Honingklip: More open bottles

As part of the great selection of beers my Vice President of beer procurement ⁽¹⁾ bought from Honingklip (read more here)  was a Barrel Blonde.  I know bottle blonde and, like silicon, I am fine with artificial in that case too.  But what could a Barrel Blonde be?  Delicious for one.  Also a wood aged blonde beer.  Turns out there is an apricot Lambic in the making and to make space for the fruit in the barrel some beer was bottled.  Thus Barrel (Aged) Blonde which spent about 2 months in the wood.  A softer, more rounded version of the Blonde I had previously.  It is not like the Innis & GunnOriginal.  That is a very deliberately and unmistakenly oaked beer.  This is much more subtle and like everything from Honingklip it is very drinkable.

I’ve known Analize and Mark (Owners and Brewers of Honingklip.  You really should pay attention) for some time now and they are not afraid to experiment.  Thus the Chilli and Ginger beer I just drank.  Please, on two counts, don’t confuse this with the ginger beer your grandmother made.  One: Analize is not old enough to be your grandmother.  And won’t be for many years.  Two: It is beer flavoured with ginger, not fermented cane sugar with ginger.

When I first nosed it, I got beer and a something I could not identify.  I could of course just read the label to help me.  Tasting it brought the Blonde taste with ginger immediately after it.  At first I thought the chilli was too little, but it started coming through as a subtle after taste.  In the end very well judged use of the spices.  Like all the others, except the 750ml Lambic,  it came in a 330ml bottle, which is exactly right for this type of beer. 

As the beers are only available from the brewery get yourself down there quickly.  I can’t promise that would have anything left to sell after I’ve been there.  Because sadly missing from the take-away pack was the Wit and for that I will happily drive through for a day.

(1)    The Runner.  Assuredly I am President of my own beer supply.

Finally open: Honingklip

I am privileged to have tasted the first brew from Annalize and Mark ter Morshuizen.  It was years ago at the SouthYeaster's Ale'oween.  Even then they showed promise as it was made from an old kit with an interesting fermentation regime, the details of which are not important here.  What is important is that through the years of trying to get a brewing license I’ve sampled many of their homebrewed beers and was always impressed.  So when The Runner passed the brewery a few weeks back she behaved as you all should.  She turned in and bought me 6 beers.  You, being even more generous, can buy more. 

So far tasted are the Blonde and IPA with Honingklip’s descriptions below.  For me the Blonde echoes a Belgium golden ale, but with lower alcohol and the IPA is a “proper” IPA.  Not hopped to the hilt as some American IPA’s.  More classically styled.  Waiting in the fridge is a Chilli-Ginger Ale, which will make for some interesting drinking.  Unfortunately no Wit was available at the time, but having tasted it previously I will buy copious amounts when I get the chance.   

So whenever you are near Botrivier or Hermanus, look out for Honingklip on the R43. 

A quicky in Amsterdam

No not that type of quicky, but it should be interesting to see how many hits this post gets.  On whole I do not appreciate the airline industry, but recently I profited from a cancelled flight when 3hr on Schipol turned into 8hr in Amsterdam.  On the original plan I was not going to chance a trip into town, but on the extended layover it became a necessity.  In weather I never get at home the locals persisted with their version of a snowmobile.  Bicycles.  I wonder if they put snow tires on? 

Nearly heaven

Impromptu fridge. Snow(?) bicycle tire on the left

After some walking from memory and slipping from icy pavements I found my favourite shop in the whole world.  De Bierkoning.  They stock an amazing range of beers from around the world, but despite over a thousand beers the focus is on quality, not quantity.  The picture is of me in the anteroom of heaven ⁽¹⁾ on Paleisstraat.  Faced with overwhelming choice I turned to nostalgia and the lovely shop assistant for help.  Ijwit from Brouwerij het Ij brought back many good memories from a 2008 trip, so that was easy.  The other three were suggestions from the shop.  By shop I mean a person working in the shop.  The building didn’t become sentient.  Although who could blame it with all that beer?  So I stuck to the wit beer theme.  From the other Amsterdam brewery, De Prael, I had Heintje.  Also a very nice beer.  From the Ramses brewery their Moby Dick this one a wheat rather than wit beer.  And my absolute favourite the JopenAdriaan.  Based on an old recipe from Haarlem it is spiced with yarrow ⁽²⁾ , rosemary and sweet gale. ⁽³⁾   We used the snow as fridge and had a good time. 

Proefplank

Mucking about in the streets, trying to stay upright, we happened on De Bekeerde Suster.  And as luck would have it, it is a brewery.  I really had no idea.  Just seems to be attracted to these places.  And a very good find it was.  In the picture the “proefplank” of beers.  From left to right it is Witte Antonia, De Blonde Barbier, Manke Monnik (a tripel) and a Christmas beer.  My favourites the blonde and the seasonal.  Of course no visit for me to these climes would be complete without some bitterballen.  Too bad I had to leave.  But it was to Germany and USA.  There are worse beer destinations.

   

(1)    In heaven the beers would be cold and free

(2)    I have no idea either

(3)    Still no idea