Everybody who was supposed to arrive today did. We are roughing thru the jet lag by drinking strong Dutch and Belgian beers.
Luis and I arrived at Amsterdam Centraal Station about 1:30pm. Our route to the hotel took us very close to In De Wildeman, so we had to stop for a beer or two:
Luis had a Hemel Nieuwligt Grand Cru and I had the "Beer of the Month" St. Adriaan's Bruin. Both hit the spot.
Before we had drunk about half, the rest of the crew starting showed up. After introductions it was time for another beer. I had the 25th Anniversary Vlo -- a beer brewed by Brouwerij t'IJ for the Bierkoning Beer Store. It was dark and rich but I was so busy talking I didn't take a picture.
Luis and I left to check into our hotel. We agreed to meet later at 't Arendsnest. After checking in and grabbing a quick sandwich, we arrived at 't Arendsnest a bit early, but what the hey, it was time for another beer.
First up was La Trappe Puur -- a new (for us) beer that was very light in body and color but I had just enough hops to make it interesting.
There are 30 beers on tap here which can make for tough decisions
We noticed there were three Dutch IPA's on the menu so that seemed a perfect second round.
From left to right: Leidsh IPA (actually 'IPA' was spelled out phonetically in Dutch but I didn't write that down -- too many vowels in all the wrong places), the Emelisse Triple IPA and Den Dorstige Tijger IPA.
The Tijger was practically flat and was a bit bland. I'm guessing it was a problem with the keg and I would like to try it again in better circumstances. We liked the Leidsh best but the Emelisse was also very good -- you could tell there was the base of Triple underneath.
Then the rest of crew started showing up and I was too busy tasting beers to keep track or take pictures. So you'll have to take my word that a good time was had by all.
The folks arriving today were starting to feel the jet lag, so we decided to go walk in the cool evening air. We stopped for a picture on one of the canal bridges but the flash caught the reflective bands on the bike tires more than us, but it makes for an interesting picture
We ended up at Cafe Belgique, where they had the hard to find Chouffe Bok on draft.
We decided we needed some food, so we walked over to Sammy's Kebab house and all had a huge Döner Kebab
Sammy's is on the sale alley as In De Wildeman, so we had come full circle and went in for a nightcap. We had forgotten there was an event planned: Robin Brillemann -- who used to work at there, was releasing his new book on the Scotch Distilleries if Islay. So we grabbed a quick beer and headed back to the hotel
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Location:Gravenstraat,Amsterdam,The Netherlands
