For a getaway weekend, the ms. and myself took off to a nice little place in the Dutch province of South Holland. Lovely Delft is tucked in between The Hague and Rotterdam and oozes Dutch history thanks to the legendary white and blue Delft ceramic artwork, the crypt in the ‘Nieuwe Kerk’ (New Church), where several generations of Dutch royals are resting in peace, but also thanks to its connection to one of the most famous Dutch painters of all time, Johannes Vermeer. The greyish and rainy weather couldn’t spoil the fairytale-like maze of cute, old houses, narrow canals and cobblestoned streets bustling with bicycles. After a visit to the ceramic factory, a 15-minute walk further south of the city centre brought us to an industrial canal area, where we found the one and only city brewery of Delft: ‘De Koperen Kat’ (The Cupper Cat). We already sat down for a beer a day earlier in their pub on the market square in Delft, but now we entered their cosy taproom inside the brewery.
The façade of the grey and gloomy factory building was not exactly what you would call inviting, no matter how hard the cartoon cat figure tried to cheer up this desolate image. It has to be said that the weather was the biggest cause for this, since the covered up terrace outside was silent proof of better times and the location near the water probably is a lot nicer during summer. The contrast couldn’t have been bigger when going in. Wooden bar and furniture, modern open fireplace, the tap room was dimly lit and the sound system was playing pleasant rock music. We took a table not to far off the fire and ordered two very nice beers.
We spent quite a while in the taproom and tried several beers, and a few of them really stood out. Their first beer was a nice witbier called ‘Blonde Anouk’, maybe referring to a girlfriend of one of the brewers, I don’t know. I overheard the brewer saying this was the very first beer they ever brewed, so definitely worth trying. It was a nice, refreshing starter containing all the classic characteristics of a good witbier: golden colour with a nice snow-white head, quite yeasty aroma with biscuity notes, and a flavour grainy from the malt and slightly spicy and herbal thanks to the hops. We continued with a nice saison and a red ale, but kept the very best beers for last.
We finished our afternoon with two absolute winners. The first one was the barrel-aged algae beer ‘Rum Forest, Rum’. Yes, beer with algae, you read that correctly. De Koperen Kat is the proud owner of ‘D-AL-G’ the very first beer which is infused with Chlorella algae. They decided to age their showpiece in rum barrels and the result is absolutely outstanding. A beautiful colour somewhere between gold and amber, the aroma a nice blend of grainy notes with some rum sweetness and subtle fruity esters. The flavour is beautifully balanced: nice malty base with a hint of spiciness and a touch of salt, probably coming from the algae. Blended in is a nice warming sweetness with notes of almond, a nice contribution of the rum barrels. The beer has a medium body and goes down treacherously easily, disguising the 9.2% of alcohol way to well. Unique and very well-made stuff. Yum!
The final beer of the day was the barrel-aged quadrupel ‘De Koppige Kater’ (the stubborn (male) cat). Normally an 11% alcohol beer can be quite a big ask, but this one was well worth staying an extra half hour and postponing dinner just a little longer. Amber brown in colour with not a huge head, aromas of dried fruit, vanilla, oak and hints of caramel, all of which are also reflected in the flavour. Sweet and quite low bitterness with an outspoken boozy character, high viscosity and low carbonation. It tasted like a nice warming dessert, even before we had had dinner!
De Koperen Kat was a nice intermezzo during our weekend trip and we had the pleasure of trying a wide range of beers. I suggest the guys of ‘the cat’ keep barrel-aging their stuff, since especially those beers did the trick for me personally. But either way, a pleasant surprise and worth a visit!
De Koperen Kat
Schieweg 15M
2627AN Delft, the Netherlands
