Elixir Wilhelmus
A beer in honour of Koningsdag (Kingsday, Dutch national holiday), easy right? An orange label on it and you are well on your way. Most party people consume the favourite beer of our King, a.k.a. Prince Pils(ner), on Koningsdag. Bird Brewery goes a step further, for the first time they filled a beer in a can and of course they don't stop there.
Cans are the best packaging for beer for several reasons. It keeps the enemies of beer away (light, oxygen) and it makes efficient use of the space in your fridge. Fortunately, the beer consumer is getting used to canned beer and several brewers now fill their beers exclusively in cans.
Bird Brewery thought that King's Day was a great occasion to fill up a beer in cans for the first time, because cans are so handy to carry around, during King's Day for example. They also wanted to brew an appropriate beer, so we had a conversation about the hops with Rik, beer boss and Bearded reedling at Bird.
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The Hollands Hophuis hot air balloon on the very first Bird can ever.
Orange IPA
Bird has come up with an Orange IPA: orange and oranges. Citrus fruit in an IPA is not uncommon, many hop varieties have citrus aromas and therefore orange or grapefruit fits well in this hoppy beer type. A hop from the Citrus aroma profile is the obvious choice, with Bird preferring to go for something new and a hop that offers something extra.
Elixir
With a number of hop samples under our umbrella, we went to the House of Bird in the Diemerbos. Together with the Bird team and after some careful testing, we chose Elixir, a French hop from Alsace. A very good choice, because in addition to orange, this variety has unique aromas of cognac and tobacco, in addition to a hint of tropical fruit. Precisely the aromas that give Wilhelmus its own character.
Wilhelmus
It turned out to be a fruity spring beer, obviously with a clear orange aroma. Elixir gives it a fitting bitterness (40 IBU), which is easy considering the alpha content of 9.6%. In addition, the typical aromas come out nicely, without overdoing it. As a result, Wilhelmus remains refreshing and fruity, delicious for the coming spring and summer months.
Wilhelmus is available at better bars and beer shops, and through the webshop of Bird Brewery (Dutch).
