We went to visit Brouwerij de Molen in Bodegraven today.  Their brewery and restaurant are located in an old windmill on the bank of the Old Rhine.  It was a bright, clear day with puffy white clouds floating by. So we sat on the terrace even though it was a little chilly, with the windmill towering above us.

We started with their lighter beers: Jaar & Dag (Year & A Day) and Licht & Lustig (Light & Lusty).  Year and A Day is listed as a saison, but it doesn’t have the expected sourness.  But it does have a fuller body than most saison, balanced with nicely mellow hoppiness.  Light & Lusty is a much more straightforward hefeweizen, with a nice haze and grainy astringency.

Their lunch menu is a little limited, but we were able to find good choices, even for the kids.  Everything was great, even their croquettes (I have found these to be barely passable at some other places, but their filling was very creamy, almost like a nice pot pie).  So we hung around for dessert (nicely spiced apple tart) and stout: Hemel & Aarde (Heaven & Earth) and Nacht & Ostij (I’ve seen this translated as “Ungodly Hours”, but our waiter said “Monkey Business”).  Whatever the translation, the Nacht & Ostij was a very nice, creamy stout.  It has a good, strong sweetness without being cloying or syrupy.  But the Heaven & Earth was truly amazing.  It’s made with peated malt and aged in Bruichladdich whisky barrels.  The result is a rich, velvety smokiness.  Left to my own devices, I could spend an afternoon with my nose in a snifter of this one.

After lunch, I paid a visit to their beer shop (which they nicely opened just for me).  In addition to a full selection of their own beers, they also had a ton of foreign beers, including a good selection from Mikkeller, Hoppin’ Frog, Southern Tier, Saranac, Smuttynose and even a few bottles from Cigar City (Guava Grove and Jai Alai).  I resisted the temptation to get much American beer, since I’m going back the the US in less than a month.  Instead I got a few bottles from Mikkeller, and of course a few of the de Molen beers.  Alas, neither of the stouts we enjoyed are available in bottles, but I did get a bottle of Tsarina Esra aged in Cognac barrels, which I’m really looking forward to.