Beer in a can? De Librije now serves canned beer at the table
There was a time when ordering anything other than wine at a fine-dining restaurant would earn you a strange look, but those days are long gone. Three-Michelin-starred restaurant De Librije is taking things one step further: they have recently started serving canned beer.
Serving specialty beer with a five-course menu. Top restaurants are still not always ready to embrace it. And that’s despite the fact that the beer world has made enormous strides in recent years when it comes to food pairings. Jonnie and Therese Boer have had a beer menu since 2016, but serving canned beer at the table? That’s new.
Straight from the can
And yet, that’s exactly what they’re doing. The award-winning IPA ‘Bird of Prey’ from Uiltje Brewery is now being poured with several dishes. Just like that. Straight from the can.
Let’s be honest: when you think of canned beer, you quickly picture students, house parties, sunny days in the park, vagrants and alcoholics with half-litre cans of German dishwater. But in this case, the can serves an important purpose, and there’s a good reason why the waiting staff even brings the can of beer to the table. “An IPA’s character really comes into its own when it’s served and tasted fresh. In a can, the beer is sealed off from light and air. That’s the only way we can bring those incredibly fresh hop aromas to the guest at the table,” explains Sabas Joosten, sommelier at De Librije.
Extra fresh
To keep them extra fresh, the IPAs are transported chilled from the brewery to Zwolle as soon as possible after being canned. And that means within 48 or even 24 hours. At De Librije, Bird of Prey is served with a dish of monkfish, pandan rice and green curry made with nasturtium.
“It’s an honour for a restaurant like De Librije to take the lead and show the Netherlands that you can simply pour canned beer at the table,” says Uiltje founder Robbert Uijleman.
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