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De Dolle Speciaal Brouwsel 20

 (RETIRED)

De Dolle Speciaal Brouwsel 20

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 Percentile 
100
overall
A Sour Ale formerly brewed by
De Dolle Brouwers

Diksmuide, Belgium

bottled
available

on tap
unknown

distribution
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1424.21/5.04.2/5.08%98.4 Snifter P  Stats

Commercial Description:
The 20th anniversary ale of the renowned De Dolle Brouwery.

Most RecentTop RatersHighest Ratings Who's Rated This?
 Ughsmash (2835), Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA
4.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/105/59/104/517/20

Oct 16, 2007  
Powerful thanks to Jason for bringing this over, 10/2000 bottling!! First rating for my 2nd 2000! The first few pours were relatively clear deep carmel/copper with a towering cap of off-white head and lovely sticky lacing. The aroma was deep and gueuzey with sour Balsamic vinegar, tart cherry skins, soft dusty sweet cherries, and old dusty yeast.. just delightful!! The flavor had sweet and tart cherry concentrate at the core with some tart cherries and dry musty yeast toward the edges.. this was more on the softer and not sour end of the spectrum, but I really enjoyed it!! Just about medium-bodied, moderately sour, and much sweeter than anticipated on the palate, with a whole bunch of carbonation.. somewhat warm, sweet, and tart finish with dusty sweet cherries lasting a while. This was mighty fine stuff!

 xnoxhatex (778), Chicago, Illinois, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/103/58/103/517/20
Jul 21, 2008  
Big thanks to Pantanap for popping this bottle for us. Real dirty orange, lots of floaters with creamy white head. Stinky, earthy sour aroma with lots of red fruit. Dirty, a little alc, only a little sour, cherry, grapefruit, resiny, very yeasty, a little old and sweet. Medium body with small carb. Overall a great aroma but flavor did not follow through. Kind of wierd looking as well.


 tytoanderso (1152), St. Louis Park, Minnesota, USA
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/58/104/517/20
Jul 8, 2008  
750ml bottle. Still lively. Gentle opening proudced a loud pop and a bit of gushing as well. Luckily we only lost less than an ounce. Very musty and woody on the nose. Plenty of cork as well. A hint of metallic oxidization. Musty basement. Wet wood. Slightly outdoorsy. Sweeter candy confectionaries: toasted caramel and butterscotch? Definitley showing it’s age, though. Pours a muddy dark butterscotch with a decent, lasting off white head. Flavor is very musty. Cobwebby. Quite dry. A decent dose of structured wood tannin. Some mild rubbery and band aidy phenols. A pretty big copper metalicness starts to develop as the beer opens. Tangy acidity but far from overbearing. Apple skin. Yeast pour tones down the metallic acidity and amps up the chewy and slightly doughy malt aspect. Tempered acid. Brown sugar laced orange peel. Floral aspects begin to emerge as well: lavender and chamomile? Odd for sure. Lively carbonation and fairly thick mouth feel for this style of beer, especially towards the bottom of the bottle. Finishes fairly acidic with a touch of oxidization. Nice... showing it’s age but still quite pleasant. Thanks a TON for this one Zac!


 hellomynameis (740), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/104/58/103/518/20
Jul 7, 2008  
Blew the cork off, guzzled out of the bottle a kind of dark orangey brown with a huge fizzy off white head. I get a lot of cork in the aroma, and a little bit of sourness. This has held up pretty well but it’s obvious a year or two ago this was a much mightier beer. The body is still very well carbonated. A bit funky with good sour notes right in the middle. The finish is tainted with some bandaid and age. I’m having a hard time deriving a lot from this. Despite that, It is still an enjoyable beer. Getting farther along in the bottle, with more yeast mixed in the flavours pick up a bit. Dough and fruit become a bit more apparent, like a soft bit of cherry or maybe even a date.


 Stine (1279), St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/58/104/517/20
Jul 6, 2008  
Thanks to Zac for the impossible gem. Poured from a 750 ml bottle. Rusty orange-red hue with a thin-spotted head grey-beige. Cinnamon on green apples and pears in the nose, under a limp wet raft of wood. Swift funk and outhouse stink. Butterscotch, mildew, pithy citrus seeds. Dusky and dank. Undeniably old, while with one foot in the grave it’s still spitting out some mean funkiness and unreadable phenolic sweetness. If it fails the senses to a certain degree, it’s without doubt intellectually satisfying.

Zesty, sandy oxidized malt and quiet cinnamon-citrus tartness in the flavor. Very dry and very wooden. A corked red wine mineral texture is somewhat pervasive, but it’s yeast-driven, earthy, and calm. Prickling of citrus and tropical fruits lingers under that mineral texture soothingly. Sourdough and hawaiian bread thicken up the body with the muddiness of the yeast, and the characters of tart fruits gather tannins and acidity. The yeast really seems to open up the flavor as it slowly introduces itself toward the bottom of the bottle.

Medium body is gorgeously brisk and dead-grass dry with some white wine tannins. Lengthy finish with lots of cheesy, dirty mineral earth and floral dryness, like a Sauvignon Blanc. Stellar in its own way; overaged, certainly, but its character is memorable, and still has a wild, but gentle edginess about it; a knife dull to the touch but still ready for action. Drink it now.


 holdenn (1103), Chicago, Illinois, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/103/58/104/516/20
Jul 1, 2008  
750 ml bottle consumed on 5/25/08 thanks to pantanap for sharing this. Wow, I truly never thought I’d try this one. But once again these Chicago guys make the impossible beers appear in my glass. Kan rocks
Pours an orange amber with a creamy beige head. What an abundant funked nose. Barnyard funk, cheese, horse blanket, wheat, and floral notes. Sweet and funky velvety nose with coriander and anise spice in the finish. The carbonation is a bit fizzy. Velvety light sour flavors that start off sugary sweet with oak tannins, oxidized malts, and tart fruit. Sour grapefruit resin in the finish with the oak tannins. This could be more sour/funky and less sweet but at its present state is is a bit off and most likely past its prime.




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