Our host's cellar

As always, the largest selection of beers at the Borefts Beer Festival comes from the host, De Molen. At the main event inside the brewery's warehouse space, they reserve a long bar to themselves, serving a couple dozen of their own: regulars, specials and a few created specifically for the festival. "Back & Future" was the 2024 theme, marking 20 years since De Molen started up in the nearby windmill, and though I didn't try the beer they called Back & Future, they extended the theme to a wider set of 1980s references.

Knight & Rider, was one. Geekily amusing because they're closely related words in Dutch. This medieval callback yields a medieval beer style: hoppenbier. A few Dutch breweries make these, most notably Jopen, and they're intended to recreate the earliest hopped beers there were. This one was 7.5% ABV and a slightly hazy pale orange colour. A waxy aroma leads to a thick cordial texture and a heavy malt sweetness, which builds to the point of becoming excessive, a bit like super-strength tramp lager. German hop Spalter Select was used, but not to any great effect. There are some light peach and apricot notes at first, but it becomes cloying orange cordial by the end. It's not offensively bad, but not especially enjoyable either. I often get that from beers brewed for the history rather than the taste.

Things go pretty dark from here on in. Next it's Back & Black, a 14.5% ABV imperial stout. The brewery isn't reluctant to age its beers in barrels, but for some reason this one gets merely the oak chip treatment. They've also added fruit puree and red berries, and that's the undoing of it. Instead of a warm, thick and bitter imperial stout, it's a mess of jammy sweetness: sickly, and unacceptably thin. It tastes more like a strawberry wine than a beer, and I couldn't help feeling sad for what was doubtless an excellent base beer to begin with.

As part of the 20th anniversary celebrations, De Molen released a series of beers, of which we tried two from the bar. Proost & Toost is an 11.4% ABV barley wine. Rioja and Heaven Hill bourbon barrels have been used for the ageing, and it's the proper dark garnet of a big barley wine. The Spanish wine has a big influence on the taste, with lots of grape-skin tannin and a fruitier side, suggesting raspberry and strawberry, but in a wine way, not the real thing. The less attractive element is a loud and raw oak effect, and I'm blaming the Americans for that. I liked it, but couldn't help thinking the barrel element was a bit overpowering. Let the beer speak, I say.

Herself chose a porter, the 10.7% ABV Kop & Schotel ("Cup & Saucer"). This is another of the recent celebration beers, barrel-aged and espresso-laced. For all that it's new, it had a bit of a nasty autolytic edge in the aroma: too much soy sauce for a coffee porter. It's sparkly and very dry, the coffee taking a moment to emerge, and not very prominent when it does. An unspecified whiskey barrel was also involved but may as well not have been. While it's warm and heavy, as it should be, it's also a bit severe. I would have liked a mellower vibe from something with these specs.

Eisbock is not something I get to drink very often, and De Molen had a pleasing selection of them on tap, though mostly available in strict rotation. Dark & Side was one, 15% ABV and blended from imperial stouts though they don't give any further details. However they made it, it had some surprises in store, beginning on a spicy roasted flavour, with peppercorns and clove. There's lots of smoke as well, making it a bit acrid. One might expect something thick and hot, and this is neither, which unfortunately boosts the acridity. My notes give it a rating of "fine", however. It doesn't offering anything you won't get from a standard high-strength imperial stout, and certainly nothing crazy. Maybe that's good, but it's not what I want from a freeze-distilled megastout.

I mentioned that the brewery started out in the windmill, and indeed the entire festival was held there before the brewery moved down the street. They've always maintained it as a satellite to the main event, for the shop, but also in recent years as an additional showcase for De Molen beers. "Saved specials and collabs from past year(s)" said the festival booklet. In practical terms, the spacious yard offered welcome calm respite from the busy churn down at the brewery. So what's on tap?

Sança & Marc is an another eisbock, from 2018. It is/was 18% ABV and derived, again, from an imperial stout. It's certainly black, and has a very strong coffee flavour, concentrated and boozed up, to create a Tia Maria effect. There's a harder burnt breadcrust quality, where I guess dark roasted grain has been intensified by the distilling process, plus aniseed bitterness where hops used to be, balanced by a degree of treacle sweetness. There's a lot going on here, and it's all very loud. This was my finisher on day one of the festival, and it's ideal for that. I can't imagine what could possibly follow such a divine palate-clogger.

As day two drew to a close, for us at least, we were back up for a comfy seat and to explore the offer here further. Variations on the now-classic imperial stout Hel & Verdoemenis were plentiful here, and I picked the Cognac barrel, released in 2015, if my research is correct. It's 12% ABV and quite sour, which I guess is a function of its age. There's a red wine quality to that, like high-end Italian vinegar. It has a spirit warmth, though I don't think I would associate it with cognac specifically. You still get lots of dark chocolate and a generous scoop of coffee roast. More fruit from the brandy would have been nice, but I enjoyed how smooth and mature it all was, once I got used to the tangy vinegar.

