studentofbeer
04-27-2004, 07:45 PM
duvel, my first belgian love.
i opened the short bottle with the new "old" white label and up spurted some head right to the top of the bottle, despite the fact that it had been at rest forever. You know why they built the duvel glass so big.
I pour the beer into a duvel glass. the huge head puffs up tremendously, looking like an unfinished sculpture. The beer itself is a straw yellow with an orangey hint when you look straight through the glass. its not a beautiful color, though it is amazingly clear, and when you see it with the monstrous head it looks like a work of art.
my first swoop through the beer's aroma brought out grassy and kumquat flavors, with a bit of that special funk one associates with belgian yeast. now that the head has fallen to a much smaller level--though still with a contorted shape--i stick my nose deep in the glass and reveal a bundle of fruit flavors--green apple skin, pear, peach, and key lime pie along with floral overtones much like hibiscus. though the detectors in my nostrals may be shot by now, there's also a deep bready flavor that pokes through at the end of the fruit and flower medley.
on to the taste. those bread flavors really start to come through in that first big sip--it's sweet and soft with a bit of fruit character on the middle of the tongue, though less than the nose. A sweet herbal taste descends into a dry, mineral-like finish. from what i understand this beer began its life long ago as an english or scottish ale, and the firm bready middle really recalls that region. the saaz hops and super pale malt (pilsner malt) bring it over to the belgian side.
i need to review a mediocre beer soon, because i feel like all my reviews are too laudatory. but duvel sits up there with some of the best. the complexity of the taste is not overwhelming, but the balance between sweet and dry is phenomenal. also, the 8.5% abv hides incredibly well in such an "open" beer-- the hops and malt are in almost perfect unity, one leading to the other, and the strength doesn't reveal itself at all in the flavor profile. the best indication that it's there, other than the bottle, is i just tried to write "halt and mops" rather than malt and hops.
as an end note, once the beer warms a bit a peppery alcohol taste steps in front of the warm bready flavors. in my opinion this is definitely a beer to enjoy on the cooler side of the temperature scale.
i opened the short bottle with the new "old" white label and up spurted some head right to the top of the bottle, despite the fact that it had been at rest forever. You know why they built the duvel glass so big.
I pour the beer into a duvel glass. the huge head puffs up tremendously, looking like an unfinished sculpture. The beer itself is a straw yellow with an orangey hint when you look straight through the glass. its not a beautiful color, though it is amazingly clear, and when you see it with the monstrous head it looks like a work of art.
my first swoop through the beer's aroma brought out grassy and kumquat flavors, with a bit of that special funk one associates with belgian yeast. now that the head has fallen to a much smaller level--though still with a contorted shape--i stick my nose deep in the glass and reveal a bundle of fruit flavors--green apple skin, pear, peach, and key lime pie along with floral overtones much like hibiscus. though the detectors in my nostrals may be shot by now, there's also a deep bready flavor that pokes through at the end of the fruit and flower medley.
on to the taste. those bread flavors really start to come through in that first big sip--it's sweet and soft with a bit of fruit character on the middle of the tongue, though less than the nose. A sweet herbal taste descends into a dry, mineral-like finish. from what i understand this beer began its life long ago as an english or scottish ale, and the firm bready middle really recalls that region. the saaz hops and super pale malt (pilsner malt) bring it over to the belgian side.
i need to review a mediocre beer soon, because i feel like all my reviews are too laudatory. but duvel sits up there with some of the best. the complexity of the taste is not overwhelming, but the balance between sweet and dry is phenomenal. also, the 8.5% abv hides incredibly well in such an "open" beer-- the hops and malt are in almost perfect unity, one leading to the other, and the strength doesn't reveal itself at all in the flavor profile. the best indication that it's there, other than the bottle, is i just tried to write "halt and mops" rather than malt and hops.
as an end note, once the beer warms a bit a peppery alcohol taste steps in front of the warm bready flavors. in my opinion this is definitely a beer to enjoy on the cooler side of the temperature scale.