800.625.8238
chatRare Beer Club 6-Bottle Selections - March 2025
Meesterstuk 2025 (RBC Exclusive)
Jopen B.V. - Haarlem, Netherlands
[Imperial Pastry Stout - 11.11% ABV]
Jopen's roots trace back to the 1990s, when the Haarlem Beer Society began the recovery of Haarlem's lost brewing heritage. Beers were brewed based on recently found recipes dating from 1407 and 1501, and they ended up being pretty excellent. The first of the beers was called Hoppen, based on a 1501 recipe, and this was essentially the beginning of what would become Jopen. Their actual brewery in Haarlem, named the Jopenkerk, was eventually opened in November 2010, inside of a former church. In the succeeding years, Jopen has made a name for itself in Europe and has collaborated with such luminaries as Brouwerij de Molen, and they are easily among our very favorite Dutch brewers. Their annual Meesterstuk (Masterpiece) releases are especially decadent treats - and quite rare on this side of the Atlantic. It's our pleasure this month to bring you the 2025 vintage, available in the US exclusively via the Rare Beer Club.
This exclusive, limited-edition release builds on their renowned annual Meesterstuk line of Imperial Pastry Stouts and is brewed with barley, wheat, oats, vanilla, lactose, stroopwafels ("syrup-waffle" - a sort of thin waffle-like Dutch cookie), marshmallows, and hops. Pouring deep brown to jet black in the center, the beer offers up aromas of marshmallow and chocolate, accompanied by subtle hints of smokiness. Dominant notes of burnt sugar and buttery caramel with hints of vanilla and cinnamon join underlying tones of dark chocolate, cocoa, and roasted coffee, with deep aromas of syrup-soaked waffles building with warmth. In the flavor, this stout bursts with caramel, toffee, and vanilla, with layers of bittersweet chocolate and espresso balancing out the sweetness. A mild cinnamon or nutmeg warmth comes through too, along with a subtle warming alcohol presence. Despite its pastry stout sweetness, a moderate bitterness from roasted malts and hops provides depth and balance. The mouthfeel is creamy and smooth, attributed to the lactose and oats leaving a silky texture on the palate. The finish is long and decadent, with lingering notes of stroopwafel, marshmallows, and cocoa.
Brett-Elle
Lambiek Fabriek - Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Belgium
[Oude Geuze - 6.3% ABV]
Founded in 2016 in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Belgium by two longtime friends, Lambiek Fabriek puts a contemporary spin on a classic style. Jo Panneels and Jozef Van Bosstraeten, who had known each other since childhood, started brewing lambic in 2006, experimenting with styles and ingredients in a converted garage. By 2015, they decided to open a commercial lambic brewery, with Jozef taking on the role of master brewer and Jo becoming the zythologist, assisting with blending and taking on all non-production roles, from finance and accounting to sales and marketing. Their venture has been quite the success, with Lambiek Fabriek racking up numerous awards, including a slew of gold, silver, and bronze medals from the prestigious annual Brussels Beer Challenge.
We are tremendously excited to offer the Brett-Elle Oude Geuze from Lambiek Fabriek for the first time to our Rare Beer Clubs members. It is a blend of 1, 2, and 4 year old lambics, and is aged in oak barrels. The beer shows a golden straw color, with a haziness you expect from a lambic, topped with a lasting pilsner-like pillowy white head. The wild brettanomyces yeast is very evident in the smell - a funky barnyard scent that marks a well made naturally fermented lambic - but there's also a sweet note to the scent, reminiscent of a freshly sliced nectarine. The first sip of this geuze presents a vivid, lemony tartness, which smooths out somewhat as the beer warms, but still delivers lemon, berry, green apple and some bright floral qualities. There's a hint of bitterness in the long finish to balance out some of the fruitier notes. Despite being aged in fresh oak barrels, wood notes are subtle across the entire tasting. There's a bright effervescence to this lambic, apparent from the initial pour, which makes the fruit elements pop and provides a fizzy and refreshing mouthfeel, a sunny day in a glass. It carries the complex and subtle flavors of this naturally fermented Oude Geuze all the way from the first sip to the last.
