Originally published in the Scandinavian Brewers' Review, December 2015.
Tag Archives: De Molen
Proost, Koyt
This article appeared in the Scandinavian Brewers' Review, September 2015.
The Beauty of De Molen
A couple years ago I was fortunate enough to visit De Molen (@molenbier) on my cycling trip through The Netherlands. It was the best!
Now I’m working on an article for Taps Magazine (@tapsmagazine) about what makes the Dutch craft brewery such a great human interest story. Look for that around the end of summer. I’m really excited to share it.
Last night I was enjoying De Molen’s Ginger Shot; a 4.8% ABV Pale Ale brewed with “lots of ginger.” Unfortunately I had to go to Buffalo to get it, but one day Ontario will figure out that it makes more sense to collect tax on imported bottles, rather then send beer drinkers across the border.
Bodegraven to Bellwoods
I promised myself that if I got a fancy new camera I would blog more. So here we go. Fuji and I are at Bellwoods, celebrating with a De Molen Bommen & Granaten.
I do love Bellwoods’ beers, of course, but Holland is where I was truly committed to blogging, and my visit to the windmill in Bodegraven was one of the highlights of my time in Europe this summer.
Bommen & Granaten is a Barley Wine that weighs in at 15.2% ABV, with a recommended shelf life of not more than 25 years. This bottle was capped in August of 2012, so I’m good.
Dark rum boozy, with a burnt sugar sweetness like when you boil maple sap, this is a great holiday treat. I would complement this with Christmas cake, rum-dipped cigarollos and Scrooged.
Tweets for treats!
If you were following along with my tweets over the past couple weeks, you may have noticed I spent the first half of September riding my bike around Belgium and Holland, tasting beer that doesn’t normally find its way to our corner of the world.
Ten (10) bottles came back with me, and on Monday evening at 7:00 I’ll be opening them up to a very select few at the very cool JM&Sons shipping container on Dundas West.
I have one spot left and if you want it, jump on to Twitter and post this link from Thursday’s Toronto Star: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/09/19/toronto_shipping_container_on_dundas_west_drawing_crowds.html
Make sure you tag @JMandSons (so we see it), and say something fun. The most creative tweet wins my last spot.
The beers I’m sharing are as follows:
- Engelszell Benno (Trappist Farmhouse Ale, from Austria)
- Westvleteren Six (Trappist Blond, from Belgium)
- La Trappe Puur (Trappist Organic Blonde, from Holland)
- La Trappe Quadrupel (Trappist Quadrupel, from Holland)
- Witte Klaviervier (Koyt / Kuit / Kuyt, from Holland)
- Jopen Frans Hals (Kuitbier, from Holland)
- Jopen Koyt (Koyt, from Holland)
- Jopen Hoppenbier (Hoppenbier, from Holland)
- Bruges Zot (Bruine, from Belgium)
- De Molen Larie & Apekool BA (Barrel-Aged Smoked Imperial Stout, from Holland)
The guys from JM&Sons and I will judge the entries Sunday afternoon. You’ll need to be following @BrewScout so I can DM the winner.
Peanut Butter, Banana & Jam in Bodegraven
The most difficult part of a @BeerCycling tour isn’t the peddling, the directions or even the weather (though this afternoon was downright miserable at times).
The toughest thing is trying to decide when it’s worth stopping to take pictures. The routes take riders above canals, below sea level, through medieval settlements and all around the most charming small towns.
Water is everywhere, and today’s ride took me through vast rural areas where windmills stand proudly above the lowlands, pumping the excess away from the fields, and outside the dykes.
Did I photograph this polder landscape? Nope. I wish I had, because it would take far too many words to properly describe this remarkable setting.
I did stop briefly outside of Gouda, to snap a pic of this lovely stretch of fietspath (below), and had a lamb walk over to say hello.
There have been a number of occasions this week when some beast or other will call out to me as I’m riding past. Animals here seem so much more outgoing.
I could have taken a thousand pictures, each worth a thousand more words, but instead I pushed on, anxious not to let the wind and rain throw me off schedule.
Also though, when I’m alone on my bike and there isn’t another human being in sight, that’s when I feel most alive. Stopping to take photos would interrupt the high of gliding headlong into the elements.
