedly fruity. My sample tasted a little off. 32 Hilleghemse Dubbel 7.5%   Dubbel. Bottle-conditioned. Liquorice, toast and coriander aroma; sweetish taste with toast and milk aromas; bitter finish with liquorice, herbal and coffee aromas. A bit milky, but with quite a pleasant roasty finish. (Tasted 02.12.2004.) Ingredients: pils malt, caramalt, chocolate malt and East Kent Goldings 52 A prize-winning amateur brewer Erik Bouman, who brews on other's equipment. The beers are mainly brewed at the Scheldebrouwerij in 's Gravenpolder and Brouwerij De Schans in Uithoorn. The intention is to build a brewery somewhere around Hillegom, when suitable premises can be found..

Brouwerij het Koelschip Grace Kellystraat 21, 1325 HC Almere Stad. Tel: 06-53864988 Email: info@koelschip.nl Homepage: Founded: 1992 Annual production: 70 hl Beer alc Description Almeers Blond Bier 5.5%   Almeers Amber Bier 5.5%   Almeers Donker Bier     Almeers Tarwebier 5.5% Wheat beer. Almeers Zomerbier 7.5% Seasonal - Summer. Almeers Bockbier 6.5% Seasonal - Autumn Almeers Winterbier 9% Seasonal - Winter. This brewery was having some problems with Almere council and I'm not totally sure it's still operating.

Brouwerij De Leckere Molensteijn 3d, 3454 PT De Meern. Tel.: 030-2967104 fax: 030-2992809 Homepage: http://www.deleckere.nl Email:info@deleckere.nl Founded: 1996 Annual production: 1,000 hl Beer alc Plato Description score (100) De Leckere Witbier 5% 12º Witbier. Bottle-conditioned. Orange, coriander, ginger, wheat and butter aromas; sourish taste with orange, ginger, wheat and coriander aromas; bitteris/sourish finish with orange and lemon aromas. Has a good combination of citrus and spice flavours with the correct touch of sourness in the mouth. Spot on for the style. Ingredients: barley malt, wheat malt, hallertauer hops and coriander. 65 De Leckere Speciale 5% 12.5º Amber ale. Well-balanced, with a decent level of bitterness. Not bad. 51 De Leckere Blond 5.2%   Pale-coloured ale.   De Leckere Dubbel 6.5% 15º Dubbel. Pleasantly malty.   De Leckere Tripel 8.5% 17.5º Tripel. Robust beer with enough bitterness to balnce out all the malt. 54 De Leckere Lentebock 6.5% 15.5º Pale bock. Seasonal - Spring   De Leckere Herfstbock 6.5% 16.2º Dark bock. Seasonal - Autumn. Cabbage, fruit and spice aroma; sourish taste with cabbage aroma; sourish/bitterish finish. Not a successful beer - has a very strong cabbage smell and what I have to assume is an unintentional sourness. These notes are for the 2002 version. Colour 55 EBC; bitterness 27 EBU. 18 De Leckere Winterbier 10%   Strong, amber ale. Seasonal - Winter.   Shortly after moving to new premises in May 2001 the brewery stopped production. Brewing restarted in May 2003. It was Holland's only brewery to produce 100% organic beer. The new owners have introduced a range of non-organic beers under the brand name "Brouwertje".

Brouwerij De Leeuw Prinses Beatrixsingel 2, 6301 VL Valkenburg a/d Geul Tel: 043-6098888 Fax: 043-6013646 Email: info@leeuwbier.nl Homepage: http://www.leeuwbier.nl/ Founded: 1986 Annual production: 15,000 hl Beer alc Description score (100) Leeuw Oud Bruin 3.5% Dark lager. Unpasteurised.   Leeuw Valkenburgs Wit 4.5% Witbier. Unpasteurised. Buttery aromas witt a little spice, sweetish taste, metallic finish with a touch of orange. Not too bad. 35 Leeuw Pilsener 5% Pils. Unpasteurised. Vegetable and cardboard aromas, sweetish taste, very short bitter finish. Pretty nasty. 18 Leeuw Dortmunder 6.5% Amber lager. Unpasteurised. Boiled sweets and caramel aroma; sweet taste with toffee, caramel and raisin aromas; bitterish finish with sugar and raisin aromas. A dull caramelly beer. 16 Leeuw Voorjaarsbock 6.5% Pale bock. Unpasteurised. Seasonal - Spring. All the beers in this style are crap.   Leeuw Najaarsbock 6.5% (16.3º Plato) Dark bock. Unpasteurised. Seasonal - Winter. Apple and biscuit aromas; sweet taste with liquorice, smoke and caramel aromas; bitter finish with toffee and smoke aromas. A good old-fashioned bottom-fermenting bock. A nice balance of malty sweetness and smoky bitterness. Colour 77 EBC; bitterness 22 EBU. 51 Founded originally as a subsidiary of the German Dittman & Sauerland Actiën Brauerei from across the border in Achen. It came into Dutch hands in 1922. It brews a range of dull bottom-fermenting beers, no better than those of Heineken. Bought by the large Belgian independent Haacht in 1999. In October 2005 it was announced that Leeuw was to stop brewing. Early 2006 Haacht had a change of heart and announced that it was to be converted into a "toeristische stadsbrouwerij" (tourist town brewery) producing 15,000 hl a year, just 10% of the old brewery's capacity. Some equipment has been transferred to the parent plant in Belgium.

