Been a busy day! Picked the other hop plant and brewed a beer. As is almost tradition I brew a big Saison with fresh hops. It has a 80/20 pilsner and spelt malt base, 600 grams of green hops (Centennial), and will end up around 8.5 percent ABV. Tomorrow I will brew a kveik-based beer.

Picking my hops! It has not been an amazing year for hops but I always look forward to this annual event.

Served some of my homebrew Doburoku at Sake Sip festival yesterday! People seemed really curious about this weird brew and I got through the 4.5 liter that I brought quite rapidly.

't nieuwe diep is bustling! Found a seat under the trees.

Splitting a bag of the rice (the 70% polished one) into two tuns so that my fellow homebrewers can more easily split it. The rice looks beautiful!

I went for a run after a few weeks break because of runner's knee. Since the pain kept returning - even after some time of rest - I got some new shoes. The old ones (Brooks Adrenaline GTS) had a really insane heel drop. The new ones (Saucony Guide) seem much better in this aspect. Fingers crossed!

Filled my Doburoku (unpressed sake with the rice still in it - often seen as homebrew sake) It's tart and super rice-y but not overly sweet. Hint of cloves and pear (used a white wine yeast). It's a chunky boi though.. very high rice to liquid ratio; more than commercial examples I've had.

Guess who got 180 kilograms of polished rice in his hallway?

I just cancelled my Spotify subscription after 15 years. I had already switched to Tidal for quite a while but my parents on the family subscription took some easing into the idea of switching to another music subscription. Happy to finally to turn my back on them.

Bought the last two packs at Lidl Insulindeweg, Amsterdam on my way home from work.

Confession: I sold my tickets to Borefts beer festival (last edition) to attend Sake Sip festival. I did some soul searching but I'm just not as enchanted with craft beer as I used to be. I'm still visiting Fresh Hop and Lager Fest festivals in October though :)

Doburoku update; it's fermenting!

My weirdo lager. It's an 80/20 pilsner and spelt base, Rakau hops, fermented with an enzyme lager yeast to ferment nearly fully dry (under pressure). It's an easy drinking beer, perhaps not as clean as I wanted it to be. Still a fun brew that is perfect to have with some food.

Making some Doburoku, chunky unpressed homebrew sake.

Just in time!

Sharing one of the nice bottles on the balcony.

Brewery Schneeeule in Berlin is calling it quits. I'm very sad to see Ulrike go - beer needs big personalities like her. Maybe I need another Berlin trip before they are gone..

I was planning to grab a beer at Walhalla after work. But ferries are super unreliable due to Sail so I might have a beer at 't nieuwe diep instead.

SAIL boat parade is causing traffic jams! All ferries between Amsterdam Central Station and Noord are stuck on the shore.

My office had a dress code to celebrate the start of the SAIL Amsterdam event. Guess who's the only one in the office wearing orange today?

Met up with a friend in Utrecht at Boot 122

I joined my wife for a work trip to Lancaster. While she is out doing academic business stuff I get to lead my best Trophy Husband life! Having a pint of Landlord at a canal in the sun at The White Cross.

When in the UK on a Sunday.. Really nice beef roast at Hawksmoor Manchester.

Next stop is Balance brewing and blending, only a short walk from Track. Their British heritage lager and anniversary blend from cask are excellent!

Visited Suzume in Manchester last evening. It's the last weekend in their current location - I believe they are moving next door. A good deal on 10 small pours of sake for 20 quid. Very cool place with very friendly staff. Not too much Yamahai / kimoto / funkier stuff but a good time!

Track pizza update! (Since some were asking). Sharing a single pizza since we murdered two dozen oysters earlier in the evening.

At Track brewery taproom

Happy 15th anniversary to 't Nieuwe Diep!

Been a good Carnivale Bretanomyces day! Saw lectures on Sake and Saison. Even poured some homebrew sake to Tommie Sjef. I love this festival

And another sake purchase came in! I've been warming sake in a tokkuri so this is a nice upgrade.

Look what just came in 👀 (Ordering books from Japan is an expensive hobby; I love how neatly they are packaged though)

Good news for those in the UK. One of my favourite Dutch breweries (Kromme Haring) is now distributed in the UK.

Got a trip to New York planned at the end of June. Any suggestions (beer, sake, food, other) are very welcome.

Last evening was our annual Brettanomyces competition. My Flanders Red / Brown took first place. Yay!

Walhalla's new taproom is soft opening today!

Currently drafting my Carnivale Brettanomyces sessions list. Thursday: - opening party Friday - Tommie Sjef Tasting Session - Saison - Maybe Uytzet & Eubayanus Saturday - Sake: Parameters for another fermentation - The Burton Union system - Grodziskie: history, revival and release Pretty good!

Carnivale Brettanomyces has finally released their full programme and schedule. Tickets will go on sale from tomorrow 9AM CEST. wildegist.nl/talks/

Last night we opened an Afuri Kuro-koji (sake) with some French cheese and small tidbits. It was pretty glorious - sake pairs so well with cheese.

Next beer is Twisted Kipper, a Trois IPA. I love this weird little sub-style. We need more of these!

Grabbed a Kayserops, Kellerbier, at Kromme Haring's brewpub. Love this beer!

Came across this funeral procession with only bikes following the hearse. I'm not sure who passed away - but I feel we would have gotten along very well. A beautiful personal touch on their final journey.

Got some cheese at Kef. A selection of four cheeses for ourselves and two pieces of red rind cheeses to pair with sake.

Filling my second bottle of CO2 at the local pet store.

The person that took a sip of a Duvel and thought that this beer should be even more boozy is a madman. I present to you: the imperial Duvel. (Still took one; I'm fearful but curious)

My sake order arrived!

Swapping out a bottle of CO2 by bike. (I walked home on the way back with the bike on hand and the CO2 bottle grip in the other in case people are worried). But I have CO2 again!

Both my bottles of CO2 ran out at the same time. Hope I can get them refilled shortly.

New batch of sake has cleared up nicely! Taking some samples to estimate how much alcohol is in my brew. Turns out to be about 17 percent.

I've not seen many people chatting about this (maybe for the best).. But Brewdog just completely wiped their social media accounts (Instagram) and are teasing a big rebrand; "A fresh look for our beers. A fresh food menu in our bars. Fresh faces leading the charge." But.. this looks so.. generic?

This Monday is the second meetup of the sake circle bottle share. Since everyone is either importing sake or owns a sake focused restaurant I need to get my sake from elsewhere haha. I went back to Midorinoshima, a French online store that has a really nice selection.