Archive for the 'Duvel' category
Maredsous 10
Yesterday (July 21) was Belgium’s Independence Day, so in late celebration, a review of a Belgian beer! This beer could also qualify as one of my “Spring Cleaning” beers, since it has been in my fridge since February. I am not really sure why I have not had it yet, other beers have gotten in the way I guess. Anyway, on with the review.
The beer pours a slightly hazy amber-orange, with a constant stream of carbonation throughout the tasting. The off-white head leaves a nice lace stickage, almost forming full rings, down the goblet. Cooked pineapple hits me as an aroma with some interplay of yeast and slight grain. The mouthfeel boarders on medium, with the carbonation lightening the beer in the mouth. The carbonation adds a certain coarseness to the beer towards the back of the mouth however. The taste of the beer is a mix of slight toffee and banana sweetness towards the front and green pepper/vegetable middle. This sounds odd, and quite frankly it is. The finish of the beer is bitter and astringent. This is a 10% ABV beer and there is no masking of that fact.
Overall I am not all that impressed with this beer. Two qualities of the beer that really stuck out through out the tasting were its coarseness and astringent value. These are two values I really do not want to stick out in a beer. I can say that “I have had it”, but I probably would not revisit this beer.
Duvel
Duvel is another one of those beers that is unavoidable and that you probably need to try if you want to consider yourself a true beer-lover. However, my honest opinion is that this beer isn’t worth the hype. It has a very light clear hue – slightly golden. Essentially, the taste indicates a pilsner style ale with a slight sweetness to it. It is apparent that the bottle fermentation adds to the complexity and heightens the flavor of the brew when compared to other beers of similar substance and variety. Probably, this isn’t worth the pricetag, which is why I say that it doesn’t live up to the hype. However, if this were placed alongside other similar brews at a similar price (as it surely is in Belgium), then I would say that this is a very good beer and a tempting choice. This is actually reminiscent of the Warka beer tasted for the fifth annual Boone Beer Fest (see link at right). However, I think this one is a bit less sweet and a bit more ‘biting’ on the palate than the Warka.