Brouwerij Lindeboom Engelmanstraat 52-54, 6068 BD Neer Tel: 0475-592900 Fax: 0475-592750 Email: lindeboom@lindeboom.nl Homepage: http://www.lindeboom.nl/ Founded: 1870 Annual production: 50,000 hl Beer alc Plato Description score (100) Lindeboom Oud Bruin 3.5%   Dark lager. Colour 80 EBC. Sugar, apple and dates aroma; very sweet taste with grapes, apple and sugar aromas; sweetish finish with grapes and toffee aromas. Obviously very, very sweet, but with some OK fruit flavours. 44 Lindeboom Pils 5% 11.6° Pils. Colour 7.5 EBC, bitterness 25 EBU. Aroma: Vanilla, smoke and celery aroma; sweetish taste with smoke, celery aromas; short bitter finish with smoke and cardboard aromas. Musty tasting. Not nice. 24 Venloosch Alt 5%   Top-fermenting alt. Has two spices added in the kettle. Colour 40 EBC, bitterness 27 EBU. Cherry, blackcurrant, caram, hop and dust aroma; bitterish taste with chicory, cream and toffee aromas; bitter finish with hop, nuts and herbal aromas. The sweet, fruity aroma is deceptive - the beer itself is dry and hoppy. A reasonable try at the altbier style. 54 Gouverneur Bier 5.2% 12° Pale, top-fermenting beer. Unpasteurised. Colour 8 EBC, bitterness 22 EBU. Brewed from malted barley, rye and hops.Caramel, fruit, flowers and grass aroma; sweetish/ bitterish taste with grass, wood, vanillaand fruit aromas; bitter finish with pepper, hop and grass aromas. A pleasant, delicately-hopped beer. Quite fruity, too. 58 Gouverneur Blonde 6.5% 16.5° Pale, top-fermenting beer. Unpasteurised. Colour 20 EBC, bitterness 25 EBU. Brewed from malted barley, rye and hops. Caramel, honey and apple aroma; very seet taste with coriander and fruit aromas; bitterish finish with caramel, coriander and hop aromas. Has a reasonably complex aroma, but is far too sweet in the mouth. Not a bad beer, but not to my taste. 45 Gouverneur Brune 6.5% 16.5° Dark, top-fermenting beer. Unpasteurised. Colour 60 EBC, bitterness 25 EBU. Brewed from malted barley, rye and hops. Biscuit, honey, candy and nut aroma; sweet taste with fruit and caramel aromas; sweet finish with nuts, raisin and caramel aromas. It has a very pleasant aroma, but is a bit thin and sweet in the mouth. The finish is also a bit thin. 51 Lindeboom Bock Bier 7% 16.5° Dark bock. Seasonal - Autumn. Colour 65 EBC, bitterness 24 EBU. Caramel and apple aroma; sweet/bitterish taste with sugar and smoke aromas; bitter, black toffee finish. A rather simplistic beer with caramel/black toffee flavours. 41 Lindeboom Lente Bock 6.5% 16.5° Pale bock. Seasonal - Spring. Colour 25 EBC, bitterness 27 EBU. All the beers in this style are crap.   One of Holland's few remaining small, bottom-fermenting breweries. It has been in the hands of the Geenen family since its foundation.

Maasland Brouwerij Kantsingel 14H, 5349 AJ Oss. Tel: 0412-638473 Fax: 0412-645218 E-mail: maaslandbrouwerij@hetnet.nl Homepage: http://clik.to/maaslandbrouwerij Founded: 1989 Annual production: 1000 hl Beer alc Plato Description score (100) D'n Schele Os Amber 5.5%   Amber ale.   Witte Wieven Witbier 5.5%   Witbier. Bottle-conditioned. Orange, wheat and coriander aroma; sweetish/sourish taste with orange honey and wheat aromas; Lemon and coriander finish. A good combination of citrus and coriander. One of the better Dutch witbiers. 51 D'n Schele Os Blond 6%   Pale top-fermenting beer.   D'n Schele Os Dubbel 6.5%   Dubbel.   D'n Schele Os Tripel 7.5%   Tripel. Bottle-conditioned. Biscuit, orange and perfume aromas; sweetish/bitterish taste with orange, caramel and coriander aromas; bitterish finish with orange, coriander and hop aromas. Technically OK tripel, if somewhat unexciting. 49 Winterbier 8%   Seasonal - Winter.   Paasbier 6.5%   Seasonal - Spring.   Zomerbock 6.5% 16º Pale bock. Seasonal - Summer.   Ossebock 6.5% 15º Dark bock. Seasonal - Autumn. Variable in quality. In 2002 undrinkable (for the third year in a row).   Super Strongbock 8.5% 19.9º Dark bock. Seasonal - Autumn. Very variable in quality   Udens Bock 6.5%   Dark bock. Seasonal - Autumn. I should remember to read all the small print on the label before I buy a beer. If I had known this was brewed by Maasland I wouldn't have bought it and would have saved myself a truly unpleasant experience. I've had some badly infected beers in my time, but this is one of the very, very worst. It's shocking that a brewery should dare to let out a beer as bad as this. 0 A relatively long-established micro that unfortunately never seems to have learnt the need for strict hygiene in a brewery. Consequently, the beers are regularly infected. The Schele Os beers are slightly more reliable, the bock has been infected for as long as I can remember. It was founded by Ed van Nisius, the owner of the Wijn- & Bierboetiek in Den Haag.

Moerenburg Jasmijnstraat 17, 5014 AR Tilburg. Tel. & Fax: 013-5360518 Homepage: http://www.moerenburg.nl Founded: 1992 Annual production: 300 hl Beer alc Description score (100) Moerenburg Witbier 4.8% Witbier.   Moerenburg Dubbel 6.5% Dubbel.   Moerenburg 't Vervolg 6.5% Amber ale.   Tilburgse Tripel 7% Tripel. Bottle-conditioned. Hop, fruit, juniper and mint aroma; sweetish taste with caramel, hop and herbal aromas; bitterish finish with caramel, hop and mint aromas. A bit clumsy and crude. It smells like medicine. 42 Lente Kriebels 6.5% Pale bock. Seasonal - Spring.   Moerenburg Bokbier 7% Dark bock. Seasonal - Autumn. 2004 Vintage: cabbage, metal and burnt aroma; sweet/sourish taste with wood and burnt aromas; very bitter finish with black toffee and burnt aromas. Tastes infected. Some OK malt flavours but far too burnt-tasting. 29

Brouwerij De Molen Overtocht 43, 2411 BS Bodegraven. Tel. 0172-610848 Homepage: http://www.brouwerijdemolen.nl/ Founded: 2004 Annual production: hl Beer alc Description score (100) Borefts Oud Hollands Tuig 5.2% Amber Ale. Brewed from pale malt, caramel malt and hops. Pale amber colour with a thin, fine-beaded head; elderflower and toffee aroma; sweetish taste with smoke, caramel, pepper and resin aromas; bitterish finish with pepper, resin and yeast aromas. Pleasant enough with some nice hop flavours, but would benefit frrom a tad more bitterness. Tasted 30/06/2006. 58 Borefts Stoombier 5.2% Amber ale.   Borefts Blond 6.5% Blond ale.   Borefts Dubbel 7.1% Dubbel.   Borefts Molenbier 9.2% Strong amber ale. Honey, biscuit, fruit and cream aroma; sweet/bitterish taste with biscuit, herbal, cream and fruit aromas; bitter finish with biscuit, toast and herbal aromas. Plenty of hop bitterness and some biscuity malt. 65 Borefts Tripel 9.5% Tripel. Unfiltered. There's also a filtered version of this beer.   Borefts Lenterbier 6.1% Maibok. Seasonal - Spring.   Borefts Zomerbok 7.9% Pale bok. Seasonal - Summer.   Kruier 7.1% Dark bok. Seasonal - Autumn. Aniseed. liquorice, ginger, cloves aroma; sweetish/ bitterish taste with liquorice, caramel and herbal aromas; bitter finish with caramel, liquorice, raisins and mint aromas. Liquoricey and not too sweet. Supposedly brewed to a medieval recipe. One of the better bokbiers from the 2004 crop. 57 Borefts Witbier 4.9% Witbier.   Honingbier 9.9% Honey beer.   Microbrewery. There is a brewery tap which has 6 house-brewed beers on tap.

