Maastrict has a rich and storied history, this corner of Europe where Belgium, Germany and Holland meet. It’s also a great fusion pot of mixing cultures, cuisines and beer. Not long out of the Gare and just over the walking bridge on the left up Stationstraat and you find Café ‘t Potuiske. Our beer GPS seems to be working quite well this trip, just our luck, we’ve stumbled into one of the better beer bars in town. They have twelve taps and many special bottles plus seasonals. We went for the beer of the month for September, Schelde Golden Raand, a 7.5% blonde special. Beautiful gold colour, pure white head, very light on the palate, well balanced, some hop nose, mildly bitter with a long dry finish. Very tasty! The local cheese and meat plate that we ordered went extremely well. The house beer of the month was Budelse Goudblond at 6.5%. Tight white head, fresh nose, clean, light and dry on the tongue, light gold colour, well balanced, dry finish.
The Brand brewery is quite prominent in Maastrict and their beers are available everywhere. In den Ouden Vogelstruys serves up the whole line, where we tried Brand Imperator. A heads up malt nose prepares the palate - golden copper, tight head, smooth middle, big dollops of malt sweetness lingers leisurely into the finish. Brand Oud Bruin was not sour at all, but instead a full bodied, chocolate/black malt accented sipper. Fruity aromas, tight auburn head with enough hop to dry out the finish. Another local favourite, especially in the summer, would be Wieckse Witte, 5%. Light, pleasant white beer, originally locally made by Ridder, easy to drink, very clean, big head with some citric notes.
Trying the local cuisine is a must in Maastrict, so we supped on schnitzel and salmon on the excellent terrace of the Hotel de la Bourse on the Markt Square. This café carries an amazing array of wonderful brews too, 10 taps and many specialty bottles. Extra special instead of dessert was Straffe Hendrik Tripel and Kasteel Bruin. The tripel is from De Halve Maan in Brugges [see Beer of the Day, Sept 9]. What a wonderful beer, but so too Kasteel Bruin, though not so subtle at 11% as opposed to Straffe Hendrik’s hidden 9%. Brewed by Van Honsebrauck, this is a big, full-bodied bruin, dark malt aroma swirls around a caramel coloured head, fruity malt palate, notes of toffee and chocolate, very smooth for a beer of this strength, sweet malt finish.
We managed to visit Falstaff on our way out of town. This lovely little modern café has a large terrace on a small square and some nice beers on tap with a large Trappist/Abbey section in the fridge. So, for breakfast then, it was a bottle of Holland’s Gulpener Dort. Lovely light-brown hued brew, some fruity fresh aroma, thick white head, malty middle and a drying finish.
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