Duvel Barrel Aged - Mexican (Tequila Anejo) (2025)
Duvel Moortgat in Breendonk, Antwerp, Belgium 🇧🇪
Belgian Style - Strong Ale Regular|
Score
7.05
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Perfectly paired with characterful cheeses, exotic fruit, or dark chocolate. Serve this Duvel at 8°C in a small tasting glass to fully appreciate its complex flavors.
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Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
The tenth barrel aged Duvel is upon us - yes, it is already November, time flies - and for an anniversary edition, it is only right that Moortgat came up with a liquor species they had not used before in this series: tequila (the old Champs song springs to mind for some reason), or at least "agave spirit" in general. Ornate luxury bottle from a fancy box as usual, bought at the Delhaize supermarket in Lokeren. Moussey, egg-white, fairly dense and thick, stable, cobweb-lacing head, slowly diminishing and eventually breaking open over an initially clear, warm old golden robe with even darker 'burnt orange' glow, almost amber but not quite, with tiny and disparate bubbles. Aroma of actual green agave leaf and agave syrup, dry biscuit, tequila I suppose but less expressively so than expected, peanuts, light wood, dried apple slices, old crumbled cake, body lotion, industrial caramel, candied persimmon, 'new' plasticine, wood glue, headache-inducing varnish, vanilla, rubber. Sweetish onset, very clean and sleek, spritzy carb but fine-bubbled, with rounded, vinous, full mouthfeel; notes of dried apple, green pear and vague persimmon whirl around but in a non-estery, 'dead' kind of way if you get my drift - and comparable to earlier editions. Smooth middle, full but noticeably thinned by the alcohol, with a simple and slick pale maltiness that has acquired something biscuity and peanutty due to the treatment the beer got. Solventy and boozy finish: some woodiness is surely there, even quite vanilla-like, but drying effects mostly come from a pronounced alcohol presence - as if some cheap liquor was poured into the glass. Within this crude booziness and headache-inducing solventiness, an admittedly interesting flavour lingers, 'green' as in succulent house plants cut through - not necessarily agave which is not really a house plant in our part of the world anyway, but more aloe-like, or mother-in-law's tongue. It reminds me of these aloe-based lotions and shampoos as well - not very appetising as such, I would say, but fascinating. Some grassy hops seem to have survived faraway in the background, but drown in all that crudeness. Expectations were low for this one and my intuition (or experience) proved me right: tequila barrel aged beers can be interesting for sure, rare as they are, but in the hands of a macro brewery like Moortgat and applied crudely and doubtlessly with more than one production shortcut, nothing truly good could ever come out of this. It feels cheap, unrefined, very solvent-forward and rough - even more so than the previous editions, most of which were fairly average at best. Like every year, I must conclude with even more conviction than in previous editions that this bottle certainly is not worth its price tag, even though the price was oddly lower than what I recall from the Duvel B.A. editions of past years. Especially that artificial lotion-like effect and the solvent (varnish) elements gave me a very cheap and industrial impression. I wonder why I keep bothering with this series - but given that this is the tenth one and I had them all, maybe the time has come to give up on it altogether...
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5.5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Duvel Mexican BA batch 10
(Aged on Mexican agave spirit barrels)
Bottle shared at tasting. Clear golden color, average sized white head. Aroma is malts, green plants. Flavor is malts, green plants, tequila notes maybe? Agave spirit? Label says so, could it be that I get that in the flavor? Odd flavor but drinkable. Not great but drinkable. 8-5,5-6-6-6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 8
Fles gedeeld door Roelzie, geprobeerd met Benzai en Keukenman. Het is een amberkleurig bier met een beige schuim. Het heeft een aroma van tequila en agave. De smaak is moutig, zacht zoet, fruitig en tequila achtig.
Appearance - 9 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 9
Bottle purchased from Café de Oude Sluis, Rotterdam. Almost clear, deep golden body under a fine white head. Aroma is complex and unusually, super smooth malt, mild toffee, some kind of undefined fruit or herb (Agave), mild wood and surprisingly mild Tequila taste. The alcohol is recognized but not boozy at all. Fine body and long lasting aftertaste. Can’t believe this silk smooth beer at 12% ABV.