Verenigde Bierbrouwerijen Oranjeboom Ceresstraat 13, 4811 CA Breda. Tel: 076-5253915 Fax: 076-5252505 Founded: 1671 ***** CLOSED 2004 ***** Annual production: 2,100,000 hl Beer alc Description score (100) Oranjeboom Oud Bruin 2.5% Dark lager. Oranjeboom Premium Pilsener 5% Pils. Stale hop aroma, sugary in the mouth and thin in the finish. Crap. 19 Lieve Royale 6% Amber ale. A Palm imitation and not a bad one - it's as sickly and unpleasant as the original. I'm not sure if it is still brewed. 25 Oranjeboom Herfst Bock 6.5% (16.5º Plato) Dark bock. Seasonal - Autumn. Quite sweet in the mouth but with a touch of toffee and bitterness in the finish. A reasonable traditional style bock. Colour 75 EBC; bitterness 25 EBU. 47 Formed by the merger of the Oranjeboom brewery of Rotterdam and the Drie Hoefijzers brewery of Breda. Only the latter is still in operation, the Rotterdam plant having been closed (and demloished) in 1989. It was bought by Allied Breweries of the UK in 1968, who sold it on to Interbrew in the 1990's. It brews lots of cheap, crappy beers for supermarket chains, including Albert Heijn. It's scheduled closure in 2003 won't be any great loss (apart from the jobs of those who work there). ***** CLOSED APRIL 2004 *****

Pelgrim Brouwerij Aelbrechtkolk 12, 3024 RE Rotterdam. Tel.: 010-4771189 Fax: 010-4259191 Email: pelgrim@pelgrimbier.nl Homepage: http://www.pelgrimbier.nl/ Founded: 1996 Annual production: hl Beer alc Description score (100) Pelgrim Speciaal / Rotterdams Stoombier 5.3% Amber ale. Brewed since 1996. Biscuit, hop and grain aroma; sweetish taste with hop, vanilla and chewing gum aromas; bitterish finish with malt and caramel aromas. A slightly bland, but technically good, beer. It could do with a touch more hop. 51 Rotterdams Blond   Golden ale.   Pelgrim Mayflower Tripel 8.2% Tripel. Brewed since 1997   Pelgrim Witbier 5.5% Wheat beer. Seasonal - Spring. Brewed since 2000.   Pelgrim Zomerbier 4.5% Seasonal - Summer. Brewed since 2000.   Pelgrim Bock 7% (17.5º Plato) Dark bock. Seasonal - Autumn. Brewed since 1996. Bread, cherry, liquorice, toffee, alcohol aroma; sweet/bitter taste with cream, coffee, black toffee and raisin aromas; very bitter finish with cream, coffee, black toffee, herbal, liquorice. A beautifully complex bittersweet beer. This year's (2004) best. Much improved on the 2003 version. Colour 50 EBC; bitterness 20 EBU. 80 Pelgrim Winterbier 10.5% Barley wine. Seasonal - Winter. Brewed since 1999. Caramel and honey aroma; sweet taste with caramel and vanilla aromas; bitterish taste with caramel, biscuit and sugar aromas. A slightly thin strong beer, a bit sugary but technically good. It tastes very much like a scaled-up Stoombier, though is a touch paler in colour. 57 Pelgrim Lammetjes 6.5% Pale bock. Brewed since 1998. Caramel, pepper and biscuit aroma; sweetish/bitter taste with hop, caramel and pepper aromas; very bitter finish with pepper and spice aromas. A very tasty beer with a good dose of hops. 77 Brewpub.

Brouwerij De Prael Helicopterstraat 13 - 15 (1e), 1059 CE Amsterdam Tel: 020 - 408 44 70 Fax: 020 - 408 44 58 Email: info@deprael.nl Homepage: http://www.deprael.nl/ Founded: 2002 Annual production: 420 hl Beer alc Description score (100) De Prael Heintje 5.4% Wheat beer. Named after Hein Simons. Fruit, lemon and wheat aroma; sourish taste with orange, fruit and cream aromas; bitterish finish with orange and hop aromas. Quite a pleasant, fruity wheat beer, that is unusal in being unspiced. Technically clean. pilsner malt, wheat malt, whole Hallertau hops. 66 De Prael Johhny 5.7% Amber ale. Named after Johnny Jordaan. Ingredients: pilsner malt, wheat malt, whole Hallertau hops.   De Prael Mary 9.6% Barley wine. Named after Mary Servaes. Sherbert, caramel, cherry, raisin and malt aroma; bitter/sweetish taste with fruit and carmel aromas; bitter finish with pepper and toffee aromas. Reasonable barley wine with a decent shot of bitterness to balance out all the malt. Ingredients: pilsner malt, wheat malt, caramalt 120, orange, coriander, sugar, whole Hallertau hops. 60 De Prael Nelis 7.7% Dark bock. Named after Manke Nelis. Seasonal - Autumn. Ingredients: münchner malt, wheat malt, pilsner malt, caramalt 120,caramalt 50, chocolate malt, whole Hallertau hops. De Prael Andre 6.6% Pale bock. Seasonal - Spring. Ingredients: pilsner malt, münchner malt, wheat malt, caramalt 120, whole Hallertau hops. Hop, tobacco, fruit and coriander aroma; sweetish/bitterish/sourish taste with hop, malt, honey and fruit aromas; bitterish finish with hop, coriander and elderflower aromas. A reasonable attempt at the pakle bock style, though I'm not sure about the slight sourness. At least it's been hopped adequately. 60 De Prael Willeke 7.5% Tripel. Seasonal - Winter. Ingredients: pilsner malt, wheat malt, coriander, sugar, whole Hallertau hops. De Prael Willy 8.5% Dubbel. Seasonal - Winter. Ingredients: pilsner malt, münchner malt, caramalt 120, chocolate malt, sugar, whole Hallertau hops. De Prael Juliana 5.9% Bitter. Seasonal - Spring. Ingredients: pilsner malt, wheat malt, caramalt 120, caramalt 50, whole Hallertau and Challenger hops, orange. Amber colour with a dense head; orange, lemon and malt aroma: bitter taste with orange, cream, coriander and pepper aromas; bitter finish with orange, pepper and spicey aromas. A very accomplished beer. The orange works wonderfully well with bitterness of the Challenger hops. I hope they make it again next year. (Tasted 17.07.2005) Made for Koninginnedag, hence the use of arange. 72 Amsterdam's smallest brewery has a few other strange claims to fame. It's workforce is made up of recovering psychiatric patients and it was set up with the help of government grants.Their first choice of name was "De Parel" ("The Pearl"). Then Budels complained that it infringed on the copyright of their beer called "Parel". The solution was to just shuffle the letters of the name around. It's also notable for being the closest brewery to my house, no more than a kilometre away at most. All of the beers are bottle-conditioned and are named after famous Amsterdam singers. That's people who sing the sort of horrible music that usually has me running screaming from the pub (it's usually played in the sort that have carpets on the tables). I admire their clear and informative labels. That's how I know the ingredients in such detail.

