De Dolle Dulle Teve Special Reserva

Formerly brewed at De Dolle Brouwers
Style: Abbey Tripel
Diksmuide, Belgium

Trade from both Rciesla and Hopdog (One to drink, One to cellar).Let me start by saying I was at the Kulminator in 08 and asked for this beer. The owner replied "Not ready yet". He wasn’t wrong. Poured from the bottle into my Oerbier tulip glass. Clear orange to hazy orange after the yeast enters the glass on second pour. Fizzy White 1 finger head with moderate lacing. Aroma was great, filled with brandy, apples, freshly cut grass, citrus hops, and a hint of wood. It was light bodied with a thin texture. Lively carbonation makes it refreshing to drink. The brandy was a little to present in the flavor . Im sure if this bottle had some more time it would be wonderful.

2003 bottle. Calvados cask. Hazy amber with a rocky off white head. Dustbowl dry aroma of hay, lime, with some sour wood and caramel. Smooth medium full body. Earthy, yeasty tripel flavors mingle with a sharp lime boozy margarita taste. The un barreled Bitch is better.

330ml 2003 bottle, on 3/09, shared by after4ever. Pours a clear deeper golden yellow with lively white head. Nose is sugary sweet with tons of fuji apple aroma. Very dry on the palate and heavily carbonated. Taste is much like the nose and is also on the ’hot’ side. Makes sense I guess given the 11%. The calvados really starts to appear as this warms up. This one was decent and I am glad that I got to try it, just think this one needs to sit in the bottle longer. Thanks Tom!

Pours amber and hazy with a thin white head. Smells of pronounced oak, some dry pilsner malt, sweet fruity hints, apples, spicy. Tastes dry with lots of fruity hints and an oaky finish.

330. ’03 version, cracked March 09. Pours a hazy burnished medium coppery amber. Light, swirling gray head. Green apples, red wine grapes, orange zest, and peaches on the nose. Lots of tannic citrus. Creamy medium body. Still some sharp carb even after all this time. Apples, grapes, oranges, and peaches again on the mid-palate, along with some vodka. Dry, hot finish. That’s some seriously tough commando yeast, to still be pushing booze and bubbles in this stuff after 6 years in the bottle.

Bottle generously shared by Ethan. Dusty funk, but more dust and less funk. Not as wild as many De Dolles... perhaps this has mellowed with age? Tons of apple... reminds me of caramel apples or calvados. Really good but not very typically of this brewery, which is a favorite of mine.

Bottle from the cellar at Bottleworks, brought up shortly after their 10th. Pours a hazy orange with a thick, bubbly head. Aroma has orange, oak, candi sugar, cider and light caramel. Wow, does the flavor ever take off! Oak and brandy, yeasty, bready notes, black pepper and maybe even a dry red wine. Boozy - this is a very hot brew, even after sitting around all these years. It definitely didn’t lose its "aggressive carbonation and dryness," either - plenty of both in here, and I ended up swirling out quite a bit of fizz. Very good, just too hot to handle - it can’t cover that kind of strength.

Huge thanks to Ethan for sharing this ’03 bottle. Very nice pour, hazy orange, with a subtle nose that seems to bear the mark of the beer’s age. Specifically, the ripe apple notes come across more to me than the barrel or the brandy. Very pleasant. The carbonation is light but still prickly, and the mouthfeel is a bit thin. Sweet and yeasty, this one’s not as complex as other De Dolle offerings but is still a real treat.