Innovative ‘heavy beers’ are what Pim Zomerdijk likes brewing with his three brothers at Brouwerij De Moersleutel, based in Alkmaar, the Netherlands.
Pim Zomerdijk and his three brothers Tom, Rob and Max make a bold statement for their brewery in the North Holland town of Alkmaar (The brewery is located in Heiloo): “We don’t brew beer for everyone, we only brew beer for people who love pronounced flavours. We do this by constantly tinkering with our recipes in search of perfection, we want to brew beer that is considered legendary.”
As Pim says in the Beer Idiots interview at the Leuven Innovation Beer Festival, Brouwerij De Moersleutel concentrates on ‘heavy beers’, tending towards stouts. They like barrel aging and blending various brews from the barrels together. They use ingredients like tonka beans to add to the flavours.
The Beer Idiots tried most of the beers they brought to the festival (we have a hankering for stouts on the heavy side):
- Smoke Screen, Smoke Stout, 8%: brewed with a mix of German rauch malt and Scottish peated malt, giving the beer a soft, smoky taste.
- Double Roast Ethiopia, Imperial Stout, 12%: uses Ethiopian coffee for an espresso taste.
- Aztec Hot Chocolate , Imperial Stout, 10%: is stuffed with cacao, cacao nibs, vanilla, cinnamon and ancho chillies.
- Octane Overlord, Russian Imperial Stout, 11%: brewed with dark malts and lightly smoked malts.
- Bumps Ahead, American barley wine, 10%: a dry hopped barley wine.
- Emergency Escape, NEDIPA, 8%: a single hop Mosaic. Hops are added during fermentation.
Link: Brouwerij De Moersleutel
See the other fantastic Beer Idiots interviews at Leuven Innovation Beer Festival 2019
- André Janssens of Brouwerij Hof ten Dormaal, Belgium
- Pekka Kääriäinen of Bryggeri Helsinki and Lammin Saht, Finland
- Philippe Minne of Brasserie Minne, Belgium.
- Patrik Hellström of Bryggverket brewery, Sweden.
- Casper Vorting and Gitte Holmboe own Bøgedal Brew in Vejle, Denmark.
- Julien Bretheau of À Tue-Tête, Switzerland.
- Iacopo Lenci, brewmaster and owner of Birrificio Brùton, Italy
- Pim Zomerdijk of Brouwerij De Moersleutel, the Netherlands.
- Paul Herbert of UK-based Kent Brewery.
- David Cohen of Dancing Camel Brewery, Israel.
- Robin Barden of Edge Brewing, Barcelona, Spain.
- Breandán Kearney of Siphon Brewing, Damme, Belgium.
- Stephen McGirr of Wicked Weed Brewing, Asheville, North Carolina, USA.
- Vasyl Mikulin of Varvar Brew, Kyiv, Ukraine has been mixing his experimental beers.
- Botond Prischetzky, brand manager at Monyo Brewing, Budapest, Hungary
- Pia Morgenroth, founder of G’Bräu, Berlin, Germany.