De Ridder Oeverwal 3-9, 6221 EN Maastricht. Tel: 043-3216057 Fax: 043-3254049 Founded: 1856 ** CLOSED 2003 ** Annual production: 150,000 hl Beer alc Plato Description Wieckse Witte 5% 12° Witbier. Sweetish, with an unpleasant chewing-gum flavour. Poor. Bitterness 15 EBU. First brewed in 1990. Vos 5% 12.8° Amber ale. Sweet, without any balancing bitterness. Crap. Bitterness 20 EBU, Colour 25 EBC. First brewed in 1994. Maltezer 6.5%   Hybrid beer. Brewed with a bottom-fermenting yeast, but at a top-fermenting temperature. ---------- CLOSED 2003 ---------- On 1st March 2002, De Ridder stopped production of all bottom-fermenting beers (Pils, Oud Bruin and Bock). This decision was forced by increased demand for Wieckse Witte and the inability to expand on its city-centre site. It became a specialised top-fermenting brewery within the Heineken group. In November 2002 Heineken announced that the brewery is to close in 2003, with production of Wieckse Witte moving to Den Bosch. It will be interesting to see how they get on with brewing a top-fermenting beer in that mega lager factory..

Museumbrouwerij de Roos Sint Sebastiaanstraat 4, 5081 ZG Hilvarenbeek. Tel. 013-5055045 Email: deroos@museumbrouwerij.nl Homepage: http://www.museumbrouwerij.nl Founded: 1997 Annual production: hl Beer alc Description score (100) De Roos 5.5% Amber ale. Brewed since 2001. Bottle-conditioned.   De Witte Roos 5.5% Wheat beer. Bottle-conditioned.   Rooie Fik 6.5% Ruby-coloured ale. Bottle-conditioned. Sherbert, cream and malt aroma; neutral taste with caramel and fruit aromas; bitterish finish with caramel and metal aromas. Fairly bland beer with a slightly cloying finish. 42 Konjel 7% Spiced ale. Uses coriander. Bottle-conditioned.   Bikse Tripel 8% Tripel. Bottle-conditioned. Brewed at the Maasland brewery. Biscuit, caramel, cream and malt aroma; bitter/sourish taste with caramel wood and smoke aromas; bitter, sourish smoky finish. My sample was a couple of months past its sellby date and seemed to have slightly turned. If fresher, I'm sure that it would have scored better. 42 Kerstroos 8% Dark ale. Seasonal - Winter. Bottle-conditioned.   Dubbel Gerste 7% Dark ale. Top-fermented and unfiltered. A recreation of a Dutch pre-lager style. Gerste and Dubbel Gerste were the commonest beer types before 1880. Specially brewed for the Historisch Bierfestival in 2003. There was a second brew in 2004. Let's hope they can be persuaded to brew it more regularly.   Microbrewery/contract brewer. A brewery, dating from around 1850, which was officially sealed in 1933 with all its equipment in place. In the 1990's it was restored by a group of enthusiasts. Most of the beers are brewed at Bierbrouwerij De 3 Horne or Maasland Brouwerij. There are occasional brews in the old brewery, but this beer is only sold at the brewery itself.

