De Dolle Arabier

Bottle purchased and sampled summer ’06.

The beer rushes into my glass in an explosion of thick white foam that dwarfs the golden liquid beneath. The aroma is somewhat sour with aspects of a dry, fruity white wine, hints of mushroom and pear and pineapple sorbet. The flavor is intensely spicy, pepper and coriander and peppermint atop soft apple fruitiness that turns a corner early on into a bitter hop finish steeped in rich wood. Along the way, we get the citrus bitterness of grapefruit pith, glorious yeast flavors unfolding like a medicinal herb garden on a dusty summer afternoon, and as bitter the hop finish fades, an apricot nectar sweetness settles over the tongue leaving its final impression.

This spicy, hoppy golden Belgian style was not the easiest for me to appreciate, but this beer is wonderful and it gets better with every sip. I completely understand how this one gets 4.5+ ratings from many of the most developed palates on the site.The mouthfeel is vibrant and lively on the tongue without being prickly, neither too thin nor too sticky, just right on the mark. Wow. I’d like to try this one with a few years of age on it.

Insanely large white head covers a slighly hazy golden body. (I poured into a glass that holds a pint and had one finger of beer, the rest of foamy head... after a while I got a bit more in.) Aromas are fruity and floral. Coriander and cloves cover the spicy aspect of things. Yeast and bread are lurking in the background. If you fight your way through all of the foam, in addition to the frothy-looking mustache you now support on your upper lip there is a notably alcoholic warmth and a sweet/sour balance that covers the fruit and malt and spice. Nicely balanced, although there is a bit more alcoholic burn than I expected from 7%. There is also an earthy/wood (oak?)flavoring that helps the beer finish.

Hazy colour with a very fluffy head. Fruitly aroma and with sour and bitter flavour in the end.

Hazy/cloudy orange/brown beer, thick creamy white head. Spritzy carbontion. Oaky aroma, a bit of acetic tartness and very rich maltiness. Plums, cherries, slightly vineous aroma. Quite bready with notes of vanilla and balsamic vinegar. Great aroma. Creamy rich body. Flavour is good, but not quite as complex as the aroma suggested. Still has some lovely plumminess, light pepper, flavour of sweet malts, cherries, spicy slightly chewy yeast. Some lighter peach/apricot notes as well. Rich sweetness, oak and vanilla. Some rum and bready malts with restrained funk as well. Awesome.

Not a bad one here, a bit slack on the tongue almost sour. Nice golden color, full malt nose.

pours a translucent, semi-dark golden with an offwhite, frothy head. smells of gentle fruit (apricots, quince) and earth. great taste of semi-sweet fruit, bready yeast. sweet but not at all overpowering. excellent.

8/1/06: Bottle.
Golden orange body with a powdered snow head which is explosive and rocky. Lace clings. Aroma is of barnyard and musty with yeast. Flavor is full of wheat with sour notes and spicy (allspice, nutmeg, clove). Finish is nicely crisp.

Bottle from The Market Basket in Rockport, Maine. Bottle Fough thoamed up, and poars a big pillowy head, smells fresh even hough I bet that that this beer has been in the bottle for a long time. Tastes a little bitter and not as good as other De Dolle that I’ve had. Worth a try, I’d like to try it again. Feels fantastic on the palate and the frangrance is more striking then the flavor