Across the table was the first Bommen & Granaten of the event: Port barrel aged, from 2020. It smelled hot and sticky, like boiled sweets that are still being boiled. The flavour is much more delicate, introducing the port as a gently sweet raisin note, mixed with a light oak spicing. Again, this shows how it has matured over time, drying out what was probably overly sweet when fresh, and generally calming and mellowing beautifully.

Another Hel & Verdoemenis followed in the next round, this time Bowmore. Somebody at De Molen loves putting the beer in Islay casks, although this one low-balls the peat, making it taste like a more general sort of smoked beer, with a savoury, smoked sausage effect, not swabs of TCP, as sometimes happens. There's a fun edge of caramelisation to give it a balancing sweetness, and of course all the warmth and maturity you would expect for a stout that's been sitting around for nine years now. It's a wonder it hadn't turned to vinegar or soy sauce, but 10.5% ABV of sheer heft has preserved it well.

The companion barley wine on the left is one called Zecker & Vast and it's 13.9% ABV, aged in Breckenridge bourbon barrels and aged since 2020. The standard amber colour, it may be a beer but it smells of wine and spirits, with elements of hot grappa and fruity vermouth. There's a bit of coconut which I sometimes taste in bourbon-barrel things and may be vanillin related; there's the sweet tang of botrytised dessert wine, and more prosaically, some marmalade and orange jelly. That sounds busy as hell but it's all marvellously integrated into a single delicious picture. It goes without saying it's not something to drink lots of, but a sipping glassful in the evening sunshine was perfect.

The next one was a relative lightweight at a mere 9.8% ABV, called Verdeel & Heers, and is an imperial stout with Brettanomyces. It may as well not be, however, because the Brett has met its match with the smoke. They've aged it in a variety of peated whisky barrels, meaning roast and turf smoke are far and away the dominant characteristics. There's a Laphroig-like phenolic kick in the foretaste, and then a sort of putty or clay savouriness behind. A little phosphorescent cola spicing seasons it nicely. Despite the lack of alcohol, it provided a happy and comforting belly warmth. Though seven years old, it's still spreading good vibes, even if it's not what I thought I was going to get when I ordered it.

Time for yet another Hel & Verdoemenis variant: Hazelnoot. I was sceptical, but it works well. There's no changing the fundamental bitterness of this beer, and here it made me think of high-end liquorice, the sort supplied in ornate faux-Victorian tins. A oily sweet syrup runs through this, giving it a lighter peanut-butter counter-flavour. I don't know that it's an actual improvement on straight H&D, but it was a worthwhile experiment back in 2017.

I don't think we kept deliberately ordering rounds of imperial stout and barley wine, but this was indeed another one, and the other beer is Fast & Furious Gin Barrel Aged. I haven't tasted the normal version of this, assuming there is one, but I think I picked up the gin effects in a big way: almonds and berries in the aroma aren't impossible for a barley wine, but the intensity here suggests gin was involved. And then a slick marzipan base is spiced up with black peppercorns and citrus peel. For 11.2% ABV it's immensely clean and has a lightness of touch which genuinely reminded me of a gin and tonic. It's quite a feat of conjuring by the brewer.

Hemel & Aarde is an imperial stout brewed with your actual peated malt, and the final round brought us the Bourbon version. It still smells like TCP but tastes gentler, of sweet red wine in particular. Oddly, it's not very bourbon-like, but maybe that got buried under the smoke. Anyway, it's very decent, and that's despite having a full 11 years of storage under its boozy belt.

Bommen & Granaten: Rioja takes us out. This wine is a lot more domineering than the port above, smelling of red liquorice and tasting of, well, oaky red wine, funnily enough. I'm guessing it's the nine years of ageing that have added a certain redcurrant sharpness to the otherwise smooth and sumptuous flavour profile. I'm actually amazed how none of these really showed any negative effects from their extended cellaring. Here, the sticky warmth of fresh, plain B&G was still very apparent, given only a subtle and positive tweak by the wine cask. Textbook stuff, and a perfect reminder of just why I keep coming back to De Molen and their fabulous festival.

50-odd beers in and we're done with Borefts. There have been years, most of them recent, when I've left thinking I'll give the event a miss next time round. This wasn't one of those. Maybe it was the fine weather but I could have done another two days easily. However, there were also pubs to go to in nearby Leiden. That follows next.

My kind of pub crawl

Festival over, we went to the pub. The wife Derek and I headed to Amsterdam on the Sunday after the Borefts festival. High on the agenda was a recommendation from Ron's mate Mike for Oude Jenever, so early on the sunny afternoon we darkened the doors of In De Olofspoort and received a wonderful impromptu tutorial in 3-, 5- and 10-year-old jenever from the friendly barman. You're right, Mike: it does taste like really good Scotch.

While in the area we also paid a brief courtesy call to De Prael. The brewery's eclectic tasting room was little more than a hole in the ground last time I was through Amsterdam, and the comfy chairs they have now are far more conducive to beer tasting than the alley in which they used to serve them. Derek got the round in, serving me Gepijpte Nelis, a smoked version of the dark autumn bock. With its fruity spices, it's perhaps closer to a Belgian dubbel than a Dutch bock, and the gentle smoke character lends a little complexity to an otherwise quite simple strong and sticky beer.