Bierbrouwerij De Schans De Schans 17, 1421 BA Uithoorn. Tel.: 0297-522106 Fax: 0297-522107 Email: info@schansbier.nl Homepage: http://www.schansbier.nl Founded: 1998 Annual production: 600 hl Beer alc Plato Description score (100) Schwarz 5% 12.4° Schwarzbier. Top-fermented. Bottle-conditioned. Chocolate, liquorice, raisin, cream and burnt aroma; bitterish taste with cream, toffee and raisin aromas; bitterish finish with coffee, chocolate and burnt aromas. This beer has agreat aroma with lots of chocolate. It's soft and creamy in the mouth, but could perhaps do with a touch more bitterness in the finish. It's about right for a schwarzbier, being about 75% of the way to a porter. Technically very clean. Bitterness 23 EBU, colour 80 EBC. 71 Herengracht 90 5% 12.5° Amber ale. Brewed for 't Arendsnest in Amsterdam. Biscuit, caramel, apple, raisin and malt aromas; sweetish/bitter taste with biscuit, toffee, malt and cream aromas; very bitter finish with herbal, toffee, liquorice and fruit aeromas. It tastes like an English pale ale with good biscuity malt flavours and some fruitiness. Very good. Sadly, I think that it is no longer brewed. Bitterness 26 EBU, colour 30 EBC. 71 Tarwe 4.8%   Wheat beer. Bottle-conditioned. Bitterness 18 EBU.   Dubbele Klap 7.5%   Dubbel. Bottle-conditioned.   Blond 6% 14.7° Golden ale. Bottle-conditioned. Fruit, gras and flowers aroma; bitterish taste with pepper, spice, fruit and coriander aromas; bitter finish with hop, wood and malt aromas. Quite a pleasant pale hoppy beer. Bitterness 28 EBU, colour 20 EBC. 60 Pils 5%   Pils. Bottle-conditioned. Bitterness 28 EBU. Saison 7%   Saison. Bottle-conditioned. Fruit, coriander, cloves and grass aromas; sweet/bitter taste with elderflower, hop, cloves and coriander aromas; bitter finish with cloves, peach and flower aromas. A pleasantly spicy amber ale. Not so sure if it's a perfect match for a saison, but it's a good beer - so who cares? Technically clean. Bitterness 37 EBU. 76 6 5.8%   Dubbel. Bottle-conditioned. Chocolate, cream, dates, toffee, coffee and sugar aromas; sweetish taste with chocolate, liquorice,chocolate, malt, cream and black toffee aromas; bitterish finish with chicory, coffee, fruit and smoke aromas. I was really impressed with this beer - one of the best in this style that I've tried, and god knows I've tried hard with this style. It has a wonderful, thick chocolatey taste without being sickly sweet. The beautiful dark malt character I can best describe as like Westmalle Dubbel, but more subtle. Bitterness 24 EBU. 84 Herfstbok 6.5%   Dark bock. Seasonal - Autumn. Yeast, biscuit, wood and herbal aroma; sweet taste with malt and honey aromas; bitterish finish with dusty and yeast aromas. A little too sweet and without balancing bitterness. It tastes quite similar in some respects to the tripel. Bitterness 25 EBU. 44 Tripel 8.5% 20° Tripel. Bottle-conditioned. Honey, spice, apple, coriander and grass aromas; sweet/bitterish taste with caramel, hop and date aromas; bitter finish with honey and biscuit aromas. A honeyish tripel that could perhaps do with a touch more bitterness. Technically very clean. Bitterness 28 EBU, colour 25 EBC. 64 A microbrewery with a good reputation for producing clean beers. It does a fair bit of contract brewing for others. Plans for a sampling room have been complicated by the Catholic church opposite. They sold the land on which the brewery stands to the council with a covenent which prevents the opening of a pub. They do, however, have a beer shop. They do not currently appear to be brewing any of their own brands, just letting others borrow the kit.

Scheldebrouwerij Rangeerstraat 1, 4431 NL 's-Gravenpolder. Tel: 0113-312815 or 06-53172314 Fax: 0113-312412 Email: info@scheldebrouwerij.nl Homepage: www.scheldebrouwerij.nl Founded: 1994 Annual production: 400 hl Beer alc Description score (100) Mug 5% Amber ale. Bitter. Bottle-conditioned.   Strandgaper 6.2% Amber ale. Brewed to be drunk with mussels. Bottle-conditioned. Biscuit, orange, elderflower and tobacco aromas; sweetish taste with toffee, orange, tobacco and pepper aromas; bitter finish with pepper, orange, herbal and grass aromas. Thankfully lacks the overwhelming cramelly taste of some of their beers. Quite pleasant and delicately hopped. 70 Witheer 5% Amber abbey beer. Brewed from barley, wheat and oats. Bottle-conditioned.   Lamme Goedzak 6.5% Golden ale. Bottle-conditioned.   De Zeezuiper 8% Spiced tripel. Bottle-conditioned. Toffe, nuts and dates aroma; sweet taste with caramel, orange and perfume aromas; neutral finish with caramel and perfume aromas. Technically clean, but too overpoweringly caramelly for my taste. Without the balancing bitterness you would expect from a tripel. Ingredients: pale malt, amber malt, hops, coriander, sugar and curacao peel. 51 't Schoenlappertje   Fruit beer. Uses locally-grown blackcurrants. Bottle-conditioned.   Merck toch hoe Sterck 9% Strong dark ale. Bottle-conditioned. Caramel, perfume, nuts and orange aroma; sweet taste with cream, caramel and dates aromas; bitterish finish with coriander, perfume and caramel aromas. The aroma is very caramelly - like Zeezuiper.Technically clean, but lacking depth. Do they use the Bocq yeast? The beers have the same toffee/perfume taste. 54 Dulle Griet 8.5% Strong, dark ale. Bottle-conditioned.   Wildebok 6.5% Dark bock. Seasonal - Autumn. Bottle-conditioned. Caramel, fruit and sugar aroma; very sweet/sourish taste with caramel, biscuit and syrip aromas; very sweet finish with syrup and caramel aromas. Very, very sweet. Like drinking syrup. 29 Kerstbier 9.5% Strong ale. Seasonal - Winter. Bottle-conditioned.   Sad to say, but a microbrewery whose standards have declined considerably since they changed brewers.

St. Christoffel Bierbrouwerij Metaalweg 10, 6045 JB Roermond. Tel: 0475-341447 Fax: 0475-341245 Email: info@christoffelbier.nl Homepage: http://www.christoffelbier.nl/ Founded: 1986 Annual production: 5,000 hl Beer alc Description score (100) Christoffel Blond Bier 6% Unfiltered pils. Basil, mint, ginger, grapefruit, cloves and "Northern Lights" aroma: sweetish/bitter taste with orange, ginger, basil, mint and malt aromas; very bitter finish with basil, mint, cloves, hop and resin aromas. This beer has one of the best hop aromas I've ever come across. I guess that it must be dry hopped. Since going up to 6% it's got even better. Though whether it's still a pils is a matter of debate. To me it tastes more like a very well-hopped Spezial. Whatever the style, it's one of the best Dutch beers I've drunk. Easily the best bottom-fermenting beer in Holland. 88 Christoffel Robertus 6% Münchener. Biscuit, nut, toffee and toast aroma; sweetish taste with toast and roasted aromas; bitterish finish with black toffee and liquorice aromas. A good example of the style, full of dark malt flavours and extremely well balanced. 64 Christoffel Blond Bier 5% Unfiltered pils. (Old version, no longer brewed) Pepper, basil, grass and mint aroma; bitter taste with ginger, pepper and chicory aromas; very bitter finish with pepper, pine and herbal aromas. A beautiful beer with lovely spicy hop flavours all the way through. Distinctively bitter and of excellent technical quality. As good a beer as anything brewed in this style anywhere in the world. The brewers at Heineken should be forced to drink this every day. Bitterness 44 EBU. 81 The brewery was founded and originally operated by Leo Brand, of the Brand brewing family. He studied at Weihenstephan (Munich's brewing university) and spent many years working in German breweries. Tasting his beers, this strong background in bottom-fermeting techniques comes as no surprise: they are the best lagers brewed in Holland by an absolute street. Robertus is very rare example of a Münchener dark lager from outside Bavaria which is true to the style. In 2001 Leo Brand sold the brewery to Hillebrand Beheer BV and is nol longer directly involved in brewing. It's to be hoped that the beers remain as authentic under the new ownership.

