De Dolle Arabier

Brewed by De Dolle Brouwers
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Diksmuide, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

(bottle thanks OSLO) Pours out a very hazy gold with a towering white head, decent amount of carbonation here. Aroma of orange zest, honey, sweet roll, some light floral smells, along with a hint of alcohol. Taste is very similar to other De Dolle beers (especially Boskeun) with strong flavors of honey and candy, followed up with some bready yeast and lemon that yields to a lightly bitter finish. Medium mouthfeel. Another good one from De Dolle.

A wild foamer. Muddy blonde due to the delicious de dolle yeast being unabashedly poured; lots of cream. Aroma is zesty and fruity; black pepper, thyme, floral honey, and pineapple. Further down, apple cider vinegar, sun dried tomato, brown sugar, floor polish and musk predominate. Flavor is very sweet but never cloying, rather offering a lovely, bright citrus dry hop taste glazed weirdly and amicably with powdered and candy sugars. A pleasantly different and well executed concept; something straddling de Ranke and Duvel. Mid palate is full of fresh green spice and florals; mouthfeel is soft as feather, with moderate carbonation and slightly syrupy finishing texture. Doughy warmth after swallowing in that soothing, fireside de dolle kind of way. Very pleasant and comfortably abnormal; commanding, but refreshing.

(3/1/08) Draught sample at Zythos Bier Festival 2008 in Sint Niklaas. Hazy golden with a stable white head. Hoppy fruity aroma with citrus. Dry hoppy flavor. Medium-bodied.

Bottle at Paters Vaetje in Antwerp, Belgium. Comes of great and nice in a proper tulip glass. Hazy orange and a big foamy head.Aroam is exploading from yeast, candy, sweetnes and flowers.cFlavor is strong and peppry. Also yeast and some white bread. Has a big mouthfeel.

(Bottle bbe 05/2007) Murky orange with beautiful mousse like, rocky head. Nose is honey, pineapple and flowers. A bit peppery. The huge, lasting head holds back a lot of the aromas.. Flavor quite sweet with honey, intense pineapple & perfumey hops and peppery spiciness. Finishes dry with bitter hops and some alcohol. Medium bodied, quite low and smooth carbonation. Amazing head and nice flowery bouquet. I’d love to sample a fresh one.

Pours a somewhat orange color with a thick solid white head. Fruity in the nose. Intense bubbly carbonation that stings your tongue a bit. Taste is sweet and citrusy but with a very distinct bitter presence.

This beer was pleasant and certainly unique, but had a rather strong grainy-cereal note to it that I didn’t especially care for. On the other hand, it did have a peach-apricot fruitiness that I liked quite a bit. Sort of a mixed bag for me. This beer was a cloudy tan color with a medium amount of off-white head. There was some sediment at the end of the bottle, but its appearance and quantity were nothing to get worked up about. Aroma was a malty, yeasty (thought I got some Brett-funk), and a bit fruity. Flavor was predominantly malt with kind of a lot of cerealness and a finish that was either peach or apricot. Mouthfeel was pretty viscous for what was a fairly light-drinking beer. Not bad, and quite a bit different than other Belgian beers I’ve had in recent memory, but not really lip-smacking delicious either. Still, I’d recommend based on the uniqueness alone. I had a bottle of this at the Palm Tavern in Milwaukee.

Aarhus Bottled Nice colour and head Balanced bitterness and nice spicy notes