We took the train into Utrecht today and walked around, looking at the famous churches and generally taking in the sights.  We did a little shopping, but almost everything opens late on Mondays for some reason, so most things were closed in the morning.

Luckily, one place that opened for lunch at 11am was Stadskasteel Oudaen.  In addition to the cafe and a variety of meeting/catering functions, they also have one of the handful of breweries in Utrecht.  Their website touts their 15,000 litres of production, which works out to something like 640 barrels, so it’s a pretty small operation.  We tried three of their beers: Ouwe Daen, Jonge Daen and their Winter Bock.

The Ouwe Daen is a nice unfiltered hefeweizen.  It has a little creaminess and sweetness that I really liked.  The Jonge Daen is the filtered version of Ouwe Daen — and it’s sparkling clear and golden.  It’s got a much gentler taste, and comes across as a refreshing summer beer.  Given that it was just above freezing outside, it was a little out of place.  But still very enjoyable.  But the real treat with the Winter Bock.  This was rich, malty and spicy.  It was also a little smoky, which went nicely with the sweetness, reminding me a little of maple-smoked bacon.

Beside the beer, the cafe itself was also very nice.  Wind had a ham and cheese omelet, and I had a prosciutto and Gorgonzola sandwich, and both were excellent.  The cafe is in a nicely restored castle, in a large hall with high ceilings.  The location is great: a short walk from the central train station, right on the canal that runs through the center of town.  And our waitress barely winced at all when I butchered the pronunciations of their beers in Dutch.