Jopen is
always innovating and I was really curious to try their new masterclass bier-
chocolade in collaboration with Chocolaterie Pierre.
We tasted 6
beers with 6 different chocolates. The chocolatier, Geert van Soest found 6
great matching with Jopen beers and we first eat the chocolate and then take a
sip of the beer. As it should be we started with light beers with few flavors, and then we went up into complexity!
It was definitely very interesting and surprising! I would like to share with you my experience and findings!
1/
Gerstbier with orange truffle
Gerstbier:
light with fresh citric flavors,4,5%
Orange Truffle: A 65% cocoa outside truffle with an orange flavored cream filling and bits of candied orange.
Tasting and
matching: The bitterness of the orange flavor is outstanding with the beer with a citric reminder.
2/ Hoppen
with Orange & Dark Chocolate Bonbon
Hoppen
beer: the oldest
recipe from Haarlem, brewed with herbs before, and now with different hops. This blond beer is
quite citric, fresh and bitter final, 6,8%.
Orange chocolate bonbon: dark
chocolate from Ghana and Tanzania outside and a milk Mexican chocolate with clementine and orange filling.
Tasting and
matching: The milk chocolate choice was really great, the fatty and sweet was balancing the bitter final, the orange flavor was reinforcing the citric flavors of the beer. Very nice balanced tasting.
3/ Jacobus
RPA with a ginger chocolate bonbon
Jacobus
RPA: rpa means Rye Pale Ale.
The name is given by the Jacob church, the
place where the Jopen kerk is located now. Haarlem has several places dedicated
to this Saint from Middle Age as a lot of pilgrims where stopping by on their
way to Santiago de Compostella, where the Saint was buried. This beer was brewed for 100 anniversary of the church. Amber beer, quite complex with fruits and
flowers flavors, as well as fermentation hints, 5,3%.
Ginger chocolate bonbon: two third is a 70% cocoa chocolate
from Mexico, Ecuador, Ghana, and Tanzania mixed with a last third at 60% cocoa. The filling had some Australian ginger bits.
Tasting and
matching: the bitter of the dark chocolate balances the fruitiness of the beer. The ginger matches with the citric flavor of the beer.
4/ Doubting
Thomas with a Speculaas bonbon
Doubting
Thomas: Imperial quadrupel beer with grapefruit, caramel flavors. the sweetness of the fruitiness balances the alcohol, 10%.
Speculaas bonbon: dark
chocolate cover and milk chocolate from Java with speculaas
ganache filling.
Tasting and
matching: cloves cinnamon, cardamom who gives a kind a freshness and the sweet
milk chocolate balances the complex flavors and the strong alcohol of the beer.
5/ Koyt
with pink pepper mendier
Koyt:
this is a dark beer brewed in based on recipe from 1407. The recipe includes a herbs mixture who provides complex flavors of cinnamon, spices, gale, rosemary, laurel, mint and liquorice, 8,5%.
Mendier: dark chocolate from Ecuador sprinkled with pink pepper
Tasting and
matching: very nice balance of the flavor of the pepper with the chocolate and
the spices of the beer! Complex and tasty where both are enhanced.
6/ Leibier
with sesame chocolate square
Leibier: Imperial Stout, dark beer with complex flavors of apricot, chocolate, caramel and coffee, 10%.
Sesame
squared dark chocolate from Ecuador and Tanzania.
Tasting and
matching: the high complexity of this beer just matches perfectly with the dark chocolate and the sesame flavor!
In conclusion, this was an amazing experience where the Geert demonstrated how he mastered the chocolates and the flavors. I especially appreciated the crescent power of the matches beer and chocolate. From the third beer, the Jacobus, I was absolutely seduced by the complexity of the beers. The chocolates started to really bring a kind of echo with beers where I could recognize the same tasting level as I experiment it with wines. A real and unique experience! Highly recommended! There is still several tasting to come in the next months! Check in the Jopen bier website!
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