Hollande 1620
World Brews

 

 

In an unusual, squat bottle, this says it was made at H-West Brewing in Maarssen, Netherlands.

Dark gold, it has a medium white head soon thinning to ring, some wisps.

Aroma is fairly strong sulphur, herbs, bread crust, dry hay - a strong Euro lager aroma.

Taste is pretty nice, bread crust and dough, zesty herbal bitterness lingering to sides of tongue and cheeks in finish and aftertaste, sweeter up front. Feel is pretty nice, full but lively.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This has typical light smell of skunky which is popular with this style. The hops are quite noticeable! The taste is great! So far the best style of european beer I have tried. The mouthfeel is smooth but crisp which makes a nice finish and gives it an all around A+ in opinion.

Look - clear, light golden or straw colored. About a finger's worth of a head that dissipated quickly. Lots of carbonation.

Smell - very very hoppy and sharp like a Czech Pilsener. I can't discern much else past the hops.

Taste - Very hoppy like the smell. Starts and finishes fairly bitter, but with a sort of dulling in the middle. Kind of a metallic aftertaste on the back of the palate. Texture is watery, but with a fizziness too due to the carbonation.

Drinkability - the bitterness and metallic taste isn't very pleasant in my opinion. I mean no disrespect to the brewer, and I happy to drink the rest of the beer, but it's a shame that I'm going to have to suffer through the other 5 at some point...

Bottle into Sam Adams sensory glass, a gift from a neighbor who I'd helped with some yard work. An interesting choice, for sure, and one I honestly didn't even remember seeing before.

Pours clear straw, loads of effervescence, and a one-finger, fizzy white head that settles in quickly to a thin, soapy layer of white suds. Not much in the way of lacing or retention.

Nose hits you with a massive skunky wallop when the bottle its first opened, fading to a much more restrained skunkiness once the beer has had a bit of time to breath. Underneath that is a mildly pleasant grainy sweetness.

Taste has very little of the skunkiness promised in the nose, which is a pleasant development. Instead, a restrained grainy sweetness and just a hint at floral hops, with the skunkiness barely wafting in towards the finish. Not unpleasant by any means.

Mouthfeel is spot on for the style, light and crisp and a bit dry.

Drinkability isn't bad either; actually rather pleasant all things considered. Not one I would order up over a lot of beers, but an experience that isn't regrettable, which can't be said of all beers of the style.

11.2oz green bottle with no freshness date.

Light golden yellow color shows a good clarity with some thickness of lace on top. Not much in the aroma, some grain and faint DMS. Clean graininess is pretty weak, slight tartness fades quick. Hop bitterness is there but the flavor is turned on mute. Dry and relatively clean. Not much is the after taste either.

Weak sauce. Not much going on at all ... tastes like a light beer to me. Pass on this one.

Hollande appears a very light, clear, straw yellow. The head was extremely small to begin with with no retention.

Its smell is the quasi hoppy, "old beer" scent that all euro lagers have.

The taste starts with a crisp taste mirroring the smell. On the mid palate most of flavor quickly fades away, the finish has a little sweet not. It does not finish crisp like most other euro lagers do.

Its mouthfeel was a light to medium, which was unexpected and enjoyable. The carbonation was average.

Overall, this beer was just an okay euro lager. It definitely was not the favorite I ever had, and the awkward finish did not leave me wanting more.

Pours a deep golden color with a little head and lacing.

Some grassy hops and pale malt and a touch of skunk.

Nice medium bodied euro lager with a grassy hop bite and some maltiness. Light carbonation coupled with the lack of anything off tasting (other than the light skunkiness) make this a good euro lager.

I tend to like Euro lagers more than most and this is a good one. The price on this has been reduced where I live and is now a better bet for your money if you are in the mood for a pale lager.

Poured from a 11.2 oz bottle into a pint glass.

Appearance/Smell - Appears ultra clear, gold with a quarter inch frothy head with some decent retention. Pretty large carbonation bubbles, about medium carbonation, and leaves no lacing. Appears a little bit better than average Id say. Smells of a dominate corn husk & grain aroma, with some tart grape & apple. Some lite malt and hints of sweet bubble gum as well, but very grainy overall.

Taste/Mouthfeel - Tastes of a dominate corn husk & grain that immediately floods that palate and sticks to the tongue. Lots of sweet malty flavors as well, almost reminds me of a really sweet American Malt Liquor, not in a bad way though. Finishes with a dry, semi lingering hop bitterness, strong grain flavors linger as well. Mouthfeel is smooth without to much bite to it, goes down very easy, and has a lite body.

Drinkability/Final thoughts - This brew definitely reminds me of Heineken but with more flavor, with simple sweet grainy & malty flavors. This beer is easily tossed back with almost any food, and can be enjoyed all night long. For the price it's pretty expensive with only a little bit more flavor than say something like Heineken, but Id say if you can afford it than probably go for this stuff, or at least give it a try.

IMPORTANT! Be sure to grab a closed 12pack & not an open 6pack because the light will definitely spoil your beer and/or review. Cheers!

from notes:
Pours clear golden color with absolutely no head. Smell - sweet malts, honey. Taste - not as sweet as smell, malts, grassy hops, clove. Moderate cobonation, pretty crisp and clean, not bad lager at all. Refreshing, fairly smooth and balanced. drinkable.

$1.49 12 oz. single at Total Wine & More in Kennesaw, Georgia.

Appearance: Pours a clear, golden body with a small, frothed, white head.

Smell: Ugh. Big whiff of skunkiness immediately upon opening. Ah, such is the hazards one faces when encountering green bottles. In fact, it's one of the more skunkier beers I've come across since, well, Heineken. Trying my best to smell past that, I find watered down, light pale malts.

Taste: Light pale maltiness with a nominal amount of sweetness. Regrettably skunked hops provide a light bitterness, more than enough to counter the faint sweetness. Slight yeastiness. Finishes dry with a light, lingering graininess.

Mouthfeel: Light-bodied. Medium carbonation.

Drinkability: Fairly typical Euro lager with the fairly typical filthy, skunked hop character you get with green bottles. Pass.