De Horste Signature

Spiced apple cider aroma.Dark chestnut appearance with a nice head.Flavors of dark apple cider with a softing medicinal herb bitterness at the finish.No trace of alcohol for an ale of 11%.

Bottle into Duvel tulip. Courtesy of the generous Sam at Stuffed Sandwich, San Gabriel CA. Sampled with cquiroga and some non-Ratebeer beer geeks. 1999 bottling. Van Gogh mastered the painterly brush stroke and then cut off his ear. The Mad Brewer of De Horste is comparatively sane, as he simply committed himself after brewing this masterpiece. I don’t know if the story accompanying and enshrouding this beer is true or apochryphal, but it makes for an appropriate mystique for an incredible beer. Stale yeasty funk wafts from the glass, but in a good way, with heavy notes of brown sugar and dandelions of all things, with some caramel malt. Glittery spacious lacing, quick but not deep racing is less than impressive, and the worst thing about this beer by far. Has a characteristic Belgian Strong character: golden raisins and malty all over, with currants, brown sugar, sugar cane, and orange rind in the flavor. Slightly stinging alcohol on a dry finish that contains an indescribable combination of acidity and sweetness at the end, something I noted as "sour honey" or "figgy honey" in my tasting notes. A perfect balance between the fruity sweet and smooth malts with an amazingly good dry finish. Knowing that I’ll probably never have this again adds to the total experience, the fleeting product of a savant but insane brewer whose talent was thwarted by an infirm disposition. What if Mozart would have died at 16? What if Michelangelo had maimed his hand with his hammer and chisel while carving David? What if the Mad Brewer had been just insane enough to never have brewed this beer? It is good that we do not have to know the answers to these questions. Carpe Signature, if you can.

This brew pours with a deep amber body topped by a medium thick head with lots of lacing. The aroma is sweet and malty with caramel notes. The flavor is sweet and malty with a touch of caramel and candy notes. Medium to full bodied and smooth yet dry.

A complex brew for an 11%er. Avoiding candy sugar dominance at this level is something more and more rarely achieved. The flavor complex included distinct honey, anise and mace on a luscious body with perfect medium effervescence, even at 3 years of age. Very good, but in my book not at the level of their Beatrix beer.

Similar to a Dubbel, but not quite as heavy, maybe a little drier, too. This was a 1999 bottling.