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I'm sure this is significant. Not a sign of hitting the mainstream or anything as extreme as that.But still a sign.

I found two white-label style beers from De Prael in Ton Overmars on Saturday. One was an IPA:


The other a vaguely Stout-like beer:


Until now, De Prael had stuck with the Belgiany-ish sort of stuff Dutch small brewers have made for the last 30 years.

The IPA isn't bad. None of that grapefruit shit that I hate, jsut a pelasant, starightforward bitterness. I wasn't as convinced by the Zwaart Reek a bit muddy both in appearance and flavour.

I hope the Dutch beer world isn't going to end up all IPA's and Imperial Stouts like some other countries. They have their place and all that, but if that becomes all you get everywher in Europe, I don't see that as an improvement in beer culture. There are plenty of geeks all over Europe who wish, beer-wise, that they lived in the USA. I hope it doesn't become reality. Because that's my nightmare.

Sad that I'm reduced to drinking from a cheapo Koniginnendag Leffe glass. My butter fingers dropped my lovely St. Bernardus glass in the sink a few weeks ago. Haven't got around to buying a new one yet.

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