Uncle Bob’s Guide to Drinkable Dutch Beers

This weekend was dedicated to Dutch beer. OK, Dutch beer and a bit of international football.

We were in The Hague with old friends Bob and Nona, and as they prepare to move, it may be one of the last times we spend in the Netherlands in the company of such impressive beer expertise.

We sampled eleven of the country’s finest brews, for which I will be writing up tasting notes over the next few days. We tried: Alfa Edel Pils, Alfa Super Dortmunder, Gulpener Limburgs Land Premium Pilsner, Gulpener Korenwolf Witbier, De Leckere Willibrord Amber Speciaal and Paulus Cuvée Spéciale, also from De Leckere. In addition, we had five fantastic offerings from a microbrewery in Amsterdam, Brouwerij 't IJ: Natte, Scharrel IJwit, Zatte, Columbus and Struis.

And there were two more: we had a Trio Extra Stout, an impressive beer from Suriname, which was a Dutch colony until 1975; and, by chance, we sampled Wieckse Witte from Heineken Nederland.

Stand by for tasting notes...