Time to introduce a new Belgian brewery to our beer club. Nanobrasserie de L’Ermitage (The Hermit) was set up by three college mates. Starting out as gypsy brewers, they found a home in Brussels just a stone’s throw from Cantillon, and opened their doors in October 2017.
This beer is a collaboration with Dutch brewery Frontaal, and while we are yet to source beer directly from that brewery, they have featured in collaborations before.
The beer is a west coast double IPA, a very atypical beer for a small Belgian brewery to produce. But we do see more of these types of beers being produced, as the Belgian beer drinking public shows their desire for the hoppy beers from across The Atlantic.
It pours a slightly murky orange colour with a brownish tint. Not the finest looking beer if I’m honest. It does have the requisite tropical fruit aroma thanks to the hop choice of Simcoe, Citra and Chinook (in cryo form).
A grainy malt body carries the hop bitterness well, with the slightly more noble hop earthy character coming through in the taste. Dry with a lasting bitterness on the finish, this one grew on me with each sip.
A big, juicy American style double IPA, dry-hopped with Amarillo
A Double IPA made for Boreft's, featuring hops from De Molen's own hop fields
A DIPA with Sladek, Citra Cryo and Mosaic hops, plus the addition of hibiscus flowers
This collaborative brew between De Molen and Omnipollo is an Imperial Pineapple IPA
A Belgian double IPA, with fourteen different hops added continuously during the brewing process
by Brouwerij Emelisse/Slot-Oostende
A cracking Double IPA, in the true West Coast US style
A double IPA from Struise, originally made for De Molen's Borefts beer festival as a tribute to De Molen Vuur & Vlam
A DIPA with 100% German Magnum hops, open fermented over pinecones and pine branches
This beer replaces the Double Rye IPA, loaded with Mosaic, Simcoe and Loral hops with a crisp malt body
The second variant of Kees' Double IPA, double dry hopped with Simcoe & Amarillo
A spicy Rye Imperial IPA, with generous additions of Citra, Simcoe and Cascade
A triple dry-hopped Imperial IPA, the 2020 single hop edition features Chinook hops
A double dry-hopped hazy double IPA featuring Galaxy and Sabro hops
A Belgian Double IPA collaboration brew between Stewart Brewing (UK) and De Molen
The body of a Belgian triple style beer, hopped like an American Imperial IPA - the best of two brewing cultures in one beer.
Uiltje's hoppiest beer ever, with a big caramel malt body supporting more hops than you can throw a stick at
A collaboration between Uiltje and Bireol (Austria), this double IPA features seven types of hops, pilsner malt and wheat
A West Coast US style double IPA featuring Simcoe, Chinook, Citra, Amarillo and Columus hops
A cross between Flemish brewing tradition, and the big IPA's of the US West Coast