De Dolle Cosmos Porter

Draught @ ZBF 2009, St.-Niklaas, Belgium.
Clear medium to dark red brown color with a large, frothy to creamy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white to beige head. Aroma is moderate to light heavy malty, caramel, sour berry, moderate wood, roasted malt. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet, moderate acidic and bitter with a long duration, and a bit salty. Body is medium, texture is watery to oily, carbonation is soft. That is a very nice beer, for me the best of Zythos 2009 ;0)) keep up the good work ;o)) [20090307]

A Mes rate. Draught at ZBF, also a sample of the ‘other’ version from a bottle thanks muchly to Chris.
Guess I should also thank him for the two free samples he gave me later on. What a gent! Glorious dark amber brown colour with a tasty looking tan head. Aroma is awesome. Wonderfully fruity, sour and dry with some excellent damp wooden notes. Flavour... Christ on a bike! That’s what I’m talking about. In all honesty, I was feeling a little basic when I got to Zythos following the awesome Pre ZBF fest at Alvinne. However the moment this little beauty passed my lips I experience total clarity and complete understanding of the universe. It’s just SO much fun. Dry, tart, sour, incredible fruit, some Coca Cola and a character that is both aged and lip smackingly fresh at the same time. Superb length, equally amazing palate. There is just so much to like about this beer. I knew a new De Dolle beer was something to get excited about but this one really exceeded expectations. An utterly stunning beer and a real shame that the chances are high that I’ll never get to taste it again.

This was actualy made for the ZBF festival. But we had that exclusive experience to taste it at the brewerie / Dolle Café. Kris, the brewer came with a flask (kolbe) with the name Cosmos Porter written on the side. What a presentation. I was impressed. Poured direktle from the flask the appearence was flat with no head at all. The colour was hazy and shimmering between brown and dark red depending of the light. The nose was intens with brown sugar and vinegar up front but with a nice sweetness to with sidenotes of malt and cigars. The taste is likewise differing between the sourness and sweetness from old mature fruits and brown sugar. Even though a lot of sourness is going on in this one its constantly balanced with a nice temper. The palate is buttery and the mouthfell is nice. Thank you for this unique experience.

Draught at ZBF 2009, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium - Several samples.
Deep black body. Lightly brown, creamy head. Aroma of dark fruit, wood, strong malts, lactic acid, bit acetic acid: wood, very complex and great balance. Lightly bitter, heavily sour flavour of fruit and malts. Think of a beer in the middle of Rodenbach Grand Cru and Oerbier (both flavour and aroma-wise). Great beer although I was expecting another type of beer based on the name.

On tap@ZBF 2009. Dark brown color, with a brownish head. Aroma bit sour, woods, fruits. Medium body. Taste caramel notes, some roastiness malts, fruit, refreshing. Very close to the Rodenbach grand-cru.

Kept going back for more at ZBF. Gorgeous and intense, like a Rodenbach Grand Cru on steroids. Tart, sour cherry nose heavy on the balsamic. Sour-fruit-and-vinegar-like acidity is made highly drinkable by an underlying fruity-malty backbone. Tangy aftertaste. A beer of this strength shouldn’t be refreshing, but... Mr. Herteleer showing everybody how it’s done, again. Will we see more of this?

Sampled at Zythos 2009. The beer that was everyone lips from the beer festival. Hazy dark brown colour. It’s an old ale. Lovely sourness. Really lovely sour green apple. Very interesting sour Flemish beer. Really surprising and pretty good.

Draught at ZBF09. Sour aroma, quite bad, and seems infected. Muddy dark brown colour. Big stable light brown head. Fortunately, the flavour is better. Quite acidic and fruity, some raisin and strong lactic and lemony acidity. Very interesting. Tastes good, but in small doses.