De Dolle Oerbier

Brewed by De Dolle Brouwers
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Diksmuide, Belgium

Stunning chestnut brown pour with luscious pillowy head. Gorgeous. Brandyish toffee, fruited nose with a green apple boozy cherry quality. Vineous body with a figgy chewed yeast and salivating tartness developing mid to late palate. Thies yeilds an earthy toasted fruit finish. Layered flavors and nice complexity. All together this brew brings the funk sauce. ... Nice.

pours a very hazy orangish-brown with a massive foamy brown head. dark fruit, light yeast, some sweet cola-ish caramel and molassess. Mouthfeel is intensely carbonated at first. Flavour is dark nutty malt, sweet again with a hint of cola going into a pretty tart finish. No sign of the 9%...

Sampled at Kelk in Brugge. Cloudy brown color.Dark fruitiness on the nose. Smooth on the palate. Molasses, almond nuttiness, and caramel malt. Some alcohol presence. Good complex brew.

Bottle into snifter. Pours a very hazy rich brown, with a fairly foamy, pillowy tan head. Nose is molasses, dark fruits, with just a hint of lactic sourness. Taste is phenomenal - caramelized sugar and molasses, bready yeast, with that beautiful, rich, full lactic sourness towards the back end. Hints of vinous dark fruits in there as well. Mouthfeel is very crisp and dry, medium bodied, crisp carbonation. Beautiful beer.

Pours amber and cloudy with a generous white head. Smells of dark fruit, molasses, some spice. Tastes of brown sugar, some raisins and dates, figs, pepper, touches of spiciness.

33cl bottle, spewed like a geyser when opened. Pour a murky dark brown, with a big frothy, fluffy tan head. Aroma of apple, dark fruits, brown sugar, spices, and alcohol. Taste was initially sweet, then came a hint of tart/sour and a strong alcohol burn, a bit medicinal. Mouthfeel was somewhat creamy, with fizzy carbonation. Overall a very aromatic and tasty Belgian. Great!

33cl bottle. Pours a dark, hazy brown with faint amber/orange highlights and a very thick, very fluffy, tan head that fades eventually into a thin, persistent disk of pocked, swirly tan. The aroma is thick with malt and yeast character - very characteristic De Dolle yeast flavors. The aroma has some complexity in there - mustiness, hints of herbal hops, sticky and thick caramel, toasty melanoidins, and a faint and interesting note of acid/sour. The flavor starts sweet and bready with lots and lots of sweet malts. It also features a brief faint of acid as in the nose - just enough to cut the sweetness without actually tasting acidic or sour. At mid-palate there are some faint notes of spices, some dark candi syrup, and subtle licorice. The bite of carbon dioxide slightly augments the perceived acidity. Dark caramel (hints of chocolate) seem to persist throughout all over the palate. There are subtle notes of earthy hops and subtle spice in there, too (and is that rye I taste? perhaps). The finish is full, sweet, and warming. It finishes with the same house character as in the aroma and tip of the tongue. The mouthfeel is full and very generously carbonated. The body is full enough to stand up to the thick carbonation without it feeling spritzy or over-carbonated. Overall, a very tasty beer that is quite full flavored and has some interesting character. I don’t think it’s quite as strong as some other De Dolle brews, but good nevertheless.

Couldn’t find a date on the bottle, but I’m wondering if it was a little old. Beer opened with a huge hiss and when poured had a gigantic offwhite head that lasted forever. Took about five minutes to pour the whole beer. Aroma is a little apple, a lot of malt, some all spice? Licorice, dark fruit. A lot going on there. Flavor is similarly complex, tart, a little bitter, a lot of alcohol burn. Some nice subtle plum/raisin flavors with some good malt sweetness. A little bitter. Tastes like it might be slightly oxidized, but not horribly. Great beer. I’d love to try another one fresh.