OK, I know you know that I love De Molen, that I can wax lyrical about them and how utterly wonderful their beer is.
So that said, if you find me boring stop reading now.
This is De Molen’s take on American Craft and it’s given me a ridiculously wide smile.
I look like an idiot (some would say there’s no change there).
The beer pours a deep and meaningful orangey amber with very little head, and the initial aromas are cheap sweet shop chewy sweets, red bell peppers and a hint of cabbage.
Taking a swig the beer is thick and full and almost hard to swallow.
You really need to chew through it.
Orange and mango gives way to chive green, palate drying, spiced punch, and there’s the slightest hint of resinous pine that helps hold the American Craft idea fresh in your mind.
There’s a sandy texture to the hopping that makes the beer feel almost gritty, the dry leafy hops scything across your tongue and leaving you puckered.
This beer is, for me, the mark of a truly world class brewer.
It’s not their best beer, not by a long chalk, but even so it’s still a country mile better than most other breweries offerings.