I have already professed my admiration for up-and-coming Dutch breweries such as De Molen elsewhere on these pages.
Nutshelling somewhat indiscriminately, I daresay that, beer-wise, there's a lot more happening outside the Belgian borders than most of my fellow-countrymen are willing to admit. Likewise with the Utrecht-based craft brewery Rooie Dop, named for their habit of sealing their beers with a red cap.
Looking at their site, and the dazzling range of test brews on display there, you get an idea of how passionate these guys are about brewing.
Lacking an appropriately sized installation of their own, they brew their beer at De Molen's brewery in Bodegraven, who also sell it at the beershop located there. This month's visit to said brewery finally saw me stocked with some Rooie Dop brews, which I'd been meaning to try for quite some time now.
Their signature brew, the Chica Americana, is one I'll need to give a second chance, as my bottle was a dud. No carbonation whatsoever, and a slight vegetable funk told me this beer had failed its bottle conditioning. It happens, even with the best of brewers, so I'll refrain from saying anything about this beer until I get to sample a bottle that's drinkable. No wait, I'll say this: it's hop-beast if ever there was one. Even the failed bottle conditioning couldn't perturb the massive hop-presence of this one, and I'm really looking forward to having a proper bottle of this one.
Nil desperandum: I had the Utrecht Strong Ale waiting for me at a nice cool cellar temperature.
Not sure what an Utrecht Strong Ale is supposed to be, but the eye and the nose readily make things clear:
Magnificently creamy head, dense and pillowy. Really, you could put a spoon to this head and eat it like custard.
Phenomenally grapefruity in the nose, with lingering hints of pine and grapes. Buried underneath the fruity/resiny hops are hints of caramel and fudge, which make the backbone of a good double IPA and are typical of the style.
The flavour and taste is where this beer makes a difference, and it's quite unlike anything I've tasted before.
Initially very delicate, like a subdued (D)IPA, but making a u-turn towards bitter instead of sweet. Unique aftertaste, slightly burnsy-boozy, bordering on fussels, deeply hop-bitter without becoming puckering.
And then the lessons learned from the X-teme Hops series pay off.
It's Columbus! Thank you, X-treme Hops series: it's Columbus!
**calms down for a second**
On a more serious note: Columbus has a bit of a distinct profile, and this comes through splendidly in this beer. If you've ever tasted a Columbus single hops beer (as I had the day before I tried the USA) then you can't really mistake it for anything else. Like Sorachi Ace, it tends to unbalance beers unless skillfully applied. In this particular case, it doesn't so much unbalance the beer as annex it: the beer is centered around the bitter presence of Columbus, almost to the exclusion of anything else.
Almost: there's enough of that malty IPA backbone present to counter the Columbus' bitterness, and the flavours and the nose have some pretty interesting things to add in the form of Cascade and Galena.
In all, Utrecht Strong Ale is a misleading beer, an IPA with a mild (or rather, bitter) twist and a nod to Dutch pig-headedness. Not for everyone, I suppose, but hop heads like yours truly will certainly get a kick out of it.
Beer: Utrect Strong Ale
Brewery: Rooie Dop
Style: Double IPA
ABV: 9.1%
EBU: -
EBC: -
Served: 330ml bottle
Rooie Dop's Double Oatmeal Stout is waiting to be sampled later on.
Until then,
Greetz
Jo
Nutshelling somewhat indiscriminately, I daresay that, beer-wise, there's a lot more happening outside the Belgian borders than most of my fellow-countrymen are willing to admit. Likewise with the Utrecht-based craft brewery Rooie Dop, named for their habit of sealing their beers with a red cap.
 |
| Thanks guys, for steering clear of the obvious orange. |
Lacking an appropriately sized installation of their own, they brew their beer at De Molen's brewery in Bodegraven, who also sell it at the beershop located there. This month's visit to said brewery finally saw me stocked with some Rooie Dop brews, which I'd been meaning to try for quite some time now.
Their signature brew, the Chica Americana, is one I'll need to give a second chance, as my bottle was a dud. No carbonation whatsoever, and a slight vegetable funk told me this beer had failed its bottle conditioning. It happens, even with the best of brewers, so I'll refrain from saying anything about this beer until I get to sample a bottle that's drinkable. No wait, I'll say this: it's hop-beast if ever there was one. Even the failed bottle conditioning couldn't perturb the massive hop-presence of this one, and I'm really looking forward to having a proper bottle of this one.
Nil desperandum: I had the Utrecht Strong Ale waiting for me at a nice cool cellar temperature.
 |
| Spiffy consistent labels these guys have |
Not sure what an Utrecht Strong Ale is supposed to be, but the eye and the nose readily make things clear:
USA = IPA
But wait! While this is clearly an India Pale Ale, there's more to it than just that. And it certainly isn't just another IPA.
Magnificently creamy head, dense and pillowy. Really, you could put a spoon to this head and eat it like custard.
Phenomenally grapefruity in the nose, with lingering hints of pine and grapes. Buried underneath the fruity/resiny hops are hints of caramel and fudge, which make the backbone of a good double IPA and are typical of the style.
The flavour and taste is where this beer makes a difference, and it's quite unlike anything I've tasted before.
Initially very delicate, like a subdued (D)IPA, but making a u-turn towards bitter instead of sweet. Unique aftertaste, slightly burnsy-boozy, bordering on fussels, deeply hop-bitter without becoming puckering.
And then the lessons learned from the X-teme Hops series pay off.
 |
| Thank you, Proefbrouwerij and Mikeller! |
It's Columbus! Thank you, X-treme Hops series: it's Columbus!
**calms down for a second**
On a more serious note: Columbus has a bit of a distinct profile, and this comes through splendidly in this beer. If you've ever tasted a Columbus single hops beer (as I had the day before I tried the USA) then you can't really mistake it for anything else. Like Sorachi Ace, it tends to unbalance beers unless skillfully applied. In this particular case, it doesn't so much unbalance the beer as annex it: the beer is centered around the bitter presence of Columbus, almost to the exclusion of anything else.
Almost: there's enough of that malty IPA backbone present to counter the Columbus' bitterness, and the flavours and the nose have some pretty interesting things to add in the form of Cascade and Galena.
In all, Utrecht Strong Ale is a misleading beer, an IPA with a mild (or rather, bitter) twist and a nod to Dutch pig-headedness. Not for everyone, I suppose, but hop heads like yours truly will certainly get a kick out of it.
Beer: Utrect Strong Ale
Brewery: Rooie Dop
Style: Double IPA
ABV: 9.1%
EBU: -
EBC: -
Served: 330ml bottle
Rooie Dop's Double Oatmeal Stout is waiting to be sampled later on.
Until then,
Greetz
Jo
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