Bierbrouwerij Sint Servattumus Michiel de Ruyterstraat 13, 5481GE Schijndel. Tel.: 073-5478956 Email: vattumus@home.nl Homepage: http://members.home.nl/vattumus Founded: 1996 Annual production: 300 hl Beer alc Description score (100) 't Hopbelleke 5.6% Amber ale. Bottle-conditioned. Caramel, apple and malt aromas; sweetish taste with cream and malt aromas; bitterish finish with pear and caramel aromas. Considering the name (which means hopbell) surpisingly malty. OK, clean, but nothing special. 57 Un Appelke vur d'n dorst 6% Amber ale. Bottle-conditioned. Ingredients: pils malt, caramel malt, fresh apple juice, hallertauer hops. Bread, apple and cherry aroma; sweetish taste with aplle, toffee and cherry aromas; fruity finish with apple, toffee and cherry aromas. A bit like liquid toffee apples. Almost no hop presence. Tastes much the same all the way through. 54 Albinootje 6.5% Witbier.   Knal Bier 7.5% Dark strong ale. Bottle-conditioned. Sherbert, fruit and malt aroma; sweet taste with toffee, fruit and raisin aromas; bitterish finish with smoke and toffee. Little aroma, not too bad in the mouth, very thin finish. I couldn't work out what style it's meant to be. 44 Vattumus 7.5%     Zoethouter Tripel 8% Tripel. Bottle-conditioned. Ingredients: pils malt, hallertauer hops and liquorice. Sweet and malt aroma; sweet taste with caramel aroma; smoky, caramelly liquorice finish. Sweet and with litlle liquorice flavour. "Zoethout" is Dutch for liquorice. 52 Vriendenbier 8.5% Also sold as Paasbier and Kerstbier.   Schijdels Honingbier 8.5% Dark honey beer. Caramel, sweet and biscuit aroma; sweet taste with hop and cream aromas; bitter finish with honey. Sweetness without too much else going on. 49 Skéndelse Bok 7% (17º Plato) Dark Bock. Seasonal - Autumn. Sold under lots of different names.   't Winterkuninkske 9% Seasonal - Winter.   A tiny brewery which brews a bafflingly large range of beers under all sorts of different labels. The quality of the different beers seems to vary quite a lot.

De Snaterende Arend Boulevardpad 13, 1018 HN Amsterdam. Tel.: 020-4212057 Email: info@desnaterendearend.nl Homepage: http://www.desnaterendearend.nl Founded: 2002 Annual production: hl Beer alc Description score (100) Nest Vlieder 5% Amber, Belgian-style pale ale. Malt, fruit, flowery and perfume artoma; bitter taste with biscuit, caramel, hop and pepper aromas; bitter finish with pepper biscuit and caramel aromas. Brewed with Belgian malt, German Hallertauer hops and an English ale yeast. A pretty good ale with plenty of malt character and much more bitterness than most of the Belgian versions have nowadays. 64 't Swarte Schaap 7% Pale bock. Pepper, basil and malt aroma; sweet/bitterish taste with honey, hop, pepper and biscuit aromas; very bitter finish with wood and hop aromas. A very pleasant bittersweet bock that is a pretty good try at the style. 71 This enterprise was started by Peter van der Arend (landlord of the Arend's Nest beer café in Amsterdam) and Marcel Snater. They hire a brewery and then brew there themselves, using their own recipes and ingredients. After the boil, the beer is handed over to the house brewer who supervises the fermentation and bottling/kegging. The Snaterende Arend then buys the packaged beer from the hired brewery, which is responsible for all taxes and legal requirements. It's an ingenious and very capital-efficienty way of starting up in brewing. The initial beers were brewed at Brouwerij De 3 Horne in Kaatsheuvel.

Stichtse Heeren Dekhuyzenstraat 29, 3572 WE Utrecht. Tel.: 030-2722558 Email: stichtseheeren@raketnet.nl Homepage: http://www.stichtseheeren.nl Founded: 1998 *** CLOSED 2002 *** Annual production: hl Beer alc Description score (100) Witbier       Blond 5.2% Golden ale spiced with coriander. Bottle-conditioned.   Tripel 8% Tripel spiced with coriander. Bottle-conditioned. Bitter, apple, grape and spicy aroma; bitterish taste with smoke fruit and alcohol; very bitter hop finish. A very bitter tripel that is slightly unsubtle, but not bad. 59 Bock 7% Dark bock. Seasonal - Autumn.   The beers are currently brewed at the Proefbrouwerij Lochristie in Belgium. Seems to have CLOSED in November 2002.