Then of course, there’s the beer, which demands some of my schedule. After 50+ km and two ferry crossings, I made it into Bodegraven against a ferocious wind and rain.
This brewery, built inside a windmill that has its origins in the 17th century, still employs the grindstone to crush the malt on occasion.
De Molen has only been around since 2004, but thanks to ratebeer.com, whose users have ranked it as high as #12 in the world a couple years back, it now exports the majority of its beers, and most of those shipments go to the USA.
I tried eight of their styles, including an excellent Russian Imperial Stout aged in Wild Turkey barrels. Unfortunately the beer being brewed with (actual) peanut butter, banana and jam wasn’t ready yet.
PBB&J? Yes, it’s De Molen’s newest experiment, but no one is expecting greatness.
Menno Olivier, who founded the brewery, used to work at De Prael (which I wrote about last week). Just like his old Amsterdam workplace, this Bodegraven brewhouse employs workers that might otherwise have a hard time finding a job.
De Molen bottles its beers by hand, and the assembly line works like this: one fills the bottles, the next sets the cork, a third twists on the wire crown, then a label is pasted on and finally someone dips the head and neck in red wax.
It seems like a lot of manpower for each bottle, but this workforce is made up of autistic employees; persons who require order and regularity.
De Molen not only provides them with structure but also organizes outings, since community is another basic need. Perhaps what’s most fun about this is De Molen also invested in an experimental brew system, to allow these employees to try their own recipes (with some expert guidance, of course). As you can imagine there have been some pretty interesting batches, and now it’s PBB&J’s turn.
One day of BeerCycling awaits me. Tonight they’ve put me in a hotel that has its own bird park. I didn’t know that until I checked in, and an ostrich wandered up to my balcony. Although I’m spending nearly all my time alone on this trip, honestly, I’ve never been bored!
Witte in Woudrichem
This morning I had the privilege of visiting Abdij Onze Lieve Vrouw van Koningshoeven, better known as De Koningshoeven to fans of La Trappe.
Koningshoeven itself, means “King’s Farmhouses,” a reference to the open heath once populated with a sheepfold and farmhouses, owned by King William II.
Since the late 19th century the Monastery’s impressive spires have reached towards heaven, while below Monks generate revenue by brewing.
To this day, sales of La Trappe are the main source of income for the Abbey and its numerous benevolent projects.
Inside the gift shop rests a selection of La Trappe product not easily found elsewhere, including an Oak-aged Quadrupel and a Belgian Pale Ale called “Jubilaris.”
Unfortunately there is no tasting room, so visitors are required to buy full bottles to go. I have two weeks of my life saddled to my bike, so not a lot of extra space, but my panniers made room for bottles of Witte, Bock and Quad. The €10.70 barrel-aged beauty, however, stayed behind. One day…
Today is the first day of my official @BeerCycling tour, so I knew from my preordained schedule I was to vacate the hallowed grounds no later than 1:30. In fact I left far earlier because I also started earlier, in a different town (Den Bosch) than what the official itinerary suggested (Amsterdam, then a train to nearby Tilburg).
For me it was the right move. Having my own bike in Europe has given me so much opportunity to see amazing sites and sights at my own pace, without dealing with the limitations of tracks and timetables.
Today I commuted 20 km more than BeerCycling prescribed, but since the whole of the ride was still less than I’ve moved myself on other days, it felt really good to start early without dealing with the railway.
The day’s second stop was Heusden, a beautifully restored, fortified city with one hell of a past. Dating back to the 13th century, it’s been an historic stronghold for half as long. William of Orange gets credit for having built up its defences.
The town’s castle was devastated in 1680, by a lightning bolt igniting 60,000 pounds of gunpowder. Centuries later, retreating Nazis blew up the town hall where 170 residents were taking cover. 134 (more than 10% of the town’s population) were killed when the 40-meter tower crumbled down on them.
The restoration of the town is inspiring however, and I’m incredibly grateful my BeerCycling coordinator, Henk, suggested I stop in its Vismarkt for a break.
That’s where I had a Gulpener Korenwolf Witbier, which, at 5.0%, was just fine for me to continue cycling. I’ve been trying to taste more from this nearly 200-year-old Dutch Brewery, which strives to be carbon-neutral. I quite like their Pilsner, and I’m not typically a Pils kind of guy.