From there we headed down to Beer Temple. I was at the grand opening of this American-themed bar in 2009, or at least I stood outside. This was the first time I've ever been able to sit inside and peruse the prodigious selections. I figured it would be easier and more economical to limit myself to the draught offerings, but then I spotted a can in one of the fridges: Maui Coconut Porter, a beer I've been hunting for several years, having heard amazing things about it. So I duly bought it, popped the ringpull, poured it and got ready to be amazed. I wasn't amazed. It's a very fizzy dark brown beer giving off quite subtle coconut scents. It tastes extremely dry, a little sulphurous, and rather gritty, like a stout that's had a bit too much roast barley added. The sweet coconut flavour makes a very late appearance and lingers oilily on the lips. I definitely think I'd built it up too much. I mean, it's nice, in its own way, but at the same time a huge disappointment. The main thing is that it's done and I won't have to go to Maui to experience the loneliness of the long-distance ticker.

Beer Temple has commissioned its own house beer from Dutch brewery Jopen, and of course it had to be an IPA. Tempel Bier is a little bit on the light-to-watery side: a session beer in a pub without pints. But the refreshing zesty orange flavour can't be argued with. The fresh hoppy benefits of not having to cross an ocean are used to full effect.

There were a couple of strange versions of familiar beers on tap, including Flying Dog Double Dog on cask. The softer carbonation produces a different sensation to the bottled version, coating the mouth with extra-sticky toffee malt and turning the citric hop notes into something funkier and more spicy. John John Dead Guy is a barrel aged version of Rogue's Dead Guy Ale. Rogue's in-house distillery makes barrel acquisition particularly easy for them, and this one had seen some of their own whiskey before the beer went in. I'm not a fan of Dead Guy normally and this was little better. Massive wood flavours don't help the cloying stickiness, though the little bit of bretty sourness helps take some of the edge off, as do the sharp vegetal hops. I'm still glad I was just stealing a sip of someone else's rather than having a glass to myself.

The Maryland-based Stillwater brewing company were holding a tasting session in the back of the pub while we were there and as each tasting tray was brought to the corralled punters, the relevant beer went on general availability to the rest of us. RateBeer tells me that the two we tried were imported from no further away than Belgium. Jaded was brewed with the assistance of De Struise and is a dark red-brown ale doing a great job of balancing Belgian fruity esters with fresh and pithy hop zing. ’t Hofbrouwerijke near Antwerp was the birthplace of Love & Regret, another zesty one, though this time loaded with aromatic spices like coriander and white pepper. Apparently it was actually done with heather, lavender and chamomile, but you get the idea.

There was more white pepper -- a flavour I really enjoy in beer -- in Dieu du Ciel's Route des Épices. This time there is real pepper present: green and black corns are added to the recipe. There's a lovely rich chocolate biscuit aroma, but after that it's all pepper all the way. Before moving on I spent a bit of time with Marshall Wharf Old Ale. The Maine brewery has done a fantastic job with this: cola red and with a pungent vinous, almost vinegar, nose. It's one of those big textured strong ales filling one's face with sweet treacle and moreish umami, finished off with a distinctly sharp hop bite. Amazing stuff. I could have had another, but one does not leave Amsterdam before dropping in to Beer Temple's sisterhouse Arendsnest.

So we made it our last stop. Things have changed a little at Arendsnest in recent years. Gradually, the blackboards are starting to take over the walls. Since the pub serves exclusively Dutch-brewed beers that's probably a clear sign of how robustly healthy the beer scene is in the Netherlands these days.

A couple from Jopen to start: their Extra Stout is a tour de force with some fantastic smoky roasty aromas and a smooth texture given a cheeky burnt kick at the end. Barrevoet is their barley wine: dark red almost to the point of blackness. In combination with some majorly aromatic and grapefruitish hops it's almost a black IPA. But what's in a style? All you need to know is that it's one to look out for.

Perhaps inevitably, De Molen now has a blackboard to itself in Arendsnest. From that came Rijn & Veen, a cloudy pale ale with a lovely big orangey aroma. The taste is a little bit of a let-down, however: sharp and with some unfortunate disinfectant notes. Hemel & Aarde was a much better proposition: a sublimely smooth imperial stout with a touch of smoke on the nose. The flavour is heavy on the roast side but balanced by lavender perfume. Easy-drinking, balanced, but softly powerful too.

The airport train beckoned, so just one more for the road. My big finish was Bommen & Granaten: a dark red ale of a full 15.2% ABV, and possibly tasting like more. It's incredibly viscous, almost chewy. A knife and fork job. The flavours are sweet of course, but amazingly not cloying. "Turkish delight" was one comment as the glass got passed around. I was still tasting it all the way to Schiphol and was still thinking about it when I got to my own bed in Dublin hours later. Sometimes, good beers follow you home.