Stichting Noordhollandse Alternatieve Bierbrouwers (S.N.A.B.) Monteverdistraat 177, 1689 SH Hoorn. Tel.: 0299-644522 Fax: 0299-644522 Email: info@snab.nl Homepage: http://www.snab.nl Founded: 1992 Annual production: 60 hl Beer alc Plato Description score (100) Sprengen 5.5% 13.2° American Ale / Kölsch hybrid. Bottle-conditioned. Bitterness 33 EBU, Colour 40 EBC. Brewed for Stichting Buurschap Oranjeveld.   SNAB Pale Ale 6.3% 14° Strong Pale Ale. Bottle-conditioned, dry-hopped. Bitterness 35 EBU, Colour 30 EBC. A beer very much in the American pale ale style - pretty pale in colour, with little malt character but bags of citrusy American cascade hops. The only beer in this style that I know of to be brewed in Continental Europe. Well worth seeking out. 78 X-Porter 4.5% 10.9° Brown porter. Bottle-conditioned. Biscuit, pepper, coffee and burnt aroma; bitterish taste with biscuit, fruit, burnt and cream aromas; bitter finish with coffee and liquorice aromas. A decent beer, which used to be a tad too pale, but has been darkened in later versions. Now it's pretty well exactly right for the style. Ingredients: pils malt, crysrtal malt, black malt, chocolate malt, Nugget, Challenger and Goldings hops. Dry hopped. Bitterness 40 EBU, Colour 80 EBC. 73 Koning Honing 7.5% 17.4° Honey beer. Bottle-conditioned. Biscuit, honey and fruit aroma; sweetish taste with honey and wood aromas; bitter finish with wood and spice aromas. Quite a pleasant beer - clean and honeyish. Bitterness 25 EBU, Colour 30 EBC. 62 Czaar Peter 8.5% 17.7° Russian Imperial Stout. Bottle-conditioned. Toast, liquorice, cream and burnt aroma; sweetish/sourish taste with chocolate, fruit and cream aromas; very bitter finish with burnt, liquorice, toast and coffee aromas. A pretty good beer, though the black malt flavours could be a bit more prominent in the finish. Bitterness 35 EBU, Colour 125 EBC. 75 Maelstrøm 9.8% 22.3° American Barley Wine. Dry-hopped. Bottle-conditioned. Bitterness 38 EBU, Colour 45 EBC. A monster of a beer that has masses of dried fruit aromas, lots of alcohol, but a good enough dose of hops to balance it out. One of Holland's very best beers though personally, because of the dark colour, I would classify it more as an Old Ale. 83 Ezelenbok 7.5% 16.9° Dubbelbock. Seasonal - Autumn. Bottle-conditioned. Bitterness 32 EBU, Colour 80 EBC.   Ijsbock 9% 16.9° Ice bock. Seasonal - Autumn. Bottle-conditioned. Freeze-distilled version of Ezelenbok. Chocolate, pear, raisin, coffee and burnt aroma; sweet/bitterish taste with smoke, burnt, toffee, cream and fruit aromas; bitter finish with coffee, chocolate and toffee aromas. An outstanding bittersweet beer. Lots of dark malt and fruit flavours. One of Holland's best beers. Ingredients: pils, Munich, crystall and chocolate malt, Hallertauer and Hesrbrücker hops. Bitterness 35 EBU, Colour 80 EBC. 81 Speculator 8% 18° Spiced barley wine. "Liquid speculaas". Aniseed, cloves, toffee, malt and ginger aroma; sweet taste with cloves, biscuit, honey, herbal and ginger aromas; bitter finish with spice, ginger and hop aromas. A beautifully spicy beer with big, complex flavours. A personal favourite of mine. Bottle-conditioned. Bitterness 25 EBU, Colour 75 EBC. 75 Beers are brewed at the Proefbrouwerij in Lochristie (Belgium) and Brouwerij de Schans in Uithoorn. The contracts under which they have their beers brewed are very strict, allowing them to reject any that do not meet specifications. As a result, the quality is generally very high. You may have noticed that their beers have, on average, the highest scores I have given. It is unusual for Holland in that it creates beers in British or American ale styles. For that alone, it is amongst the most interesting players in Holland.

La Trappe Brouwerij Postbus 394, 5000 AJ Tilburg. Tel: 013-5358147 Fax 013-5437472 Email: mailbox@latrappe.nl Homepage: http://www.latrappe.nl/ Founded: 1884 Annual production: 22,000 hl Beer alc Plato Description score (100) La Trappe Blond 6.5%   Golden ale. Bottle-conditioned. Sherbert, smoke, cardboard and musty aroma; sweet taste with smoke, hop, musty and fruit aromas; bitter finish with fruit and hop aromas. Following the trend started by Leffe Blond for pale, sweet abbey beers. I repeat: all the beers in this style are crap. This beer replicates faithfully all the distiguishing features of Leffe Blond: nasty stale hop aroma and overpowering sugary sweetness. At least in this case the nasty flavours have mostly disappeared by the finish, which bumps up the score a bit. By several streets the worst genuine Trappist beer ever brewed. 29 La Trappe Dubbel 6.5% 16.6° Dubbel. Bottle-conditioned. Orange, chocolate and biscuit aroma; sweetish/bitterish taste with cream, toffee, liquorice and raisin aromas; long bitterish finish with chocolate, cream and dried fruit flavours. A good balance between bitterness and sweetness, with some pleasant dark malt bitterness. Seems to have got a bit drier than I remember it. Bitterness 16.5 EBU, Colour 73 EBC. 65 La Trappe Tripel 8% 18.4° Tripel. Bottle-conditioned. Fruit, spice, grass and metal aroma; sweet/bitterish taste with coriander, orange and vegetable aromas; bitter finish with wood and hop aromas. Quite spicy with a decent bitter finish. Nothing special. Bitterness 16.5 EBU, Colour 18 EBC. 59 La Trappe Quadrupel 10% 20.3° Barley wine. Seasonal - Winter. Bottle-conditioned. Apple, sweet, raisin and grape aroma; very sweet taste with honey, cream, raisin and biscuit aromas; bitterish finish with caramel and alcohol. A good fruity aroma with lots of apple, complex in the mouth but slightly thin in the finish. (Season 2000/2001 tasted in 2002). I used to describe this as "Delicious amber ale that ages very well". Then I tasted the 2002 version on draught. It was nothing more than alcohol-loaded sugar water. I hope the bottled version is better. Bitterness 25.5 EBU, Colour 39 EBC. 65 Moreeke 5%   Amber beer. Filtered. Pear and toffee aroma; sweet taste with apple and honey aromas; bitterish finish with hop and biscuit aromas. Used to brewed at the Bavaria brewery and was bottom-fermented, even though the label strongly implied that it was top-fermented. Now it is top-fermented and has improved immeasurably from the muck it used to be. Still not much good, but just about drinkable. Way too sweet for the style. 36 Kroon Pilsener 5%   Pils. Filtered. Tobacco, pepper, vanilla, citrus and butter aroma; bitter taste with grass, citrus and fruit aromas; bitter finish with grass and tobacco. Very good hop aroma and quite full-bodied for a pils. One of a depressingly small number of decent Dutch beers in this style. Moved to Koningshoeven when Bavaria bought and closed the Kroon brewery. 58 Oirschots Wit 5%   Witbier. Coriander, spice, orange and lemon aroma; sourish taste with orange and hop aromas; bitterish finish with an orange aroma. Has a good spicily citrus nose, but a tad thin in the finish. Another former Kroon beer. 52 Witte Trappist 5.5%   Witbier. Bottle-conditioned. A new unspiced witbier, that isn't just a rebadged Oirschots Wit. Lemon, orange, elderflower and pepper aroma; neutral taste with orange, coriander and pepper aromas; bitterish finish with lemon, wheat and coriander aromas. I had been worried about the brewery after the release of the disgusting Blond. This is a true return to form. It's unspiced, but a very subtle use of aroma hops more than compensates, providing delicious citrus and pepper flavours. One of Holland's best witbiers. 68 Dominus Tripel 8%   Tripel. Biscuit, honey, caramel and cream aromas; sweetish/bitter taste with resin, hop, raisin and biscuit aromas; bitter finish with vanilla, caramel, hop and raisin aromas. A big malty beer, with some balancing bitterness. Probably La Trappe Tripel or a version of it. Brewed for John Martin for the Belgian market. 67 Tilburg's Dutch Brown Ale 5%   Brown Ale. Mid brown colour with a light tan head; black toffee, cream, raisin and roast aroma; very sweet taste with black toffee, candy, and nut aromas; bittersweet finish with burnt toffee, figs, raisnsand candy aromas. Reminds me of a strong Oud Bruin. Way too sweet for my taste, but with quite a bit of complexity. Just of the sugary type. Brewed for the North American market, it isn't available in Holland, except at Arend's Nest in Amsterdam. Not in any Dutch style I recognise, it's a good example of a "tail-wagging-the-dog" beer - where a European brews a "local style" which doesn't actually exist at the behest of the US market. Tasted 02.07.2006. 62 La Trappe Bockbier 7%   Dark bock. Bottle-conditioned. Seasonal - Autumn. Burnt, flowers and rubber aroma; sweetish/bitter taste with toffee, liquorice and coffee; bitter finish with burnt, espresso, herbal and cream aromas. A bit too burnt tasting, but otherwise not bad. (2004 vintage) 60 Holland'''s only Trappist brewery, though now owned by Bavaria. It's to be hoped that they'll leave it alone. Developments such as the introduction of the Blond do not bode well for the future. "Authentic Trappist" status, which was lost after the Bavaria takeover, was restored September 9th 2006.

