De Dolle Oerbier Special Reserva

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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UPDATED: DEC 28, 2010 9 5 8 4 17 [2006 Vintage] 11.2 oz bottle Enjoyed 2.19.08. Pours dark amber/orange with fine bubbles and a small fine frothy white head. Aroma of wild yeast , brown sugar and ripe fruit. Whoa! That is not what I was expecting. Tart, sour cherries, acidic, sweet and blue-cheese like bitterness. Tons of wood. Really interesting stuff. Crisp, light, fine tingly bubbles, not sticky. Alcohol starts to come out a little bit at times. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [brewed in 07 bottled in 08, 13%] Enjoyed 10.7.08. Pours a murky orange muddy brown with a very smooth silky beige head. Sweet and sour aroma, tart balsamic vinegar, sweet cherries, some blue-cheese, light brown sugar and barrel. Soooo tasty, seems a bit more tart than I remember, sour cherries with an edgy aged-cheese bitter barrel finish. Excellent, glad I decide to open this now freshly bottled, and I appreciate it so much more than when I first started to rate beer. 9 5 10 4 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [07 bottle] Enjoyed 7.10.09. yup this is just about my favorite beer... candied stinky funky cheesy sour tart deliciousness. So close to perfect. This is absolutely as close as beer comes to the very finest of red wines. 10.5.10.5.20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [08 bottle enjoyed 11.17.09] Pours a dark glowing red with an orange tint and a huge tall foamy pillowy head that just sticks around like a fluffy cloud. Aroma is fantastic, I do think I like it a bit fresher because it’s still got a lot of the sweetness hanging around, bright sweet funky varnish, cherry, acidic, oooo so fantastic, very woody this year with less cheese, actually a bit of creamy vanilla like Still Nacht. O... o o o man... that is good.... way more acidic this year around, still quite sweet and relatively young, vanish, woody, cheese, vanilla, alcohol, much more aggressive than previous vintages, uncharacteristically assertive... again... always best at exactly room temp (not cellar) =p... why do I always figure this out when there are only a few sips left . . 10.5.9.5.18 . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [07 bottle rated 1.14.10] absolute perfect, I’ve been drinking some of the most amazing beers this week from the best brewers... and this beer is basically perfection, perhaps the best of all the bottles I’ve opened. With each bottle I open it makes go out and purchase 6 more to replace it. Wow, simply wow, this is the fullest of the bottles I’ve opened, sour and round, an oud bruin, gorgeous absolutely gorgeous looking, simply perfect, I can’t spend the time here describing it because I need to drink it. Please serve this at cellar temp and no colder.... 10.5.10.5.20... perfection . . . . . . . . . . . .[07 bottle, drinking it while it seems to be peaking, 3.31.10] The aroma is absolutely perfect, super sour cherries. It’s really amazing the amount this is starting to taste like cherries, perfect oak barrel flavor, very sour, just a touch of the medicinal cherry but mostly tart cherry. Amazing. . . . . . . . [had another 07 bottle that was just nasty metallic iron bloody brett, didn’t age at all like the other bottles.]. . . . . . . . . [07 bottle rated 10.14.10] Aroma is quite the same, maybe a little more oxidation showing on the malts, rounding them out a tad with a touch of red apple, seemingly a little more acetic and acidic, still that lovely blue cheese like woodiness mixed with the tart cherries. Yea, I think it might be confirmed, maybe these 07’s have peaked earlier this year, the malt oxidation is showing too much now, also just a bit of iron taste coming through. Carbonation and body are still perfect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[2009 bottle, bottled feb 2010 opened 12.28.10] Pours different than I remember...? clear ruby red with a tall white sudsy sticky airy foamy head... big soda bubbles... slightly confused on this vintage. Aroma smells right though, fantastic wood, cheese, sour, Bordeaux, candied sweetness, fantastic mix of acetic and brett, o so near perfect. Flavor is certainly young, reminds me a bit of when I tried these too fresh, although, who knows if this will end up living up to the 07 and 08 bottles which became super sour, bit tannic at this point, sour cherries but not super sour, certainly on the sweet side for a reserva, love the cheesy cherry barrel taste, just a little rough right now but the right elements are there... let’s see where it goes from here 9.4.9.4.17. O... I forgot what was also so special about this beer... it’s 13% hahaha no other sour even comes close... but it wouldn’t matter if it were 5%, this is still an amazing beer.

