Alc 7% vol
https://www.facebook.com/HappyFace.Beers/
The brewery
Since 2016, from Delft NL
Aanwezig op Nederlandse metalfestivals als Dynamo, Stonehenge, Into The Grave
Special ‘metal brews’ – https://happyfacebeers.com/nl/bieren/:
Weizen IPA for the band Heritance on an album release party
Stout for the band Sinister on an album release party
“Bomber”, a Jack Daniels infused beer as tribute to the late Lemmy
Motto: “metal makes thirsty, bring on a HappyFace”
Tasting
Official brewers’ note: Een volle IPA met een stevig bittertje en een uitgesproken hoppige geur door een flinke toevoeging van de Citrahop tijdens de lagering. Inspired by English styles
Hop: Galena en Citra
Mout: Pilsmout, Ambermout, Caramout, Munichmout
My notes:
amber colour, long lasting beige head
Rather cloudy beer
Aroma: scents you rather associate with darker styles than an IPA: toffee, coffee, roasted malts
medium body, medium carbo
start: biscuits
mid: earthy notes as resin, but also obvious coffee notes. Some sweet fruits but mostly blown away by the coffee
Ending: bitter in the end so I’d say it’s worthy of the style IPA. The bitter punch at the end remains when the beer warms, which seems very important when you drink it on festival grounds. The punch can be blurred on times because of the many other flavours going on
Still it is a very atypical IPA. somewhat warming feeling due to the flavors I associate with the darker beers
Out of the top of my head I would say it reminds me of the American Spencer trappist IPA but with much more coffee notes. What also feeds this comparison is the many negative comments this beer receives when you scroll through Untappd or Ratebeer. Most likely because it is different from what you expect from an IPA. I, on the other hand, would rather compliment the brewers on this experiment and challenge those intrigued with this out-of-the-box IPA to give it a try.
In any way I can imagine leaning on the bar of a festival this IPA would stir a discussion
The packaging
Simple, green theme and the typical little guy that is on all the HappyFace beers
Coming soon: their tripel!
Goes best with…
Bands, festivals and the lot are releasing branded booze by the dozens these days. GRIMM makes it its mission to get to the bottom (of the bottle) of this trend with insightful reviews and extra backgrounds. So sit back, PICK YOUR POISON, and discover all you need to know about your favorite band’s alcoholic brands!
Poison Fact Sheet
- Festival: Dynamo Metal Fest
- Poison name: Langharig Tuig
- Poison style: beer – hefeweizen (Hoppy Weizen)
- ABV: 5,5 %
- IBU: /
- Brewery: Van Moll (Netherlands)
(ABV = Alcohol By Volume; IBU = International Bittering Units)
[ Long•har•ich taugh ]
1. (literally) long-haired scum
2. (slang) used as a badge of honour by heavy metal music fans
3. A hoppy Weizen combining the best of both worlds: a proper German Weizen yeast and fruity American hops.
That’s how brewpub Van Moll from Eindhoven (Netherlands) presents its Langharig Tuig beer. Since the festival season is up to full speed by now we present you our first beer that is an official collaboration with a festival. If the line-up with Gojira, Testament, Devin Townsend, Exodus and many more isn’t enough to make you enthusiastic for Eindhoven’s Dynamo Metal Meeting (15th of July), we sure think this blond beer with attitude will!
Tasting
When we poured the beer, we got a white head with light foam that dissipates rather quickly. The beer itself looks blond/yellow and is more clear than most weizen beers. From the aroma we got hints of yellow fruits, citrus, some coriander and straw and a slight soapy touch, definitely not unpleasant!
When we took our first sip we recognized a medium to high carbonation and we think it’s definitely recognizable as a beer inspired by the German weizen style rather than our Belgian witbeer. The first impression is the rich wheat flavor. At first the beer seems a bit disappointing maybe and less thirst quenching than I am used of this style of beers. But that is easily forgotten and compensated by the complexity of the beer when the flavor further develops in your mouth… In the middle we got yeast and banana esters and when you might start to wonder where the “hoppy” stands for in the brewer’s description, the answer arrives with a soapy, yet sharp bitter finish from the hops. The aftertaste lingers for a long time, returning to a sweetness again.
This beer has to grow on you but I get more positive the longer I taste it and discovered its many facets, definitely a big step up from the usual festival beer!
Packaging
The bottle’s label uses a strong contrast between yellow and black. We presume the yellow symbolizes the colour of the beer and Van Moll’s trademark style in logos. When you look closely you see the black is actually leather with the beer’s logo embroidered on it like a real patch. This is a nice unison of both metal festival and brewer! Also Dynamo’s logo found its way on the label.
With the release of the beer last year the festival’s Facebook page shared:
“Langharig tuig” [or long-haired scum] is a nickname that a lot of metal fans sometimes get. Justified or not, do we cared? No! And so we proudly present our beer with this name! In cooperation with brewpub Van Moll in Eindhoven we brewed a delicious hoppy weizen beer that will flow abundantly on the second Dynamo Metalfest.
Dynamo Metalfest promotor Tjerk Maas is very enthusiastic: “Nowadays you often see bands releasing their own beer, but it is less common for a festival. I regularly visit Van Moll and never drink the same beer twice. So when I got talking with Jaap and Erwin of Van Moll about Dynamo Metalfest the idea surfaced pretty quickly, as many good ideas arise with a good beer!”
The label further states this beer is unpasteurized and unfiltered, which is weird as the beer is less cloudy than I would expect it to be then.
Finally, on the bottle we learn that the beer is produced at Brouwerij Anders just as the previously reviewed Hoogheid beer and many others from microbreweries that do not have the necessary space or material to produce on a larger scale.
It is good to know there is also a regular label for this beer, so don’t hesitate to try it if you encounter the beer outside the festival grounds. In fact, why not visit Van Moll’s brewpub when you’re in Eindhoven anyway for the festival?!
If you are really a fan of this beer, you can even stock up on official merchandise and follow it on its own Facebook page!
You might see more reviews of one of Van Moll’s beers on the Pick Your Poison column here as they also have the Black Metal Manita (BIPA) and last weekend at Jera On Air they presented their Bloody Herrie (IPA). Stay tuned!
