t IJ Columbus

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

[Shared with Erik.] I like thisone quite a lot. Notes of flowers and parfume in the good way, some bitterness, fruits and yeasty.

330. Thanks, TheWolf! I think I may be starting to get this funk thing. Slowly. And this beer is available in Seattle now, at least occasionally, so maybe I’m just taking baby steps, but I am kind of liking this beer. Pours hazy coppery dark amber with a thick platinum blonde head, lots of lace. Big funky nose: sour cherries, foot, basement, horse blanket. Clearly some widely variegated spontaneous fermentation happening, albeit down the road a piece from the Belgian originals. Fizzy carb, medium body, lots of dank heavy funk all over the mid-palate. This one isn’t actually a whole lot easier to take than the seriously funkified lambics, but it’s juuuust sweeter/softer enough to hit me where I want to be hit and it’s a pleasure to drink. A gateway funk, perhaps.

smells very hoppy, almost like an IPA. golden brown with big head. after tasting it its still bitter hoppy with a few sweet caramel hints.

Draught at the t’IJ brewpub. Amber color with small floating chucks and creamy head. Bittersweet, very phenolic, peppery, worty and toffeish aroma and flavor. Some orange and lemon flavor. This was the best of the beers tasted at the brewpub and I was quite dissappointed. I very much prefer the dryer bottled versions of IJ beers.

Pours to a caramel colored body with a lasting tall dense foamy white head. Lots of large particulate. But, one must hold it to the light to notice it. The aroma is mineral laden yeasts and yellow apple skins. Biere de garde like. The flavor is yeasty, dusty, some sort of fruits like apples or pineapples, and aged hops. The palate is heavily carbonated, very creamy, and mineral laden. This one tastes very similar to other ’t IJ beers I’ve already had.

From an 11.2 oz bottle from Grapevine Travellers in Medford, MA. Wow, what a surprising aroma! I can only describe it as candy-spicy-urinal. Huge, fluffy white head. Flavor is quite interesting, too. If you could imagine a ’dry beer’, like a ’dry wine’, that’s the malt flavor. Followed by a spicy-bitter hop presence, and then a ’hot’ alcohol flavor. Big time spiciness in this beer-- I can’t tell if spices have been added or if it’s just the effect of hops and high alcohol content. Very bubbly. Anyway, interesting brew-- but not great. Will probably complement the cheese I’m about to eat.

After 2 years of trying to assess beers with a level of seriousness I have never, never ever seen a more attractive beer in the glass. Massive creamy frothy head, a dead-ringer for whipped cream. Lovely glowing dark orange; the Orval chalice is working a treat. Sweet malts on the nose with signature spice and nutmeg, hugely appealing although a little more subdued in this beer that some of the other ’tIj offerings. Flavours slightly under-deliver; licorice and spice early. The malts pick up pace, driving a bitter note, but the alcohol does swamp a touch on the finish, leaving some heat. This does lessen over time however. Nice herbal, nettle underlay right through the palate.

Bottle. Pours a pretty copper-like golden amber with a big big bubbly yellowish head. Aroma is spicy, with lots of oranges with a barn-like feel to it. Flavour is very special - there is a slight malty caramel base with plenty of hot spices and herbs. Finish is slightly bitter and vinious. All in all a very well-balanced beer with a heavy spice touch. There are so many impressions that they are hard to differentiate... really good, though :o)