I’ve never tasted a better marriage of spices, sweetness, complexity and maltyness in a beer. Many vinous notes throughout the entire beer, from nose to swallow. The alcohol presents itself as a beautiful flavour enhancer instead of a burning or warming character; it draws on the sourness. The beer drinks like a sour. Super crisp and super tart with the alcohol hidden underneath, pressing the flavours onto your tongue. Apples, sour cherries, corriander, nutmeg and more apples. Pours a wonderful ruby-gold that is muddy like thick apple cider, and it has tiny starlets of sediment floating throughout. I can’t think of anything I’ve had that came close to this flavour monster, and all the flavours are done to perfection. My new favorite (of course, since it costs $6 a bottle).

2007 vintage. Thanks to 17thfoor for being kind enough to share! Pours a gorgeous reddish brown, glowing under a forever light tan pillow of a head. Aroma is so enticing! Nice woody vinous character that tingles the nostrils, with a beautiful bouquet of dark fruits and sour cherries, all balanced by a sweet overripe plum and delicate malt note. Flavor is no less amazing, starting with a woody sour cherry character, welcoming you rather than pushing you to the mouth puckering edge. The sweet woody barrel flavor is just as present as the light acidity. It’s like taking a bowl of sweet overripe cherries and mixing them with tart sour cherries, throwing them in a barrel, and letting all of those flavors meld together into a beautiful soiree of elegance. Finishes with just the acidity and dryness so as it allow for another immediate sip, but I dare not, as this is such a good beer I refuse to drink it to quickly. Nice medium full body with a soft but very crisp carbonation. 17thfloor says this is the best bottle of this beer he’s ever had, my first, I am worried to have another because this was truly an experience.

UPDATED: MAR 24, 2012 Wow! Zeer mooi uitgebalanceerd bier. Een zurige afdronk die je niet vindt bij een gewoon oerbier. Dit bier is een klassepaardje van de Dolle brouwers!

What about ... De Dolle beers are all fantastic! If you see a bow tie on the neck of the bottle buy it!!!

Birra miracolosa, vero e proprio elisir. Praticamente perfetta. 5 è anche poco.

This is one of the best things I have ever put in my mouth. It’s been awhile but I had quite a few 2006 vintages. Around 13% alcohol and very hard to detect even the slightest warmth. Beautiful sour notes and complex flavors make this big beer hard to sip.

UPDATED: AUG 22, 2008 Pours a dark reddish brown with very light head (note - I didn’t pour it very well). Can’t smell much, still getting over sickness, but really wanted to drink this, so I am. Taste is sour cherries, oak/wood, berries, hint of citrus. This was waaaaaaaaaaaay different than I was expecting. I don’t know why, but I expected something more like Brasserie des Rocs Grand Cru. I thought this tasted more like a beefed up, 13% version of Supplication.....and I love me some Supplication. Would never have guessed that this beer was 10+% ABV, hides the alcohol incredibly well. If I was rich, I’d drink this on the regular. Paid $7/bottle. This is my first De Dolle beer and I am highly impressed.

UPDATED: NOV 9, 2006 No#86.(2004) Now this is the last beer from the trip i am sure of it. I could nose a beer like this till there was no beer left. Intence fruity, balanced sourness, malty, the oerbier, but better. Taste is similar with a great sourness, is it all about the sourness these days i wonder? I hope i can get this over the net or else ill have to go back to the kulminator for more. RERATING: 2005 BOTTLE. GarethYoung’s 21st diner at his parents house. Outstading one of the best beers iv ever had, aroma is about 14 out of 10, taste is more than 10, the best belgiun non lambic ale iv had from Belgium this year i think.

Bottled. Foamy, light brown head, clear, coppery-brown pour with ruby highlights. Aroma is sour, musty, alcohol, plum, cherry, wine, oak, tobacco. Medium palate, lively carbonation, Long lasting flavor, moderate sweetness of a vinous character balanced by a biting sourness. Incredibly complex, wonderful, sadly expensive stuff!