Signature Ale

Brewed by De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Lochristi, Belgium

200th rating! The aroma was spicy pepper when first poured with a strong earthy character and a pleasant sweet fruit presence. The aroma was bready and citrusy and seemed young in the world of Brett. The citrus and fruit worked well with the peppery spice to add depth and complexity. The beer poured into the chalice clear golden amber with a moderate white head which rose well and retreated slowly to lace the glass. The flavor was slightly sweet with a menthol characteristic which was herbal. The flavor was also bready and citrusy and had a light presence of Brett which did not seem to have reached it’s full potential. The flavor was subtle and interesting with complexities of Belgian yeast and Brett. The finish was dry with lasting strong fruit flavors and peppery spice into the aftertaste. The body was medium with a moderate level of carbonation and a creamy palate. This one may benefit from some aging for the Brett character to develop, but currently it is certainly a tasty brew. 750 ml corked and bailed bottle.

Pours a hazy deep golden copper color with a white head. Aroma is some green apple, brett, lots of juicy citrus hops. Flavor is some malts, fruit, brett, and a long grassy, grapefruit bitter finish.

750 ml bottle. Take an Orval-esque Belgian and a mild IPA and blend them together thoughtfully and I think this is what you would come up with. Golden-yellow pour with a white head. Aroma was heavy with yeast, especially leather, dough and brettanomyces’ lacquer. Average aroma of malts and hops, especially lemon and citrus and other fruits. Behind it all is the smell of clove. The flavor is moderately sweet, moderately bitter nad heavily acidic. Medium body with a watery texture. Enjoyable.

Hoppy, grassy, sweet and spicy in the aroma. Pours golden blonde. Piney, with hints of citrus, sweetness, hints of brett like flavors. I wonder if this will sour up in some time? Nicely carbonated and easy to drink for 8.5%.

25 oz bottle, via fordest. Poured a mostly clear dark gold to light copper body under a small off-white foamy head. The nose was pretty nice, a mix of fruitiness and a subtle funkiness, some notes of bready malt, and moderate hoppiness. Just the beginnings of what this beer might have become, the brett is there, but probably would have become much stronger with time. The flavor is a blend of slightly sweet maltiness, moderate leafy hops, and the soft brettiness on the finish. Light to medium bodied with soft fizzy pleasant carbonation. Overall, I think this was a really nice complex beer, I wish I could have had a larger sample in a more private setting to really get into it, but then again, sharing is it’s own reward.

Bottle from 7 Corners New Seasons Market in Portland, OR==Poured a golden copper body with a thick fluffy white head. Nutty, spicy, sweet, and florally hopped. Sticky mild tartness that hit the back of the tongue. Very nice!

It’s hard to ignore a beer that’s a joint effort between two renowned brewers. In the Signature Ale it’s De Proef and Lost Abbey joining forces to make what I can only assume will be an incredibly high quality beer. The pour slowly explodes wuth a large, dull white foam head, which then listlessly floats on a pumpkin orange brew. The Signature is a beautiful beer, with all the clarity and visible carbonation of a champagne. At to that the circular crown of bubble columns and spires and you get a beer you can admire as if it were on display in an art gallery. The dominant fragrance of the Signature Ale is a rareified apple, almost imperceptible, couched in a soft, gentle and caressing aroma. The bottle describes a hop quality, but aside from a metallic touch I don’t smell anything resembling hops. Rather, this is a soft, almost mead like beer with the gentle caress of apples and a sweet and refined quality - even the aroma of a fresh grape vine from the orchard. That self-sketched hops presence does appear in the flavor, but it’s not the American hop profile I’ve become accustomed to. The Signature begins with a shining, crystal clear taste, textured by an initial paroxysm of fizzle, and then transitions into a brief window of naked hops taste. It is then quickly clothed again in sweet and yeasty garb - a wrapping of flavors. The aftertaste is declaratively hoppy too, and also holds the clearest cut sample of the distinctive brettanomyces that brewers and beer drinkers get so excited about. While this isn’t a beer that I’d fall to my knees in awe for, it’s a grand effort, and shows that whatever the dynamics were that brought about this unique collaborative effort, the teamwork paid off handsomely.

Hazy orange in color with a medium well retaining off white head. Aroma: a good amount of american hops, mostly orange: amarillo? As well as some funky brett and light lemon rind. Taste is a bit mellower than the aroma, but still prietty nice with citrus/orange, a light malty sweetness, with light touches of tart brett and mild funk. Pretty good, and I am sure this will get better.