Hello and welcome to the 79th edition of the Midweek Drink. With Sober October now entering its final day, it’s only right to reflect back on such an amazing feat of self-discipline and accomplishment. And who knows which such an amazing achievement completed, you may consider cutting down or even going sober for the rest of the year and beyond. But whatever you choose to do, we wish you all the very best and hope that it was an eye-opener on just how much of a difference it has on the body, mind and spirit.
For today’s Midweek Drink, I have had the pleasure to review for you another alcohol-free beverage brewed by Lindeboom, called Lindeboom 0.5%.
A brief history of Lindeboom
In 1864, a man by the name of Willem Geenen began a ‘woortelstroopkokerj’, translated to root syrup cookery (hope that’s correct!), which would become the foundation of Geenen’s beer. William then traveled to Germany to study the art of brewing, such as fermentation, which helped him to establish his very own brewery in Neer, Netherlands in 1870.
In 1895, Willem’s son, Bernard, join his father in the family business to then taking over with his sister after his father’s death in 1903. From 1938, Bernard’s son, Willem, took control of the business, up until 1971, leaving Willem’s son, Ben, to take total control. Unfortunately, Ben died in 1998, leaving the brewery Willem’s other son, Willem Jr. Today, Paul Joosten continues the tradition of producing Lindeboom’s famous fermented beer.
Three senses and a beverage
Lindeboom 0.5% is a pilsner that comes in a 300ml bottle and has the following ingredients: water, barley malt, hops.
Lindeboom 0.5% pours a cloudy, golden nectar colour with sediment swirling around slowly around the glass; with an abundance of smooth beads of carbonation rising to the top.
At first, when you pour this pilsner into a glass, a sweet aroma very similar to a shandy can be picked out. Eventually as soon as it settles, the barley malt overtakes the shandy and remains this way until the very last drop.
For the taste, it has a silky, sweet malty taste to then finishing off with a minimal, bitter aftertaste.