’t IJ Natte

Brewed by Brouwerij ’t IJ
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Serve in Trappist glass

BB 08/2005. Another 2 buck special. Dark brown purplish tinted beer with a creamy tan head. Sweet fruity aroma, plums and dark cherries, sweet chewy toasted malts, yeast shows subdued clove and some sweet apple and grapey vineousness as well. Flavour is sweet and plummy but also lighted textured than many other dubbels. This makes it creamy and sweet, but also somewhat refreshing. Creamy texture, light mint herbal character. Some clove and light apple through the finish along with a lingering breadiness. Nice beer.

Bottle best before 6/04: Pours a rich garnet brown with a dense light tan head. Sweet malty and bready Belgian aroma. Body starts very light and thin with some spices and earthy, musty off-flavors before settling into a smooth, lightly dry finish. Not really much of a Belgian strong. Needs more body and to get rid of those off-flavors.

bottle. golden brown colour with an off-white head. Aroma is fruit, malt, hop, caramel. Flavour is sourness, malt, hop, fruit, hop, caramel, yeast. OK/Nice beer.

Chestnut coloured beer, end of bottle pretty ’unclear’. Good, creamy, whipped cream-like head, yellowish. Sourish nose, with some nice fruity acids, but also a bit lactic, on a malty background. Light citrus in the taste, but also a touch on the edge of infected. Malty, still sweet underbuild, fruity flavours of fresh figs. Caramel and some higher alcohols. Medium bodied, ends significantly lighter. Rather typical for ’t IJ. I call this "infected", but this kind of "infection" I’ll tolerate anytime.

Bottled. A muddy brown coloured beer with no head or lacing. The aroma is typical, with raisin fruits and alcoholic malts. The taste is also malty and fruity with a little chocolate and alcohol. A tasty drinkable dubbel.

The Lure:
Walking through a North American Chinese meat market. A few vegetables are boiling a few tables away, some rusty coins and dropped food litter the floor. Luckily, a roasted chestnut vendor drives by and the enveloping sweetness and earthiness of his wares masks the surrounding nastiness.

The Festivities:
Sweeter and yeastier than the aroma, the nuttiness and grape-y earth expand the flavor portfolio into near-interesting realms. The mouthfeel is sadly stale and tired though. A second look onto the bottle confirms that this bottle isn’t past due, but it sure tastes like it is.

Transcendence:
A little cleanliness will go a long way.

Bottle. Dull bronze brown with a small head. Aromas are yeast and berries with bubblegum. Hoppy and smoky with some meaty notes. Flavours are weetabix malts with sweet milk chocolate. Yeast with soft spices and hints of citrus. Decent.

Dark amber colour with a baige head. Sweet yeasty fruity aroma and a sweet malty hay taste. Medium body and a sweet light harsh finish.