Last night we opened the unlabeled bottle from De Dolle Brouwery. The contents were quite interesting, here is the breakdown...
The pour
First of all, I think it was a bottle fermented beer. It didn't have a spectacular amount of bubbles, which lends more credence to this theory - often bottle fermentation produces just a moderate amount of carbonation. It was clearly cellared for sometime, judging by the dusty bottle and great deal of sediment on the side of the bottle (see photo below).
It was probably aged at one point in an old wine cask as it had lots of wood and wine flavor. The aged flavor and bottle ferment makes me think it was a Flanders Red Ale. This can be made by blending an older beer (barrel aged) with a younger one then bottling it. The sugars from the younger beer enable the bottle fermentation. Since OerBier itself is a sour red, this was probably the beer used in the mixture. Or maybe it was just a big old bottle of plain OerBier ;)
Anyway, I'm trying not get all Beer Connoisseur on it but I just can't help myself. It was somewhat sour with lots of grape/plum flavors (a hint of watermelon?) and a strong sweet aroma. If I had to guess alcohol content I would say 8% or so. It was very complex and delicious but not quite as organized and polished as the 2004 Special Reserva we tried at the brewery.
Yummy stuff, thanks Kris!
.jpg)
You can see the sediments on the insdie of the bottle.
The pourFirst of all, I think it was a bottle fermented beer. It didn't have a spectacular amount of bubbles, which lends more credence to this theory - often bottle fermentation produces just a moderate amount of carbonation. It was clearly cellared for sometime, judging by the dusty bottle and great deal of sediment on the side of the bottle (see photo below).
It was probably aged at one point in an old wine cask as it had lots of wood and wine flavor. The aged flavor and bottle ferment makes me think it was a Flanders Red Ale. This can be made by blending an older beer (barrel aged) with a younger one then bottling it. The sugars from the younger beer enable the bottle fermentation. Since OerBier itself is a sour red, this was probably the beer used in the mixture. Or maybe it was just a big old bottle of plain OerBier ;)
Anyway, I'm trying not get all Beer Connoisseur on it but I just can't help myself. It was somewhat sour with lots of grape/plum flavors (a hint of watermelon?) and a strong sweet aroma. If I had to guess alcohol content I would say 8% or so. It was very complex and delicious but not quite as organized and polished as the 2004 Special Reserva we tried at the brewery.
Yummy stuff, thanks Kris!
.jpg)
You can see the sediments on the insdie of the bottle.
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