Monday 18 August 2008

Pancake boat

Andrew's birthday treat was a ride on the Pancake Boat. It's an odd, but simple idea. A boat that cruises Amsterdam's waterfront upon which you can eat all the pancakes you want.

The only slight drawback is that the journey starts at end at the NDSM werf. A little ferry landing on an industrial estate in Amsterdam North. The only way to get to that is a ferry that runs from behind Central Station. At least the ferry is free.

On a fine, sunny day, the ferry ride is very pleasant. Watching how it weaves between the heavy traffic on the Ij. Trying to spot where I could so easily have fallen to my death at the back of the Silo. I rarely see Amsterdam from this perspective. It adds a layer of mystery to known neighbourhoods. And it's nice and cool.

We have to hang around for a while before the Pancake Boat is ready for boarding. As soon as it is, a gossip of grannies crowd towards the front, brushing aside children with their zimmer frames. You'd expect oldies to have rather better queueing etiquette. I don't know, old people today aren't like they used to be. I blame their parents.

We're assigned a table on the upper deck. You get a better view and there's more of a breeze sweeping through. Getting your scran couldn't be simpler. At a hatch, there are three piles of pancakes, plain, apple and bacon. You collect one then proceed to the topping completion section. There you can sprinkle your bacon pancake with chocolate flakes and brown sugar. Or cheese up your apple pancake. Anything is possible, no matter how disgusting.

This is supposed to be a beer blog, isn't it? Better tell you about the beer, then. A waiter comes to the table to take our drinks order. The best beer available is Leffe Bruin. So I order a jonge jenever, too. Just to take the nasty taste of the Leffe away, honestly. We're only on the boat an hour. And after my third bacon pancake stuffed with cheese and ham, I was starting to feel a little full. Or maybe it was just the general nastiness of the Leffe. Whatever the cause, I only managed a single beer. Shame on me.

We just managed to catch the ferry back to civilisation. Missed, we'd have had a half hour to wait for the next. "Shall we have a drink somewhere in town?" I rarely get invited to the pub by Dolores. I'm not going to miss this chance. "How about Wildeman?" I suggest. The kids are surprisingly enthusiastic, so Wildeman it is.

I'm going through a masochist phase. How else to explain buying a Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter? A pint of it. I'm trying very hard to give American Stouts a fair chance, that must be it.

The Yeti, though by no means my perfect beer, I happily drank two glasses of. The Gonzo defeated me. As you can see by my unfinished glass. The hops just totally overwhelm everything else, except for a little black treacle from the malt. Exactly what makes this a Porter? The impact of an uber-hopped IPA is somehow diminished when every other style is hopped the same way. [Huge generalisation warning!!!! The following statement does not apply to every American beer] It's the one thing that pisses me off about American beer, that every style tends to get hopped in a similar way. Whether it fits that particular style or not. [Huge generalisation all-clear.] If I want a bagload of cascades, I'll buy an IPA, not a Porter.

The long and the short of it is, I left about a third of my Gonzo. Then we got the tram home. Where a nice warm St. Bernardus Abt was waiting for me. In a Chimay glass. You can't beat home.

9 comments:

Kristen England said...

I bought a 4-pack of it at the brewery when it came out (apparently its so good it comes in 4-packs?). I had the same reaction as you did. I brought the rest back and forgot about it. I recently opened one up and after a few years in the bottle it was actually very very nice. The hops had completely mellowed.

I do have to say that Ron, this is COMPLETELY your fault. They advertise this beer as 'Double Porter recipe, dry hopped with a shit load of Cascade hops.' What did you expect!? :)

I mean I TRULY hate mayonnaise. Utterly hate. I know I probably should like it, but I don't. I'm definitely not going to try every mayo just to see if I like one. ;)

Would you like a list of stouts Ron shouldn't drink even though they are delicious?

Anonymous said...

Pancake Boat, a boat that serves all you can eat pancakes: pure and perfect :)

"Eddie Rowles" said...

I used to love taking the ferry from behind Central station to Java-eiland - a great way to get some fresh air. However when we were there in June it looks to have been discontinued...which is a shame.

Anonymous said...

Pancake boat! That is just a fantastic idea! I love it.
You guys have such fun and cool things over there.

Ditto on the hopping issue; and add in the excessive need to "Imperialize" everything.

josh mishell said...

If 12 ounces of Gonzo isn't your style, then perhaps you'd enjoy Gonzo in a 7 ounce bottle? We're coming out with a new Canis Major mixed pack that consists of 7 oz. bottles of our award-winning Canis Major series (2 each of Gonzo Imperial Porter, Double Dog Double Pale Ale, Horn Dog Barleywine, and Kerberos Tripel). These should be out around GABF.

Thanks!

Josh
Flying Dog Brewery

Ron Pattinson said...

josh, I'd love to try your other beers, if I only had the chance. Not sure how likely I am to see them though, here in Amsterdam.

Sorry about not liking the Gonzo. Just not to my taste.

ReDave said...

Um.... it does say GONZO and Imperial, right? then porter. Might have a lot of hops.

josh mishell said...

Ron, our European distributor is Bierenco, based in Amsterdam.

http://www.bierenco.nl

I bet you might be able to give them a call to find out where you can find our beer.

I have a friend who is moving back to Amsterdam in the next 2 weeks. If I go visit her, we should go out for beers one day.

And don't worry about not liking Gonzo - beer is subjective, and I'm sure one of our other 13 styles might work for you better. We appreciate your honesty.

Josh

Tandleman said...

Huh. Tight git might have arranged for some to be sent to you!