De Scheldebrouwerij - Hansje Drinker

“A Taste of Dutch courage” claims the label. Drink enough of it and you may feel you can take on the world. The label depicts what the name plays on, the famous Hansje Brinker, the heroic Dutch boy who put his finger in the dike to hold back the floodwaters. Hansje Drinker, on the other hand, has his finger poorly holding back the flow from a barrel tipped on its side, and a full tulip full of beer. The beer is flowing right into the snow… (this is one instance where it would be okay to eat the yellow snow!) He’s seen, appropriately, next to his skates, a reference to the book that made this fictional character famous in 1865, The Silver Skates, by American writer Mary Mapes Dodge. In this tale, a father’s ill health is restored by the good deeds of his children. Hansje Drinker, on the other hand, appears to be a bit mischievous, sitting on thin, cracking ice, getting loaded. Ah, hell, we’ve all got a dark side… There’s a lot of yeast left in the bottles of this beer, which permits a natural carbonation in the bottle and makes this a “living beer.” While there’s nothing wrong with consuming it, for aesthetic purposes in this beer’s style, we recommend pouring gently and leaving the yeast behind in the bottle, which will allow the beer to pour a relatively clear, deep amber-straw color. The nose presents alcohol and notes of raw honey, cherries, mango chutney, and a spicy profile featuring prominent coriander, with some cardamom, allspice, and black pepper. Look for fruity notes, like apricot, kiwi, and other tropical fruits, along with blonde tobacco as it warms. Despite the alcohol on the sniff, it goes down with less alcohol taste than implied by nose. It spikes early with a bitter bite that almost instantly fades to permit a flood of sweeter elements. Not at all cloying, the beer has sweet notes found in a melange of all fruits mentioned above, with some honey-malt notes and caramel developing amidst the fruit and yeasty phenolics. Expect it to finish with a gentle sour note and caramel-and-fruit fade with a note similar to date nuts, with a final flourish of green apple skins. At full warmth, this is a fruit and spice bomb, with pepper becoming quite prominent. This style of beer is rarely recommended with chocolate, but we found that it was a true treat when paired with dark chocolate (60% cacao or greater.) We offer a Chocolate of the Month Club that features a wide range of decadent chocolate treats of all sorts. Check out www.monthlyclubs.com for more information. As a beer connoisseur (or burgeoning one), you may have heard about how wonderfully the right pairing of beer and chocolate can be. It’s true! Consider getting a dual membership to both clubs so you can enjoy this exciting partnership, or get a chocolate club membership for someone you know you loves the stuff (then invite them over to share your beer and their chocolate!)

Translation: Schelde Brewery (The Schelde is a major river that runs through the Southern Netherlands, Belgium and Northern France) County: The Netherlands City: Hoogstraten (the beer label may state ‘sGravenpolder, they recently relocated the brewing site) Regional Locale: Southern Central Netherlands in the borderlands between Holland and Belgium, literally feet from the border. Official Language: Dutch How To Say Beer There: Bier (pronounced: BEE-yehr) Continent: Europe The Netherlands has an ancestral and geographical tie to Belgium, so it’s not surprising that beer culture is a normal part of life in both countries. The Belgians are better known for their culture of brewing creativity, whereas the beer most typically associated with The Netherlands is Heineken. But don’t let that negatively influence you. What if the U.S. beer scene was judged entirely by our major brands? You wouldn’t think much of what the country has to offer—and, yet, the U.S. currently has the most kinetic and vibrant brewing scene the world over. And, while Flemish style or Sour Red ales, which use wild yeast and are high in acidity, are becoming massively popular in the U.S. better beer scene, we owe this style to not only Belgium, but The Netherlands, as it is native to both. The Netherlands is also home to one of only seven abbey breweries in the world that brews the Trappist Trippel style of beer. So, a rich brewing heritage pervades this nation; and we’ve selected a hard-to-find beer from a tiny Netherlands microbrewery, De Scheldebrouwerij. A relatively young brewery, they were founded in 1994, but they are staunchly old-fashioned in their brewing methods. Still, they have a youthful wit when it comes to incorporating wordplay in naming their beers (for more on this, check out the review below), calling attention to their unique brand of beers brewed according to their own liking—and, we expect, to yours. Gezondheid! For more information about the brewery, check out their website at www.hansjedrinker.com.