Nun better

Other than the two league divisions, my brewpub listings to the left there aren't ranked in order of preference, but if I had to pick one favourite it would probably be 't IJ in Amsterdam. I didn't get a chance to pay a visit last week, but I did discover another brewpub in the Dutch capital. De Beekerde Suster is on the site of a former convent at the edge of the red light district and the name ("The Reformed Sister") commemorates a local woman who moved from one of the available lifestyles to the other.

History aside, they had three beers from the on-site brewery on tap: Blonde Ros is a Belgian style blonde beer, trying to be like Leffe but suffering from a fatal touch of blandness. It's slightly cloudy with a vague corny-grainy taste, but nothing to write home about. Their witbier, Witte Ros, is a much better proposition, being light and lemony with a hint of spice as a northern European witbier should have, but also carrying the frothy softness of German weissbier. A well-constructed beer. The last of the three was Proefbier, which I think is a seasonal. It's a strong golden ale, similar to a tripel, but sweeter, with a honey-like aftertaste. An interesting change from the usual Trappist offerings.

They also had a beer of the month on draught: Liefman's Jan van Gent: an amber-brown fruity ale, pleasant in its own way, though points off for permitting outside beers into the brewpub.

This place is worth a look if you are looking for something different from the standard Amsterdam brown café, but really a trip out to 't IJ can't be recommended highly enough.