Frontaal assault

It's not that long ago that I gave some beers from Frontaal a once-over. I didn't know then that I would soon be wandering around a desolate industrial estate on the outskirts of Breda on a Sunday evening looking for the brewery's taproom. Although the production brewery is the main feature here, they have a nice set-up for punters, with a roomy bar area and lots of space outside. Somewhat oddly, most of the taps are given over to guest beers, though their own extensive range is available canned. I wasn't complaining, however, as it looks to be an excellent selection.

I went local and draught first, however, with Rhodesian, a barley wine of 11.3% ABV and an alluring mahogany colour. There's a heady aroma of biscuits, summer fruit and no-nonsense alcohol while the flavour is smooth and mature-tasting, packing in red liquorice, cherry jam and some gooey chocolate spread. It sounds like it might be a little too much but the sweet and fruity side is countered by a tang of fresh strawberry which does just enough to balance it. I complained recently that there aren't enough barley wines being brewed these days and this is a perfect example of why that's such a tragedy.

The black beer beside it is Fleur Noire, an imperial stout from Parisian brewery Fauve. It's 12% ABV and includes vanilla, cocoa and tonka beans, the tonka being dominant as always, making it smell powerfully of cinnamon. And while that's also in charge of the flavour, it's subtler than expected. The chocolate aspect is a match for it, and together you get something charmingly smooth and soothing with overtones of Mexican hot chocolate.

From France to Portugal and the next two are by Dois Corvos. Trëma is a slightly hazy lager, promising little from its meagre 4.5% ABV but delivering some delightful dry grain aromas and a touch of chicory and pak choi flavour via the noble hops. This all makes it authentically German-tasting while I'm sure it also works as a Mediterranean thirst-destroyer.

Looking similar but radically different, the other beer is Supermachines, an 8.5% ABV double IPA. This is an extremely dense fellow, the weighty and warm malt loaded down with pulpy, pithy citrus, and all about the bitterness rather than the juice, which is fun. There's a very slight crisp caraway savoury side but not enough to spoil things. The flavour pulls loudly in different directions but overall it works well.

My finisher was a can of Beeramisu, their 11% ABV pastry stout. Like with many of these, I got chocolate wafer biscuits in the foretaste, which was followed by a stern jolt of filter coffee. Coupled with the creamy texture that means it does a good job of fulfilling the promise its name. An edge of brown sugar burntness suggests they could equally have invoked crème brûlée instead. Pastry stouts sometimes go a little overboard, but as with their other strong beers (so far), Frontaal manages to keep things balanced and restrained in a skilled and grown-up way.

A couple of packaged beers to take away, then, beginning with Juice Punch, a hazy IPA with big ideas, judging from the name. This one doesn't quite live up to its billing, however. There's not much of an aroma and the flavour is sweetly cordial-like rather than juicy. I detected very faint traces of mango before it finishes weirdly savoury, with basil and rosemary: two flavours which don't really belong here. At position one on the taproom taplist, this appears to be something of a flagship and I hope nobody judges their output on it alone.

Finally, in continuation of September's post about strong Frontaal beers in classic styles, a 9.5% ABV Baltic porter called They See Me Rollin'. It's the correct cola-ish red/brown colour and smells very roasty with lots of sweet cereal. That increases and intensifies on tasting, from cereal the innocent grain, to cereal the sugar-encrusted breakfast food. It's only just believable that this is cool fermented -- it's big bodied and tough drinking, the sweet side hitting hard against an uncompromising hop bitterness. That it's a lager probably explains the lack of creaminess or any other redeeming features of big stout. Unless you like your Baltic porter on the extreme side, for both malt and hops, I find this one difficult to recommend. Not that the brewery have done anything wrong, it just didn't suit me.

Between this and yesterday's handful of bars, Breda is not a bad destination in which to spend a few days drinking. But we head northwards again tomorrow for a side-trip from Groningen.