I FINALLY managed to make it to Bodegraven and De Molen (another week in Rotterdam for me).
They've got an INSANELY good and sweet 18% barley wine on tap; it was aged in Cognac barrels for 2 years and then left to mellow in this one keg for the pub and a bunch of bottles for export to the US. Its super complex and super sweet. Dark brown, a head that never dies despite the alcohol, huge wood notes on the nose. Tastes like brown sugar, vanilla, and tequilla. The insanely high ABV is really, really well hidden. -don't ask me the name but it's the Dutch words for "Nice" and "Powerful".
I got to try their Citra IPA (I believe it was called Vuur & Vlam), which was just bordering on starting to become catty.
I also tried a roughly 12% Russian Imperial Stout "Nacht & Ontij" which is supposed to be halfway between Rasputin and their really dry super roasty RIS (it's all Dutch to me so don't ask me the name of that one either). It was super, super phenoly enough that I thought there might be some peated malt in there. The high alcohol, plus phenols, plus lots of roast barley was just too much burny flavors for me.
-I grabbed a bottle of "Whole Milk Mild", a collaboration brew with the Italian "Revelation Cat" brewery. Made with mild malt, lactose and 22 IBUs of Premiant and Sladek hops, it's only 3.5% but really, really tasty. I'm actually consider trying to brew my own version of this.
Bodegraven itself is a great little Dutch town and almost worth visiting on its own. De Molen has a great facility inside the structure built around the windmill and a fantastic food menu made with beer products. I had a cheese plate that came with 3 special local Dutch cheeses, bread made from spent grain, walnuts, dates, and an absolutely amazing sweet, honey-like sauce made from the foam from the first pulls of their IPAs on tap which was then cooked down and had table sugar added. Beer bread, craft cheese, walnuts, & sliced dates with a beer glaze is a fantastic combo.
If you make a trip to Amsterdam, hop on the train to Bodegraven and you'll get to see the farms of the Dutch country side, the pretty village of Bodegraven itself, and the insanely experimental De Molen brewery.
Adam
