Ølfabrikken Dekadence 2005

Formerly brewed at Bryggeriet Ølfabrikken (Gourmetbryggeriet)
Style: Fruit Beer
Roskilde, Denmark

Draught. Cloudy, dark red body with a dense off-white head. Lots of fruity aroma. Flavor is sweet malty, brown sugar and lots of raspberry with some alcohol. Interesting, different, harmonic and well balanced. Surprisingly well hidden alcohol. A bit like a cross-over between a strong Belgium ale, a barley wine and a sweet fruit Lambic?

The pour reveals a cloudy ruby color wuth a thin offwhite head. Nice aroma of perfumey raspberries with mild earthy notes. The flavor has lots of strwberries with earthy and sweet notes, there’s also mild alcohol, it’s sweet and dry in the end. The body is light to medium with a liquorous texture and soft carbonation. To brew a great 13% ABV fruit beer is a solid achievement, kudos to Ølfabrikken.

The nose of this beer is nothing but intoxicating fresh red raspberries. Murky orangish brown beer with a short lived beige head. The flavors are of course dominated by the fresh raspberry, with a sweet/tart raspberry/currant/sour cherry fruitiness. The claimed 13% is noticable but not intrusive until you try to stand up. This is a great use of natural fruit flavors in a very nice beer. Many thanks to Secret Santa for sending this beer.

500. Thanks, The_Wolf! Great stuff. Pours rubied brown and crystal clear from the neck, but quite black and nearly opaque in a grainy way once it’s all in the glass. Thick, dense, moussy tan head. Artillery barrage of raspberry for a nose. Big body on the high side of medium, with soft and spritzy but still tinglingly fizzy carb on the attack. The mid-palate carries acres of raspberries, as you might expect--tart, tannic, sweet, acetic, jammy, and husky, all by turns as it moves along. Long tannic finish. Hides the alcohol really well. Until you stand up, anyway.

Considering the style, Scores ranging from 1 to 5, 5 being the most intense
Appearance:
Body:   Clear(1)->Murky(5) : 3   Light Brown(1)->Dark(5) : 1   Ruby : 4   Still(1)->Sparkling(5) : 3
Head:   None(1)->Large(5) : 3   White(1)->Tan(5) : 2   Lasting: 3   Lacing : 3
Aroma:
Intensity : 4  
Yeast : 4   Bread : XX   Apple : XX   Esters : 3   Banana : 3   Phenols : XX   Leather : XX   Perfume : XX   DMS : XX   Diacetyl : XX
Malt : 4   Biscuity : 3   Toast : 3   Caramel : 3   Toffee : XX   Maple : XX   Molasses : 2   Nuts : XX   Candy : 3   Pumpernickel : XX   Cereals : XX   Fruits : 5   Chocolate : XX   Coffee : XX   Vanilla : XX   Grapes : 4   Blackberries : 2   Dates : 3   Cherries : 4   Plums : XX   Figs : XX
Hops : 1   Noble(1)->American(5) : 1   Leafy : XX   Floral : XX   Orange : XX   Herbal : XX   Spicy : XX   Pine/Spruce/Resin : XX
Notes :   Earth : XX   Wood : XX   Cloves : XX   Smoke : XX   Pepper : 1   Ginger : XX   Peach/Pear/Apricot : XX   Candi Sugar : XX   Anise : XX   Vinous : XX
Flavor:
Initial Flavor : Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 4   Finish Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 4   Sourness : 2   Bitterness : 1   Complex : 3   Length : XX
Palate:
Light(1)->Full(5) : 4   Flat(1)->Fizzy(5) : 3   Clean : 3   Sharp : XX   Watery : XX   Oily : 2   Chalk : XX   Astringent : XX   Alcohol : 2   Mineral : XX   Oxidation : XX   Metallic : XX

Comments: More reasons to like Ølfabrikken. Who else tries something like that? A massive, extremely fruity, grapey, cardamom-like, thyme-like, beefy fruit beer. Very very strong on berries, particularly raspberries. Slushy almost. And as a bonus, it’s very good!

Many thanks to yesper for this bottle. Solid malty nose with sweet fruit undercurrent. Murky brown color. Cherry, grape and faint raspberry in the body. Smooth finish. Not what I was expecting, but excellent nonetheless.

[Bottle, big thanks to Brewfiend for sharing this retired gem] Pours reddish-brown with a light tan head. Aroma is mainly raspberry and malt with a little chocolate--very nice. Taste is pretty sweet with raspberry, honey and brown sugar. Finish is chocolate and raspberry. Medium mouthfeel. Smooth. A very nice beer.

(bottle thanks for sharing Brewfiend) Pours a murky brown with a light tan head. Aroma is predominately raspberry, but there is also some cherry and slight chocolate lurking in the background. The taste was oddly enough more cherry than raspberry with a nice dose of chocolate in there too. Nice sweet finish with just a hit of tart raspberry, quite good.