Normally, In Del Wildeman is closed on Sunday. But during their Real Ale Days they open to serve a Sunday Roast. The beer on cask this morning was a Pale Ale from the Grain Brewery of Alburgh, Norfolk.
They had a dozen beers on draft. I did as I usually do at a new brewery/brewpub and went for the Pilsner.
Lots of choices, but also many I’d had before.
I started with the Gladjanus White IPA from De Eeuwige Jeugd. After the Troost beers it was very nice.
The Real Ale Days started on Friday and I think this was the last cask and they needed to finish it today so they weren’t pouring any of the regular beers. I didn’t realize they were dressing to eat — I left my tie at home.
British friends on Twitter and Facebook said “Ugh, I’d never eat that” but it actually was pretty good.
After a few of the (very nice) cask Pale Ales, I begged Simon to let me drink something else. He gave in, and brought be a Green Bullet IPA from Two Chefs Brewing.
Time to move on, so I headed to Brouwerij Troost in De Pijp. I actually was too efficient in my travel planning and arrived a bit too early. But after about 15 minutes they were open.
All of the Troost breweries are card only — no cash. You see that a lot here. In fact, I’ve spent very little actual cash so far on this trip.
They had a dozen beers on draft. I did as I usually do at a new brewery/brewpub and went for the Pilsner.
I wasn’t paying attention when the barman poured the beer because as the first beer of the day he didn’t let the beer run a bit to flush the beer sitting overnight in the tap. The beer was pretty bad, not really drinkable. I went back and asked if I could have a taste of the Pils again — it seemed OK so I asked for (and received) a replacement beer. This one was drinkable, but not really all that good of a beer. A little bit of diacetyl as it warmed up (not unexpected) and just wasn’t very crisp — a bit muddied.
They have 5 “tankovna” type tanks over the bar, all filled with the Pilsner.
There is a small brewery here, though some beers are brewed at their production brewery in West Amsterdam.
I had the IPA next. It was better than the Pilsner but still was at best ordinary.
There is a small brewery here, though some beers are brewed at their production brewery in West Amsterdam.
I had the IPA next. It was better than the Pilsner but still was at best ordinary.
Maybe one of the other 10 beers were spot on and an exemplar of the style, but I didn’t want to waste time, money or liver finding out. So I moved on.
My next planned stop was Tap Zuid. I thought they didn’t open until 4pm and I was going to be early for that, but I failed in my research and didn’t check the website first. They had changed their hours to be open daily at noon.
They hav a nice presentation of their 24 or taps — some at the front of the bar and some at the rear.
Lots of choices, but also many I’d had before.
I started with the Gladjanus White IPA from De Eeuwige Jeugd. After the Troost beers it was very nice.
Next I tried the Blonde Bakkes from Homeland — this is the first time I’ve seen their beers outside of Pension Homeland. It wasn’t as dark as it looks, here, they turned down the lights just before I took the picture. It too was very enjoyable.
They have a menu with entries but the waitress said they had a problem in the kitchen and only had flammekuchen and snacks. That sort of rang a bell — I was here a year ago and they might have said the same thing. Or maybe that was someplace else. If you should go, let me know if they serve their entrees. Anyway, I had a flammekuchen.
Along with it I had the Waffle Dance Brown Ale from the Sisters Brewery. Last year I had a good beer that was made with Stroopwafels — it might have been this beer, but if so this edition wasn’t as good. There wasn’t really anything technically wrong with it, it just didn’t work for me.
As usual, the facilities are downstairs, but at least they give you some entertainment...
Also they have a glass wall on the keg room. It actually was much bigger but there was no way to conveniently get a picture showing more — without taking the picture from the entrance to the WC, which was a little too creepy for me.
Back upstairs I ordered one more beer, the Vin de Houblon from Brouwerij Kleiburg, an 11% Barleywine.
Back upstairs I ordered one more beer, the Vin de Houblon from Brouwerij Kleiburg, an 11% Barleywine.
I really didn’t expect to come in the same sized glass as the others, but it did. It was a nice hoppy barleywine but as it warmed up you got some alcohol notes which was a little unpleasant. But all in all, I enjoyed it.
It had been an early start (first beer at 11am) so I headed back to the hotel.
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