De Dolle Stille Nacht Reserva 2000

Formerly brewed at De Dolle Brouwers
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Diksmuide, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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10th September 2011
Cloudy orange - brown beer. Decent sized white head. Nose reminds me very much of a Vintage Port cork that has just been pulled. Palate is soft and semi dry and quite well carbonated. Mild caramel malt backbone, tasting slightly aged. Riding over all this are rich wine notes. Red wine with strawberry and then later on blackberry and blackcurrant. Agitating the beer produces some lactose on the nose. Aniseed becomes more obvious. There is a surprising amount of carbonation here and much agitation is required to remove it! The finish is dry and woody. This is the most Port like beer I’ve ever had. Even the Port barrel beers have not been this porty. If you look at recent ratings people are saying this is past it’s best. Who knows but judging it on it’s own merit it’s still quite remarkable it it’s uniqueness and rich flavour. The alcohol is still quite robust. The most surprising thing about this is that De Dolle have never redone this. 2013 postscript - they must have read my mind!

Bottle thanks to a good friend and shared with him
Some specific details about this beer that will affect my rating points on this
This beer was held in a colling room at constant temperature for the past 12 years, i’m mearly stating this because i was sceptic about keeping beer chilled all those years and i thought it would kill some of the flavours.
This beer has proved me wrong, as most raters tend to say the beer had gone sour i can’t do anything but saying this beer wasn’t sour at all and has held up superbly !!!

Head: bottle fizzed ( not gushing just making a sound ) and carbonation was still pretty damn good, white but very thin had that gets out of the way after a couple of minutes
Colour: totally clear , golden/amberish
Smell: sweet malts, touch of honey, ever so slight booze that blends perfectly with the other scents, touch of dairy
Taste: texture is thick and sweet just like a fine high quality Sauternes !!, superb flavours that are impossible to describe, i don’t know what the beer tsted like fresh, but it’s probabbly pretty close but mellowed to what it actually was, i have never ever had a aged beer that was so balanced, smooth, lively and perfect after 12 ( and even less ) years of aging !.
I never give beers a 5-star rating because i think the perfect beer doesn’t exist, but i’ve been proven wrong , this beer is perfect in my eyes, and if i would be able to trade my cellar for this beer i would do it without a doubt !!!

Loud hooray for De Dolle, the best brewery of Belgium !!

750mL Bottle, poured at the B. United table of Beervana - Cranston, RI. Thanks to Matthias for opening this gem. I can’t believe I actually got to try this beer. I had to wait in line for a long time, but it happened. I think the age makes this a bit anticlimatic, as the nose opens with a fair dose of oxidation, despite persistent carbonation and a solid cork. Interestingly, the wet apple note that comes with the oxidation seems to bolster the Calvados-like nature of this beer. The warm, spiced fruit and cooked apple characters of this beer persist and the heat continues to show. Sparklingly dry. A treat for sure, but past its prime.

Thanks a lot to madmitch for the chance to try this rare beer. Looks good in the glass, not as dark as exspected, small head. Malty-old aroma. Starts very strong, intense malty, hints of caramel and wood. More and more fiery-alcoholic without being too much. Well balanced. Fruity hints of beeries, a bit sourish. Warming aftertaste, goes down burning. Probably already a bit over its top, but still an awesome beer!

opened this to celebrate my new job. Look: light brown color with a small head nose: honey,malts sweet dark fruits, caramel and red fruit taste: honey, malts, sweet dark fruits, caramel, red fruits, wooden tones, grapes and a nice light bitter finish feel: full body soft cabonation overall: last time i had this was 4 yeears ago. How much better this one got! No signs of oxidation at all,pity how a whole group of danish with probably a badly stored bottle imply this one is over the top. Amazingly complex.

Golden with a small white head. A bit dusty aroma with caramel and vineous fruit. Sweet caramel flavour with dusty cellar, dried fruit and sherry. Not in the best shape, hopefully I’ll get another chance some day.

Bottle from yespr at Københavnske Øldage 2011. Thanks!! Smells of light raisins. Pours a light brown with no head. Very sweet and bitter with light acidic hints. Malty aromas of caramel, hay and molasses with hints of nuts. Also aromas of raisins, dates and port with hints of prunes, apples and cask wood. Full bodied. Soft carbonation. Longish, dry finish. All in all a very full flavoured beer.

Thank you, yespr. Oxized aroma, some port, vanilla and honey. Cloudy amber colour. Off-white head. Very sweet flavour, slightly oxidized. Nice honey aftertaste. OK alcohol level to balance, burns nicely. Quite good for its age.

Bottled@Yespr’s blindtasting. Amber colour, not much head. Aroma is cardboard, mild fruits, some very cardboardy notes as well. Flavour is cardboard, fruits, mild spices, some wooden notes as well as sourness and mild oxidised notes. Too bad with the cardboardy notes...

Bottle 750ml. @ yespr blindtasting. [ Bottle #11. ]

Unclear medium grey amber orange colour with a small, frothy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, toasted, caramel, overriped friut, oxidide, dried fruit, wood notes. Flavour is heaavy sweet and light to moderate bitter with a long duration, plum - overriped fruit, oxdide malt, alcohol, medera, dried fruit. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft, finish feel is light to moderate alcoholic. Thanks for sharing this very rare beer yesper .. ;O)) [20110526]