’t IJ Natte

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

Serve in Trappist glass

Pours a cloudy, caramel color with a medium, creamy, beige head. Nice aroma of spices, fruits and caramel. Good flavor of caramel, fruits and spices with a sweet after-taste. The body is medium with a creamy texture and moderate carbonation. Well done.

Bottle i Amsterdam. Dark brown, hazy, with a light brown head. Aroma heavy malty (brown sugar, roasted, notes of chocolate). Flavor moderate to heavy sweet, moderate bitter, in a good balance. Medium body. Very nice.

Second in the ’t IJ triptych my friend and I had as we celebrated our successful trip to Amsterdam, we began to notice Brouwerij ’t IJ’s house character. The cloudy reddish brown body reminded of a dilute cola color, topped of a foamy beige head. The nose was full of a nostalgic aroma: the smell of chocolate cake batter, a delicious composition of butter, chocolate, eggs and sugar. Some coffee and cookie dough brought together this simple but rare aroma. Green peas and artichoke emerged in the flavor, somewhat unexpectedly but in a similar fashion to our previous taste of IJ, the Plzen. With every sip, thin lacing slides down the glass. Chocolate, butter and cream develop on the tongue but feel slightly watery in texture. An authentic chocolaty bitterness announces the finishing note, abruptly concluding the experience as nearly no significant aftertaste is left to guide the ending. A lucid but enjoyable brew.

Pours dark reddish brown with a thin, mostly receding wispy light brown head. Aroma of cherries, sticky alefruits, raisins, toffee. Taste is sweet toffee malt, plum, raisins, and oak. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, with slight stickiness and lush carbonation. Very interesting, dubbel-ish beer.

Bottle (in NZ). Plenty of spice on the nose, but ginger dominates. Was a lively pour, an unappealing cloudy light brown colour with a more redeeming foamy off white head. Fruity malt in the mouth at first, then giving way to spice - mostly pepper, but also cloves. On the lighter side for a Dubbel, but I enjoy the taste and would drink again.

The beer pours to a murky chestnut colored body with a lasting frothy off-white head. A heavy quick carbonation is actively propagating up. The aroma sort of has a bing cherry lactic thing going on. The flavor is nutty toasted almond slices, creamy cheesecake, dry nutty Brazil nuts on the back-end. The palate is rich, creamy, tart, and medium-bodied. The heavy carbonation seems to soften the mouthfeel.

Refreshing dubbel but it could pack more flavor. On tap at the brewery. Pours hazy, dark caramel color with creamy beige head. Tart, fruity nose is somewhat cidery. Flavor is lightly sweet, still a bit fruity, going into a light and dusty bitterness. Somewhat creamy MF, going dry.

33oml bottle. Aroma is slightly sour. Doughy. Cactus and agave perhaps but with a definite underlying tartness. Weird. Pours a cloudy and chunky dark amber with a very frothy brownish white head that lasts forever. Good amount of bretty tartness on the tongue. Doughty malt. A touch of sugary sweetness. Fairly dry. Medium body with a tad too much carbonation. Yeast addition adds a whole lot of dustiness to the flavor . Finish is rather abrupt and dry. A very unique dubbel. Thanks Alan!