De Dolle Cosmos Porter

Brewed by De Dolle Brouwers
Style: Porter
Diksmuide, Belgium

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.

Brown body with an orange shine, huge lasting creamy head; Excellent nose, excellent balance and depth, super interesting and very welcoming for at sour beer; Excellent fresh body, again an amazing balance and depth; Very long finish, very balanced lactic, tons of aroma. Very very fine beer! By far the best and most interesting of ZBF2009.

On tap@Zythos Beer Festival 2009. A thick fine-laced brownish head resting on a foggy, dark brown colored body. A superfresh aroma from the lactic acids. Sourcream and yoghurt paired with some inviting sour-acidoulous fruits. Unripe black currant comes to mind. Suggestions of apple-vinegar and wood. Taste has a some subdued caramel notes and a hint of roastiness. Otherwise a pleasant fruity acidiulous sourness is dominating. Lactic acids also well prononced in the flavor. Feels light and vivid in the mouth. Lingering tart fruitiness in the ending. Awsome beer! Utterly refreshing, with the unmistakable De Dolle signature.

Draught at Zythos Beer Festival, March 7th and 8th 09 Pours dark brown with a light beige head. The nose has some Greek yoghurt touches initially and then a splash of balsamic vinegar. Taste is really quite sour, wet woodiness, nice tang to it, dries a little and then the Balsamic and Yoghurt on the nose make an appearance in the mouth. If I was tasting this blind I would have sworn that there were some cherries in this. Doesn’t seem like a Porter at all but to be fair that is about the only thing that I could be critical about. This was really, really lovely,. I initially scored it 4.1 it was my first of the festival but I finished with it and it was even better, so it moved up a couple of mark’s. Easily the best beer of the festival for me, a stunner. A8 A5 F8 P4 OV17 4.3

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 draft several times at ZBF 2009 (unblended). Juicy apple cider-vinegar aroma, very acidic. Pours an unclear somewhat murky brown with a hint of red and a very fine small fizzy head. Wow, super acidic, so much lacto, of course everyone made the connection to it being more of a Flemish Bruine than a porter, tart and quite juicy, like the aroma it tastes like cider-vinegar, apples puree. I could taste this one for several days after. Great consistency, super fine sparkling carbonation, medium bodied. My favorite of the festival.

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?

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.