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Full details on the June selections from the Rare Beer Club:
Hair of the Dog Brewing Company in Collaboration with De Proef Brouwerij—Portland, Oregon, USA & Lochristi, Belgium (Northern Central Belgium) — Flanders Fred
& Brouwerij De Molen—Bodegraven, Netherlands (West Central Netherlands) — Zomerhop
As many of our long-term Rare Beer Club members know, we are fortunate to be the official release partner for the annual De Proef Brewmaster’s Collaboration Series beers, with our lucky members being among the first to get their hands on the brews. In fact, this year RBC members are receiving their bottles approximately one month prior to it being available elsewhere in very limited supply. For the sixth edition of this series, Alan Sprints of the iconic Hair of the Dog Brewing Company traveled to De Proef where he and and Dirk Naudts collaboratively brewed HOTD’s “Fred”, then blended it with authentic Flemish lambic supplied by the Bockor Brewery.
Flanders Fred, the first blended beer in the Brewmaster’s Collaboration Series, pours a vibrant brassy color, topped with an enormous fluffy ivory colored head. On the nose, a backdrop of marzipan, almonds, flashes of lemons, under ripened nectarines, dark cherries, and orange-infused chocolate. Also, expect plenty of Belgian yeast spiciness. Somewhat tropical fruit notes emerge as well, nicely blended with wafts of alcohol, while some piney hop notes manage to assert their voice too. The beer is quite tart upfront but almost as soon as this tartness strikes, it recedes. We also got notes of cherries, apricots, nectarines and quite a bit of green apple. There’s also more malt-forward influences, such as a subtle rye-spice, toasted malt husk, and a persistent undercurrent of marzipan and toffee. Alcohol is present throughout, and offers its own unique contribution to the flavor profile (think rose hips). In the finish, look for some produce-aisle funkiness, with a splash of horse-blanket (both good things in this context). If you’re not that into tart or sour beer, this one might be the one that changes your mind.
DO NOT miss the chance to pick up bottles for your cellar, as this one has all the hallmarks of a world class vintage that will hold up for 5 years plus. We’re very excited about this brew, with a number of us feeling it may end up being the best of the series so far. Enjoy!
Brouwerij De Molen (The Mill Brewery) sits inside a 315 year old windmill that once served as a grist mill. Brewer Menno Olivier started crafting beers as a hobby, then went to work professionally as a master brewer and later decided to open a brewery of his own. With an astonishing repetoire of over 120 beers since its founding just 8 short years ago, this creative brewery has taken the Dutch craft beer world by storm and is considered by many to be the finest brewery in the Netherlands. In fact, De Molen sits at #12 on RateBeer’s list of best brewers in the world for 2012.
Zomerhop ( ”Summerhop”) is one of four seasonal IPAs made by De Molen. Stylistically, all are the same (IPA), but each is unique in aroma and taste. Zomerhop was brewed with four varieties of hops: premiant, saaz, columbus and cascade along with what they will only refer to as “special secret yeast”. Zomerhop pours a hazy dark yellow color with an off-white head, with fruity and floral aromas and notes of fresh, grassy hops. There’s also a lovely malt undertone, featuring some rustic flourishes, which keeps things balanced in the aroma. On the palate, we experienced a very powerful yet pleasant flavor in this medium-bodied brew, with the taste being especially well-balanced blend between drier, grassy, hoppy notes, floral perfumes, citrus notes, resinous and herbal tones and the sturdy, fresh, borderline-farmhouse-style malt backbone. It also has a malty character without being sweet, finishing with floral, fruity (citrus), rather bitter (but not harsh) light grassiness in the finish. Overall, this is an eminently drinkable California-style IPA. Cheers!
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