October 07, 2005
....more goats.......
And speaking of bokbier.
I met Odette recently for a natter and chat about all-things-stress-related, an occassion which coincidentally revealed to me the true power and purpose of bockbier. We had planned to meet at the Brouwerij 't'IJ, a windmill in Amsterdam where they brew their own beer. They have recently added a bokbier, the Biobok, to their list of accomplishments so I was looking forward to trying it. (Mind you, they have to do something about the name. It is a killer. More reminiscent of an industrial farming product than a beer.) Unfortunately the molen was gezellig, warm and crowded, not something either of us was in the mood for, so we ended up at De Groene Olifant (The Green Elephant) instead. What a coincedence! They served the Brouwerij 't'IJ's Biobok also so I was able to try it after all. The universe moves in mysterious ways.
I'm sorry to say the Biobock was a sloppy affair, not much flavour and very unstructured and saggy. Reminiscent of trying to drink the local beer in Scotland but not quite that bad. Despite this I soldiered on and tried a second one, and we ordered a portion of bitterballen to give the beer a nudge in the right direction. Unfortunately, there was nothing could save the Biobok (...as I mentioned, with a name like that...) and we were forced to leave in search of more congenial environs.
We ended up at one of our favourite tapperij's, forgotten its name but it's on the corner of the Utrechtsestraat and the plein with the Nederlandse Bank, it being in the direction of my final destination for the afternoon. Here, they were serving the Brand Dubbelbock, a heavier bock but very nice with it. Luckily I only had time for one, it being a Dubbelbock and all.
And here is where a bockbier really comes into its own. As I cycled along the Weteringschans to meet BBC-star-Kathy-Clugston at the Concertgebouw I was enveloped in what can only be described as "the-zone-of-warmth-and-gezelligheid" or, lets call it the Bokzone. Those first bitter autumnal winds couldn't numb me, the grey wet fog descending around my ears couldn't dampen my enthusiasm and it was only with a great trilling of bells that even the amsterdam trams were able to penetrate my new-found sense of wellbeing. THIS I thought, is what Bokbier was invented for! The first strategic line-of-defence against the onset of autumn.
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