Another score for BeerCycling was the decision to continue the trek along a stunning canal route, rather than the more direct one. The scenery along the last 25 km of today’s ride was a breathtaking array of thatched cottages, boats, sheep, goats and greenery.
Today’s destination, where my head now rests next to my glass of La Trappe Witte, is Woudrichem.
Another ancient stad – this one dates back to 1356 as a recognized city – it’s not a place I would have picked on my own (I still can’t even pronounce it properly), but as with Den Bosch, I sure like its Coat Of Arms.
Again, full marks to BeerCycling, not only for reserving my accommodations in Hotel Woudrichem – an absolutely charming inn, built within a former post office – but for putting a note in my file that says I’m vegan. The staff weren’t the least bit flustered by my dietary preferences, and in fact seem to take pride in knowing exactly how to satisfy them. Bonus marks to the hotel for asking what style of beer I was drinking when I asked for a glass to take to my room. I said Bock, they brought a stemmed bowl, with a nice, wide mouth.
Unfortunately tomorrow looks like another day of rain, so I’ll try to be out as soon as my vegan brekkie is in.
Destination: Brouwerij De Molen, which ships most of its product stateside. Its guest area is headquartered inside the windmill (FYI: De Molen translates to “The Mill”) that still brews some of the smaller batches.
But more on that tomorrow.
Tot morgen,
Abdicatie in Arnhem
Beercycling starts Friday the 13th, and considering my luck with tubes so far, I’ve packed an extra to ride aside my patch kit.
Today, however, I gave my wheels a rest. The weather here is crazy, and the Rijnsmarkt area of Arnhem – though populated with most of the same shops as every downtown (including the locals: GSUS and Scotch & Soda) – is entertaining me for the day.
My @BeerCycling organizer, Henk, drove in to see me early this afternoon, before backtracking an hour to Amsterdam for a meeting. It’s a busy time for this hop-farmer, whose crop is being harvested tomorrow, with the help of 35 volunteers. The next day he takes this season’s bounty to De Molen for a special fresh-hopped brew. Friday he leaves for Romania.
I felt bad pulling him from his other tasks, but ended up getting solid editorial content from a really great guy, and trying some damn fine beers I wouldn’t have known about had he not suggested we meet at Café Touché.
My favourite was Abdicatie, which Untappd lists as a “Euro Lager,” but tastes like a Dubbel to me. It’s a one-time-only, special occasion brew, concocted to celebrate the Monarchical transfer from Queen Beatrix to King Willem-Alexander, earlier this year. Oranje is this country’s colour, and you can definitely detect sweet citrus in this lovely beer.
Next stop was ‘t Moortgat, which is a great place to sit yourself down. Though it’s only 35 years old, it looks about 80, with more dust than Rob Ford’s bike seat.
This is where I tried what has to be one of the best named beers in the world. Silly Saison, from Silly Beer, is brewed in an actual Walloon municipality called Silly. How great is that?
I tried scouting out tonight’s dinner in advance. HappyCow has but one vegan listing in Arnhem, and unfortunately it’s a politically-focused café, only open Friday evenings. Two other veg-friendly restaurants populate the directory, but reviews of each suggest calling a day in advance if you’re vegan. Wow. After wandering for 30 minutes I figured I’d be eating at a Thai restaurant that had “Vegetarisch” headlining a menu promoting items with “tahoe” (“tofu”). Nope, not open Woensdag.
Instead I seated myself at a TexMex restaurant with a Union Jack on the menu. That should have been a hint, because the food was about as spicy as English cuisine. My coffee was a cute, little espresso, and my veggie tacos came in “tortilla boats.” Euradorable!
Tomorrow I’ll pass through Nijmegen on my way to ‘s-Hertogenbosch (or Den Bosch, as the locals call it).
I would love to spend more time visiting the sites, but eating here has been difficult and I’m starting to feel it. When I’m riding, everything is wonderful. It’s during the gap periods that I become keenly aware of my fatigue.
The weather looks better over the next few days, so I’m continuing to rely on my rather sparse wardrobe. That and the four protein bars (Taste of Nature, made in Canada) I bought today should get me comfortably through my final six days.
I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to write tomorrow, so if you don’t hear from me, just make something up.
Op je gezondheid!
BrewScout 
