De Proefbrouwerij Signature Ale

Brewed by De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Lochristi - Hijfte, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

Source: 300mL bottle from Chucks in Bowling Green.
Glass:Oerbier tulip.
Appearance:Hazed orange pour with a two finger white head that hung on for a while. Nice lacing.
Aroma: Lots of fruity esters, pears, apples and tangerines. Some background spices are present too, mainly cinnamon and clove.
Flavor:Sweet malts with alcohol and a surprising hop presence. Some of the same esters and spices in the aroma, but in background amounts. Quite nice actually.
Palate:Medium body with soft/medium carbonation.
Overall:Excellent collaboration between these two. I don’t have a lot of De Proef experience, but I want more after trying this beer. A little bit high priced, but still an excellent brew.

Getting my notebook online. Bottle. Pours hazy gold. Very orange on the nose. Flavors of orange, coriander, and a bit of spice. Pretty good beer.

750ml bottle, courtesy of travisd13. Pours a hazy deep yellow color with a nice active white head. The head hangs out a bit and leaves a bit of lace. Smells yeasty and bready up front and as you sniff you get some of the fruits. A little banana and some sweet potatoe or something. Great tasting Belgian. Sweet and malty in the front and a bit of hop spice on the finish. Awesome. Coats the mouth a bit. Very active and nice carbonation. This is one of the best Belgian brews I have had in a long time. It won’t overwhelm you with sweetness or anything.

Hazy honey orange with a very finely bubbled tan head. Aroma is sweet and perfumey, like honeysuckle. Rather pithy citrus bitterness with intense carbonation, and a dry, spicy sour edge, and a trailing sweetness. Smooth hop extract bitterness lingers thereafter. $15/750ml

Honey-straw hue with vigorous carbonation and a bubbly white head. First thoughts are of Orval with all of the brett and hops, but the hops are much more grassy- and citric-American in this beer. Bananas, pepper, pineapple, tarragon aromas. Very bright and dry with prickly carbonation. Citric and bready to start, finishes with lots of pepper and pine. Lingering doughy taste. Light in body with a slick texture and fierce carbonation. Should improve as the brett picks up, but already very good.

pour is dark orange-gold with a thick tight head. aroma is fruity. apricot, earthy maltiness. light spice. flavour is earthy, fruity , peppery spice, nice bready and caramel maltiness. herbal hop tones.

First Official Houston Tasting. Pours a glinty golden color with a small head. Spicy nose of autumn with floral and hibiscus notes. Pine comes in there as well, peaches too. Flavor is lightly hopped up front with peaches and apricots in the middle. Nice hop finish. Creamy mouthfeel that dances on the palette.

UPDATED: MAY 31, 2009 2007 bottle sampled Feb ’08

Pours a deep golden orange with a modest head. Spicy-hop aroma, floral, pepper, bready tripel notes, and then this american IPA citric undernote - relatively subtle - that is quite nice. The beer really comes into its own as it nears and reaches room temperature. Dusty floral flavors, very soft brett, pear, pepper, mild tropical fruit (papaya, pineapple), small measures of candied orange rind, bready malts. Not exactly dry, just dusty, some sweetness throughout but with citrus-peel oils on the tail. Nice mouthefeel, small bubbles emerging to form a gentle but full body.

I like the beer a lot. It’s interesting but not self-absorbed or ostentatious, it’s quite drinkable (could be 6.5% instead of 8.5% for all I can tell), and it’s just very nicely crafted. I hope I have another bottle or two in the cellar because I’ll be interested to try it with a bit more age.

2007 bottle May ’09 Not sure the age has been entirely kind to this one. The citric hops have faded to an aged-barleywine style, which is nice but a bit out of place in this particular beer. At the same time, the banana esters have come forward, again a bit misplaced. I think I liked this one better fresh, but it’s still in the 3.8 range.