Friese Brouwerij Us Heit Sneekerstraat 43, 8701 XC Bolsward. Tel: 0515-577449 Fax: 0515-577976 Email: friese@bierbrouwerij-usheit.nl Homepage: http://www.bierbrouwerij-usheit.nl Founded: 1985 Annual production: 5,000 hl Beer alc Description score (100) Us Heit Twels Pilsener 5% Pils. Bitter with a touch of sweetness in the mouth, followed by a bitter finish that lasts a while. Something along the lines of the Czech original. Reasonable. 47 Us Heit Twels Speciaal 5% Pils. Dust aroma; sweet/bitterish taste with tobacco and herbal aromas; bitter finish with cardboard and wood aromas. Almost no aroma, in the mouth coarsely bitter. At least it is bitter. (Tasted 12.11.2004.) 28 Us Heit Buorren Bier 6% Amber ale. Unfiltered.   Us Heit Frysk Bier 6% Golden ale. Unfiltered.   Us Heit Dubbel Tarwe Bier 6% Wheat beer.   Us Heit Twels Bokbier 6.5% (15.5º Plato) Dark bock. Seasonal - Autumn. Wheat, coriander and biscuit aroma; sweet taste with malt, corianer, honey and ginger aromas; bitter finish with burnt, malt, herbal and coriander aromas. An unusual bock with lots of spicy flavours. Colour 140 EBC; bitterness 32 EBU. 66 Us Heit Kerstbier 7.5% Seasonal - Winter.   11 Stedentocht Bier 7.5% Seasonal - Winter.   One of Holland's most successful microbreweries.

Utrechtse Stoombierbrouwerij Oudaen Oude Gracht 99, 3511 AE Utrecht. tel. 030-2368543 Fax. 030-2331040 Internet: http://www.oudaen.nl Email: brouwerij@oudean.nl Founded: 1990 Annual production: 750 hl Beer alc Description Jonge Daen 5% Wheat beer. Filtered. Ouwe Daen 5% Wheat beer. Unfiltered. Linteloo Gold 5.2% Pils. 3 Granen Meibock 7.5% Pale bock. Seasonal - Spring. Bokbier 7.5% (17º Plato) Dark bock. Seasonal - Autumn. Colour 75 EBC; bitterness 27 EBU. IJsbreker Winterbier 9.5% Seasonal - Winter. Homebrew pub in central Utrecht in a building which dates from the Middle Ages.

Bierbrouwerij 't Vølen Morseweg 12, 1132 PK Volendam. Tel: 0299-361580 Email: kees.jonk@wxs.nl Homepage: http://www.bierbrouwerijvolendam.nl Founded: 2000 Annual production: 250 hl Beer alc Description score (100) Palinck 5% Amber ale. Bottle-conditioned. Ingredients: pils malt, aroma malt, caramalt, Hallertau and Saaz hops, spices. Cherry, biscuit, flowers and caramel aroma; neutral taste with smoke, yeast, toast and apple aromas; bitter finish with burnt, smoke and chicory aromas. A very smoky amber ale. A bit too smoky for my taste. 57 Zeebonck 6.5% Pale bock. Bottle-conditioned. Ingredients: pils malt, Munich malt, wheat malt, Hallertau and Saaz hops, spices. Caramel, candy, vanilla, orange and biscuit aroma; sweet/bitterish taste with caramel, orange, biscuit and toffee aromas; bitterish finsihwith bread, fruit, pepper and candy. Well-balanced, clean, complex. A winner. I assume that it's top-fermented. 78 Bap 7% Dubbel. Bottle-conditioned. Ootje 8.5% Tripel. Bottle-conditioned. Vølenbock 6.5% (17º Plato) Dark bock. Seasonal - Autumn. Bottle-conditioned. Biscuit and sour aroma; sour/sweetish/bitter taste with smoke aroma; sour/very bitter aroma with hop aroma. Horrible. Very close to being totally undrinkable - sour and bitter. Infected. (2004 vintage) Colour 100 EBC; bitterness 23 EBU. 17 Witvoetje 5% Wheat beer. Seasonal - Summer. Bottle-conditioned. Ingredients: pils malt, wheat malt, Hallertau hops, spices. Ginger, clove, orange and butter aroma; neutral taste with wheat, clove, butter and orange aromas; bitterish finish with orange, ginger and butter. A delicately spicy wheat beer. Not bad at all. 65 Øster 9.5% Strong dark ale. Seasonal - Winter. Bottle-conditioned. A micro with a good reputation.

© Ron Pattinson 1999 - 2004