REVIEW #37: Bed & Breakfast (Brouwerij de Molen)

Pours a hazy honeyed gold with crisp white head with excellent retention due to some vigorous carbonation. Curiously mute scents of honey and citrus hop meet the nose. Even more curious in the taste! Spicy, peppery hops impart a complex flavour along with dryness and bitterness. The finish is very dry with a brazen burnt coffee taste like overcooked espresso (or spent grounds) that really smacks you in the face! A slight malt backbone tries its hardest to soften the bluntness of the coffee, without much joy. This is a beer nearly totally devoid of sweetness and has a level of bitterness that defies its IBU of 35. I like it and I think this strange hybrid of a beer will appeal to a cross section of drinkers: It has elements of a quality Czech pilsner, an American blonde ale and an IPA. I just hope you like your coffee strong and black!

Brouwerij De Molen ("The Mill") is based in a picturesque Dutch windmill, much like Brouwerij t'IJ of Amsterdam. The mill itself is called De Arkduif, referring to the fabled dove of Noah's Ark. Despite being founded in 1697 De Arkduif only acquired its name in 1957 as the result of a competition run by a previous owner. The brewery was set up a lot more recently in 2004. De Molen was rated as the tenth best brewery in the world by Rate Beer in 2010! Bed and Breakfast is unusual insomuch as its a pale beer yet contains coffee. I don't think its an unsuccessful experiment however, quite the opposite in fact, with hop and coffee bitterness working in tandem to create a very bitter brew. I'd just like to mention the Sladek hop variety, which is a Czech hybrid partly deriving from the English, Northern Brewer variety amongst others. It very closely resembles Czech Saaz in character; hence is spicy, earthy and peppery. Amarillo on the other hand is an American hop imparting citrus and orange notes.

• MALTS: pale, cara 

• HOPS: SLADEK (BITTERING), AMARILLO (DRY HOPPING)
• IBU: 35
• ABV: 4.4%`
• DARK CUBA COFFEE ADDED!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------