I love the beer in the Netherlands and Belgium. It is so different from what you get in the US. Of course, there are the large commercial breweries such as Heineken, Stella Artois. But there are so many small breweries and Trappists breweries. It is strong! The commercial beer is usually 5% and the smaller breweries can be anything from 6% to 12%.

I like Hoegaarden which is a wit (white) beer made from wheat and flavored with spices. I found a 6 pack of the Grand Cru in the supermarket. But I really enjoyed picking up a couple of special smaller breweries at the beer store in Leiden. I got two different brews from Brouwerij ‘t IJ in Amsterdam. One was their Wit and the other was a seasonal organic bok. Both were excellent. Very well balanced in taste.

Another brewery that I like is Trappistes Rochefort. This time I tried the 6. In the past I have had the 8 and 9. I like it but it is sweeter and heavier in caramel taste.

My favorite this trip is Guldenberg. It is an abbey beer (Biere d’Abbaye in French or Abdijbier in Dutch). It is a strong beer, clear in color compared with the dark brown of the bok or Trappists. It tastes light but is actually 8.5% in alcohol. It is similar to Duval but I did not notice the alcohol and it went down quickly. I wish I could find it in the small size bottles in Seattle. I’ve only found it in the large bottles.

My time here in the Netherlands is almost over. Tomorrow E arrives. I’ll wrap it up at work Friday and the we will have Saturday to explore Amsterdam. Sunday afternoon… Roma!