t IJ Natte

Chestnut coloured beer, end of bottle pretty ’unclear’. Good, creamy, whipped cream-like head, yellowish. Sourish nose, with some nice fruity acids, but also a bit lactic, on a malty background. Light citrus in the taste, but also a touch on the edge of infected. Malty, still sweet underbuild, fruity flavours of fresh figs. Caramel and some higher alcohols. Medium bodied, ends significantly lighter. Rather typical for ’t IJ. I call this "infected", but this kind of "infection" I’ll tolerate anytime.

Bottled. Hazy brown/dark orange colour, small white head. Aroma barnyardish malts with weak hints of alcohol. Also in this one the aroma comes kind of weak. Flavour of sweet plum, alcohol and some "ginsengic" notes. (reminds of La Swaf!’s in a way).

Bottled. A muddy brown coloured beer with no head or lacing. The aroma is typical, with raisin fruits and alcoholic malts. The taste is also malty and fruity with a little chocolate and alcohol. A tasty drinkable dubbel.

Second in the ’t IJ triptych my friend and I had as we celebrated our successful trip to Amsterdam, we began to notice Brouwerij ’t IJ’s house character. The cloudy reddish brown body reminded of a dilute cola color, topped of a foamy beige head. The nose was full of a nostalgic aroma: the smell of chocolate cake batter, a delicious composition of butter, chocolate, eggs and sugar. Some coffee and cookie dough brought together this simple but rare aroma. Green peas and artichoke emerged in the flavor, somewhat unexpectedly but in a similar fashion to our previous taste of IJ, the Plzen. With every sip, thin lacing slides down the glass. Chocolate, butter and cream develop on the tongue but feel slightly watery in texture. An authentic chocolaty bitterness announces the finishing note, abruptly concluding the experience as nearly no significant aftertaste is left to guide the ending. A lucid but enjoyable brew.

16 June 2005 (Maastricht-Fallstaff) - Some fruit malt and hop aromas. Clear red-red/brown colour, lowish head and OK lacing. Complex fruit and hops, could have more malt. Thickish palate.

This bottled brew poured a large sized head of foamy finely sized long lasting light brown colored bubbles that left behind a fair lacing. The body contained thick carbonation, was very hazy with a colloidal suspension and brown in color. Its aroma contained notes of yeasty brown malt. Its mouth feel is initially tingly vinous and thick with a lingering tingly palate. Its flavor contained thick yeasty mild brown malt slightly sour vinuous notes.

Bottle. Huge pillow like head on top of a red brown beer. First pour is brilliantly clear with some yeast to follow. Lemon like aroma with some apricots and melon. Flavor is very dry and slightly acidic followed by some yeastiness and light bitterness. I’m not sure if it is infected or just very funky as the rest of the beers from this quite interesting brewery. Heavy carbonation an thin mouth feel.

Pours a lightly hazy deep amber color with ruby-orangish highlights when held up to the light. It is toped by a frothy, finger-thick, amber tinged tan colored head. The aroma is an interesting mix of fruit and fresh-yeasty bread notes. Both the fruit and some alcohol notes combine to remind me of brandy, though only a hint in the finish. The aroma is quite complex, though it is certainly on the sweet side of things; I get notes of caramel soaked raisins, concentrated malt (almost extract like), a hint of cherries, and a rich almost aged character that has a touch of sherry. There is something almost vegetal in the aroma too, and I can’t quite place it.

The taste is only lightly sweet, at least in relation to the sweet smelling nose. There is still a fair amount of dark fruit notes though, I get notes of raisins and prunes predominantly. There is not much to balance the fruit notes either, I would have like a bit more yeast derived spiciness, or perhaps even a bit more body and strength. As it is, this beer has a medium to light body, and despite a slight bit of spiciness is fairly clean as well. There is a hint of aged malt character here as well, most noticeable as a slight sherry note and a sort of meaty stew-like note. This beer seems to end a bit thin, and perhaps even a bit drab. I have definitely had much better offerings from this brewery, though this is certainly not bad.