Brouwerij De Molen

Brouwerij De Molen
Industry Alcoholic beverage
Founded 2004
Headquarters Bodegraven, Netherlands
Products Beer
Production output
 500 hL
Owner Menno Olivier
Website http://www.brouwerijdemolen.nl/index.php/en.html

Brouwerij De Molen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌbrʌwəˈrɛi̯ də ˈmoːlə(n)]) is a small craft brewery, distillery and restaurant located in Bodegraven, the Netherlands.[1] The brewery, whose name means "The Mill", is located inside a historic windmill building called De Arkduif, which was built in 1697. The premises also include the brewery taproom and a retail beer store offering European and American craft beers, as well as regional products such as farm cheese.

Having started out as a homebrewer, and after stints at several small breweries, head brewer Menno Olivier worked professionally at Stadtsbrouwerij De Pelgrim in Rotterdam prior to founding De Molen in 2004. De Molen have participated in joint projects with other notable European craft breweries such as Mikkeller and De Struise Brouwers. They have also participated in re-creations of historic beer recipes, such as those of the defunct British brewery Barclay & Perkins.

Technical information

Beer preparation at the brewery

The capacity of the brewing system is 500 liters per batch, with annual production averaging a total of 500 hectoliters. The equipment includes converted dairy tanks used as fermentors. De Molen's beer is bottled by hand at the brewery, in capped 335ml and corked-and-caged 750ml bottles with a wax finish which are individually numbered. Batches of beer that are considered unsatisfactory are used as the basis of De Molen's distilled 21% ABV "Beer Liqueur".

Since 2012 the maximum capacity per batch is increased to 2500 liters. A new building was acquired 200 meters from the mill. The main production happens in this new brewhouse, although the old setup is still used at least once a week. The latest estimate is a production of 6000 hectoliters per year.

Awards and recognition

In 2010, De Molen was rated tenth in RateBeer's "Best Brewers in the World" list of the top 100 notable breweries.[2]

De Molen's products have dominated the RateBeer "Best Beers of the Netherlands" in both 2008[3] and 2009,[4] occupying 7 and 8 of the first 10 slots in those years.

De Molen brewer Menno Olivier was the recipient of the 2008 "Zilveren Knuppel" ("silver bat") awarded annually by the Dutch craft beer enthusiast society PINT[5] for important contributions to beer culture in the Netherlands.

The De Molen Tsarina Esra was voted the Most Appreciated winter beer of the 2008 PINT Winter Beer festival.[6]

De Molen and several of its beers were listed among the "Beers of the Year 2008" at UK beer journalists Roger Protz and Tom Cannavan's website beer-pages.com.[7]

Events

Since 2009, De Molen has been the host of the annual Borefts Beer Festival. This typically occurs in the early autumn, with the participation of other European craft brewers, such as Belgium's Picobrouwerij Alvinne and De Struise Brouwers.

Beers

33cl Pale Ale Citra

De Molen's product range includes "Hel & Verdoemenis" (Hell & Damnation), a 12% ABV dark, strong imperial stout style beer with complex flavor.[8] "Rasputin" is an Imperial Stout; after a 2009 trademark-infringement claim was brought by California's North Coast Brewing Company, brewers of a similar beer called "Old Rasputin", De Molen changed the name on the American export label to "Disputin" in reference to the controversy.[9]

References

External links