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Dutch beer

should i have studied judo?

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Beermad approaches! I went last year of course, although I did not have the spoons to write a review of it. But new opportunities! Before we get to that, though, there’s a lovely busy can of stout that needs seeing to. Another delight from La Mundial, it’s an imperial pastry stout from The White Dog. It’s a Dutch brewery, which I am not familiar with, but the label seems to be promising a lot. Like some other Dutch breweries, they are flamboyant with their names. This one is I See You Know Your Judo Well. Yeah. Isn’t that a movie quote?

Just black as night pouring out, with that little whiff of Hershey’s chocolate syrup that some modern stouts take on. Not a very heady beer, barely a ring of chocolate milk bubbles crowns the glass. If you stick your nose in the glass there’s a balancing breadiness that takes the edge of the sweet. The taste is unsurprising if you trust the aroma, although it does have a pretty noticeable floor of licorice, which I haven’t run into for a while. With practically no carbonation, it packs a punch as a mouthful of a beverage. It’s slick and thick feeling, makes itself known, but also goes down without much of a fight. Thankfully the licorice calms down after a while, and it doesn’t develop a heavy or syrupy sweetness after sitting around a little. While not the most typical refresher beer, it’s comforting and cozy, definitely a stout right up my alley.

all aboard

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Who needs a pastry stout on Saturday night? Me! Always! Every Saturday! I could do it too, I think, there’s always a new one out, but I do feel the need to sample something else at least some of the time. Not today, though, today is a pastry day. Today’s selection comes from Brouwerij Kees, apparently a whole chain of flavor experiences with Pastry Train. The can doesn’t actually have a train, oddly, instead there’s the promised focus of Black Forest cherry cake, in the moonlight, possibly around Halloween. That’s just the way that image strikes me, ok? It’s a strong one, almost 13%. Maybe that’s the kind of fuel you need to reach that goal of glory.

Oh waaaaait, the cake is on the train!

There’s only a hint of dessert in the aroma, but it’s right in line with the description. Maybe a little breadier than cakey, but there’s some clear cherry roaming around. It’s a little more candy flavored than I might ordinarily like, and an odd mix of fruit candy too. There’s some banana in there, less cherry and more lighter raspberry, but also notes of chocolate cake and donut glaze. Some pastry stouts don’t go all out on the sweetness, as I have recently discovered, and this one is not actually excessive on that account. While definitely an after-dinner sort of drink, it’s pretty clean drinking, and the sweetness does not weigh it down as much as you might expect. It’s not as solemn as dark chocolate or treasonous as less-sweet fruit (melons, I’m looking at you), but it is satisfying and pleasantly unsurprising after looking at the label.

Supplier: Labirratorium
Price: €5.70

from the café

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This was another one that I couldn’t just leave behind. Sachertorte pastry stout? Fuck yes, Frontaal! You might imagine that some Austrian brewers or even Bavarians were behind this, but it’s the Dutch Frontaal Brewing Company. Calling it Piece of Cake #1 makes me think there’s a whole series that I should be looking for. Beer for thought, indeed.

Small explosion but no disaster, head accumulates but then dies back quickly, good dark beige to it promises cake. This beer has more of a marzipan aroma than the one that claimed to have it, along with a touch of bread and wood. It has a much richer flavor than the first few stouts, although not quite as layered as Dead Barrel. It definitely gives the sensation of liquid cake, with a little chocolate, nuttiness, and perhaps just a whisper of ginger. It feels like it ought to have to little bit of spice to balance out the sweetness, but it really doesn’t. It’s a heavy battery baked good in a can. Maybe all that weight will keep your thoughts from wandering too far.

Supplier: La Buena Cerveza
Price: €6.75

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