Brouwerij De Plukker is making waves in the world of Belgian beer with their highly sought after beers. In a short amount of time, they’ve garnered a lot of respect within the beer community for the quality of their bottle conditioned ales. The respect earned for the beers is well deserved, but industry respect has long been directed towards Joris Cambie and his family hop farm. Joris’s hop farm is the only organic hop farm in Belgium. Since 2011, the world has been able to drink Cambie’s hops in his own beer.
De Plukker’s All Inclusive IPA is brewed with all the different varieties of hops grown on the Cambie farm: Goldings, Pilgrim, Cascades, Challenger, & WGV. This was a very limited release of 795 bottles brewed from the 2014 harvest of fresh hops. All the hops are 100% organic, 100% Belgian, & 100% Estate Grown. Additionally, the entire beer is certified Organic.
Appearance: Cloudy honey gold, off white head, great retention.
Aroma: Floral, spice, grassy, slighly earthy, caramel notes, bubble gum.
Taste: Spice, floral, grassy hops, caramel, bubble gum.
Overall Impression: This is a fantastic beer from the young brewery. The Belgian hops are on full display creating a super aromatic combination of hops and yeast to create a uniquely Belgian take on the popular style. Like all of De Plukker’s beers, this one is exceedingly balanced with an nice dryness. And if you’ve ever had a conversation with Joris, you know how important bottle conditioning is to the character of his beers and to the great beers of Belgium. De Plukker’s bottle-conditioning creates a large, fluffy head that makes the beer look extra tasty. On the mouth, it creates lively, bright, and creamy texture that adds to the aesthetic beauty of this beer. Hoppy in the best of Belgian ways, the 50 IBUs integrate perfectly with the Belgian yeast character and work to balance the malt used to get to 8% ABV.
Availability: At only 795 bottles, this beer is a tiny release from a tiny brewery. It’s only available in Belgium and probably mostly sold out at this point. Demand for De Plukker beers is extremely strong in Belgium, that coupled with the small production of the brewery means that De Plukker beers won’t be available outside of Belgium for some time.
8% ABV
Note: This beer was sent to me by my friend and Belgian Beer Blogger, Belgian Beer Geek.
You can read more about De Plukker and my reviews on my page dedicated to the brewery.