Texel Brouwerij Review

It’s the largest of the islands in the Wadden Sea -as well as the most populated- and Texel is the only one with a brewery. I joined the throng of German tourists over the summer to check out the island and, of course, the beer.

Several hundred years ago, what is now Texel was actually two islands, Texel and Eierland. The Dutch, being the Dutch, poldered them together in the 17th century into one island.

The Texel Brouwerij was, in the current version, established in 1999. The owner had previously run another brewery that opened in 1994 by Harry Bonne, and then closed four years later in 1998. He sold it to Jaap van der Weide, who reopened it a year later, with a name change from Tesselse Bierbrouwerij to Texelse Bierbrouwerij.

There’s a tasting room at the brewery where I sampled nearly their entire selection of beers. Lest you think I’m an alcoholic, they sell flights as well as full sized beers. Brewery tours are available in Dutch and -of course- in German, but not in English.

The tasting room is nice, with a small gift shop and a large outdoor seating area if the weather is amiable. Their bock is fairly popular and considered a good, if average example of the style. The Donkerd, their black IPA, is my personal favorite. And I’m also a fan of the StormBock, a Belgian Strong Ale.

A highly enjoyable stop during the weekend on Texel. If you go, get the flight so you can sample the range.

Address
Schilderweg 214, 1792 CK Oudeschild

Website
http://www.texels.nl/

Beer Floats Recipe

The tagline for these treats should be “The perfect dessert for an alcoholic with a sweet tooth.”
I came across the idea for the adult version of a root beer float on The Kitchn, one of the many foodie blogs that I like to read.

The premise is simple. Make a root beer float, substitute the root beer with actually beer. Their recipe suggests an oatmeal stout, but they also toss out other options:

“Chocolate Stout with Chocolate Ice Cream - Double chocolate! •Witbier with Raspberry Sorbet - A lighter float to end a meal. • Mocha Stout with Coffee Ice Cream - Post-dinner pick me up. • Hefeweizen with Vanilla Ice Cream - Think creamsicle. • Fruit Lambic with Vanilla Ice Cream - Peach or cherry lambic are my favorites for this.”
Frankly, they all sounded good. But I am a traditionalist and went with dark, sweet beers including two stouts and a porter. They were:

Stone’s Smoked Porter With Vanilla Bean
St. Peter’s Cream Stout
Flying Dog’s Kujo

In short, they were all excellent. Though my personal favorite was the Kujo, and that may be because the Kujo is my favorite beer of the lot.

I poured small glasses and shared with a group of friends, which, given the richness, was the smart way to go. You probably don’t want an entire beer’s worth of a float. I added a few scoops of vanilla ice cream and served with a small spoon.

There was some debate amongst the crowd about whether or not the beer would result in that great foam that appears at the top of a traditional root beer float. Not to worry, it’s all the memories of childhood with an alcoholic twist.





Berliner Weisse Review

Berliner Weisse may be the perfect summer drink. Don’t just trust my assessment. While occupying Berlin, Napoleon declared Berliner Weisse the "champagne of the north”. Frederick Wilhelm trained his son to brew it after encouraging the spread of the beverage around Prussia.

Technically the beer is supposed to only be brewed in Berlin, as the name is protected by appellation d'origine contrôlée, the same designation that says champagne can only come from Champagne. But, judging by the fact that thousands of miles away in California and Texas, breweries are producing them, it’s not clear how strictly that rule is obeyed.

Berliner Weisse is most known for being incredibly tart and as the story goes, the brewers had no idea how tart, so the beer is traditionally served “mit Schuss,” meaning “with a shot" of raspberry or woodruff-flavored syrup to sweeten it up. The woodruff is derived from wild Baby’s Breath. If you order a Berliner Weisse mit Schuss: Himbeere, you’ll get a bottle of the raspberry syrup and if you order a Berliner Weisse mit Schuss: Waldmeister, you’ll get the woodruff.

The beer dates to the Middle Ages and is a top-fermented, bottle conditioned wheat beer. Traditionally, it is not available on tap.

I had my first traditional Berliner Weisse, Sturm en Drang from De Molen in De Beyerd in Breda. I’ve tried a few others before, including Dog Fish Head’s Festina Peche, but this was my first go with the syrup.

As it apparently goes, my beer turned up with two bottles of syrup, one red (the raspberry) and one green (woodruff). I tried the beer plain and then, with the aid of a few extra glasses, tried a bit of each of the syrups.

I would have no problem consuming it straight but the syrups were tasty and who doesn’t love a good beer cocktail?

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