’t IJ Paasij

Brewed by Brouwerij ’t IJ
Style: Belgian Ale
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

Bottle from De Bierkoning. Beautiful orangey amber with a big offwhite head. Spicy sweet malts with hints of brettanomyces providing balance. A very subtle amber ale that have more depth than first imagined.

UPDATED: APR 18, 2010 Bottle. Cloudy hazelish amber pour with a big creamy head. Nice! Aroma of sweet fruits, some hops, citrus and unknown spices. Flavour is a quite dry bitterness with some sweet fruit and yeast. Sidenote of liquorice. Nice one.

Bottle. Pours a hazy golden color with a small wehite head. Has a fruity spicy aroma with some citrus hints. Fruity spicy yeasty flavor. Has a dry malty spicy yeasty finish.

Hazy orange colour and tight, dense head. Aroma has some orange zest. A zingy freshness tries and fails to get through due to the overwhelming bitterness of this beer.

33cl bottle from Bacchanalia, Cambridge. Hazy golden amber, heavily carbonated with a billowing cream head; aroma of green fruit - apples, pears and grapes, and yeast; very tart flavour as if the hops are underripe, with some yeastiness and malts coming through. The alcohol is well masked, but gives a warming finish. Interesting, but not something I’d drink regularly.

I’ve had this beer a few times, but this is my first time rating it. Looks classic in the glass (a de graal tulip) nice murky orange, glows around the edges, decent carbonation, but not over the top, lovely little fluffy white head about a 1mm high. As I’ve said I have had this beer and many other T’Ij beers and what I’ve noticed is that they are good beer makers but somewhat inconsistent. There spicing goes up and down, the sweet:hop ratio changes, and that’s in the same beer 2 bottles of one batch etc. Don’t get me wrong, these idiosyncrasies are what make micro-breweries what they are, but when it effects the quality of the beer that’s when I become concerned. Anyway what I’m trying to say is this isn’t the worst version of the Paasij beer I’ve had but it’s not the best either. It’s very refreshing, it feels great on the palate, but the problem is with the spicing, it gives a slightly sour aroma, and tastes a little tart from this clove-like/cinnamon type spice that’s in there and possibly a little to strong in this batch leading to a very slight imbalance in my opinion overall. So picky I maybe, but I say this only as I have tasted better from this little gem of a brewery!

Nice foamy head. I don’t think the 2009 is as good as the 2008. The palate is still nice and a little thick but the alcohol is a little too pronounced for my taste. I was really looking forward to this one and looked all over Amsterdam to find a bottle, but I have to say it’s somewhat dissappointing this year.

Bottle bought at the beerkoning in Amterdam. It is a Easter beer. A nice one. Dark orange color. Nice beer for in April.