Just four years ago all the beer you could get in Austria was strictly limited to locally produced Helles, Keller or Märzen, with the occasional German Weizen and the odd Bockbier thrown in for fun. Oh, and there were Pilseners of course. You had to search long and hard for an English Ale, a Belgian ...
Totally awesome – we get to present at De Librije’s Chef®Evolution!
Jonnie and Thérèse Boer You may recall an earlier blog post about Dutch restaurant De Librije (3 Michelin Star, #38 World’s Best Restaurant) in Zwolle launching a beer menu, next to the wine menu. Together with my colleague Willem Habing we presented a tasting for De Librije’s sommeliers which led to this menu. What we ...
Beer festivals in the Netherlands – places of total awesomeness!
Let me start by admitting that my relationship with the city of Rotterdam has always been, well, let’s say, slightly impaired by prejudice. However much as I do admit Rotterdam has a phenomenal skyline – particularly when enjoyed in the rear view mirror of a car driving at high speed – I have never found ...
OHIM – O HEAVEN It’s Monday, and I’ve just met a genius!
Normally my ‘O Hell It’s Monday’ blogs are about something that annoys me and needs to get off my chest, but today it’s all Heaven. I have tasted three beers that I found to be so close to perfection that I may just as well call them perfect. I have met, shook hands and talked ...
OHIM – ABInBev accused of playing dirty; Heineken quarrels with Jumbo – small brewers win!
It has been both a hilarious as well as a glorious week for beer in the Netherlands, and thus the world. Midweek news hit us on ABInBev being accused of foul play on its former Home Turf, Belgium, which was followed of news that Heineken was quarreling with Jumbo, Holland’s second-largest supermarket. The weekend saw ...
CARNIVALE BRETTANOMYCES SEES FIFTH EDITION THIS JUNE!
Carnivale Brettanomyces, an Amsterdam-based beer festival dedicated to Brettanomyces and other wild things, sees its fifth anniversary this year. Originally started by Elaine Olsthoorn and Jan Lemmens, known as the ‘other wild things’ from Bierproeflokaal In de Wildeman and bottle shop De Bierkoning respectively, the festival has grown to be the single-largest Brettanomyces Beer Festival ...