’t IJ Struis

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

UPDATED: NOV 7, 2010 330ml bottle. Clear mahogany, thick coat of beige head. Aroma of dried fruits (currants, prunes, muscatels), dough, leather, spices (cloves, cardamon, vanilla, galangal, pepper). Creamy mouthfeel - the carbonation combines with the slight syrupiness very nicely. Fleeting big sweetness with lots of dried fruit and some brown sugar; then quite spicy bitterness and a little passing sour/ brett yeastiness. Surprisingly brief finish has spiced fruit and drying wood. Pretty well-hidden alcohol. A little bit of rather welcome acidity creeps out about halfway down the bottle - I liked the balance more as it warmed. [3.9]

330ml bottle. Gusher. Dirty brown with a large dense beige head that laces extravagantly. Aroma of dried fruits, acidic pineapple, leather/ doughy funk, ginger, cardamon, pepper. Smooth, lactic mouthfeel. Some overt alcohol. Fruity sweetness and yeast overtaken by quite a lot of acidic pineapple. Finish is drying but mostly astringency fighting yeast. A little chocolate and wood right at the end. Recognisable as the same beer as last time, but this is a _very_ different bottle. Engaging.

Bottled, 330ml at Cafe D’Engel, Delft. Cloudy brown with white head. Fruity, slightly sweet, plummy, carbonated, quite similar to many of their beers I have tried this week. Not that good.

Bottle from beerlando. Clear mahogany, decent off white head. Aroma rather subdued but what’s there is quite nice. Candied fruit, hints of brett, yeasty, herbal character I can’t pinpoint. Flavor has same herbal character, which is amplified by hot alcohol. Honestly tastes like someone put ricolla cough drops in a barleywine. Strange, but not all bad. There is alot going on here, but you really have to dig for it.

33cl, Dutch organic brew, from Slijterij van Bergen Eindhoven, complex brew, not too heavy, balanced, cloudy, good head, good brew

Huge head on an amber body. Musty. Caramelly/molasses. Vintagey-musty oxidation, but in a good way, with complexity (lots of things to get from this). Bottle bought at brewery.

In short: Run of the mill sweet Belgian amber ale. Nothing special.
How: Bottle at brepub
The look: Cloudy amber body topped by a small beige head
In long: Strong nose of toasted caramel and wet forest floor. Taste is sweet, some almonds, lots of caramel, very bready (crusty baguette), some dried fruits. Lack of hops presence. Alcohol is very well hidden. Not bad but nothing interesting either. At least this bottle wasn’t a yeast soup like the three beers I had on tap just before. Overall I was a bit disappointed by the beers at Brouwerij ’t IJ. If I was a local I would not go there so often. And honestly with the Red Light district they have I don’t understand why anybody is going to the pub to start with.

2 bouteilles de 330 ml partagées avec MartinT et Fred82. Bouteilles meilleures avant 2005 mais achetées en mars 2009 en Floride. Arôme: Odeur de mélasse fruitée. Apparence: La couleur est ambrée foncée. Présence d’un mince col mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de raisins et de petits fruits. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement huileuse. Faible effervescence en bouche. Légère présence de raisins secs en arrière goût.. (Rating #3043)

Bottle from the brewery. Amber brown with a dense, lacing head. Aroma is dominate by dried fruits and caramel. Medium sweet taste that is lacking any balancing bitterness, which makes it a bit cloying.