Our original plan was to make a day trip to Cologne. But Tom Perera suggested we go over the Dutch border to Venlo to a pub there, De Roeëje Lieuw (Red Lion). Venlo is in one the the two Dutch Liuburg provinces and he only serves beer from those and the Belgian Limburg province.
Venlo is about an hour and fifteen minutes from Düsseldorf on a direct train. I had had the Venloosch Alt before in Amsterdam, so I knew there would be at least one beer to drink.
After we arrived and walked in to the Market Square, we found the Red Lion but it was closed. So we stopped in down the street at In den Dorstigen Haen for lunch a couple of beers: Gouveneur Brune, Gouveneur Blonde and Lindenboom Herfstbock. All were good and clearly Dutch.
After lunch we went back to the Red Lion and now there was somebody in there. We knocked on the door and the proprietor, Louis, came out and told us he openned at 6pm! We explained we were weary beer travelers so he invited us in for a beer. After a nice conversation and a Venloosch Alt, it was clear Louis had word to do so we said our goodbyes and headed back to the train station. But John pointed out a cafe that had Hertog Jan Grand Prestige on draft, so we made a stop. This is a beer I like when I've had it in bottles in Amsterdam. It holds up well to the strong, dark Belgian Abbey beers. However, we were no so impressed with the draft version. There was definite acetone aroma that got stronger as it warmed up. We finished it, but didn't feel the need for another.
Tomorrow (Thursday) Bamberg!
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