Fruitig Bierreke (2013-)

Artisanal fruit ale, apparently a kind of Flemish red originally, but then (in 2013) changed to the current recipe which is allegedly based on ’home made lambic’, whatever that may mean - did they cultivate lambic yeast from a geuze bottle and threw it in the mash? Anyway, this self-proclaimed ’wild’ beer uses no less than six different fruits and considering previous experiences with this brewery, I carefully open it over the sink. Gushing indeed, quite strongly so, but still more or less manageable if you open it slow and careful enough. Loosely structured, ’dirty pale pinkish’ head, quickly reduced to a thin but stable rim around the edge of the glass and some small patches in the middle; cloudy maroon colour with brownish ochre-tinged edges. Aroma has both pleasant and unpleasant components, the latter most clearly embodied by a slurry pit- and sewer water-like smell (H2S - bacterial infection?), but remaining more or less tolerable as it is superseded by impressions of most clearly blackberries (ripe blackberry juice) and mildly spicy blueberries and blackcurrant, but both are difficult to distinguish from each other; redcurrant remains subtle, raspberries are noticeable in a tomato flesh-like note and sour cherries are a bit hidden underneath all these berries, but still very clearly there, in an indeed cherry lambic-like aspect, albeit less complex; other vague impressions include young red wine, wet hay, damp earth, moldy orange, field flowers, bread dough, rotting apples, stale sweat, old lemon juice, molten rubber (probably DMTS), red beetroot, rosé champagne, urine and a very, very faint whiff of red candy. Evidently very fruity onset, rich in sweetish and sourish berry juice, all mingled to such an extent that it is hard to pull out the six different fruits individually but in any case the blackcurrant is somewhat set apart due to its aromatic spicy character; sour cherries, contrary to what I was expecting, do not dominate over the others but are on an equal level of intensity. Carbonation is fizzy but finely structured, as in cava; mouthfeel is otherwise soft and a tad ’fluffy’. Sourish berry flavors and drying tannins (I assume from the seeds of all these fruits?) dry the palate whilst red fruit sweetness remains, nicely balanced against each other over a very bready malt sweet middle. These different components are continued well into the finish, where they get the accompaniment of a very earthy yeast and dito hop character, the latter providing a dim but nevertheless clearly leafy and even somewhat spicy bitterness, which lasts on the root of the tongue longer than all the fruits combined. A vague red fruit sweetness and very earthy, almost ’dirty’ impression nevertheless linger. After that ’Vurig Bierreke’ of last week (why do they keep coming up with these naively affective and folkish names?), I swore never to touch another Dijkwaert again, but then I found this in my cellar and I must admit that this is better than expected: instead of reinforcing the obsolete cliché of a sweet ’lady’ beer (with all due respect), they took this into another direction and made a rather dry, earthy, eventually even bittering and very ’honest’ fruit ale, of a more characterful type one sees emerging more and more often in Belgium lately - think Broeder Jacob Brut Rosé, Dame Jeanne Rozat, Paenhuys’ Rosse Vos and a couple of others. To me, this is the first Dijkwaert beer so far which more or less rises above the usually very amateuristic level these people seem to get stuck in. Interesting and enjoyable - never expected to say this from a Dijkwaert beer - though not free of flaws, as this disturbing H2S-like odour as well as the DMTS need cleaning up urgently. As for that claim to lambic: please be warned that this is very clearly not a true lambic, I see very little similarities with the real thing, so do not be fooled by this.

Bottle split at ABC Beer The Hague, 24/09/2015. Thanks. A reddy caramel brown coloured pour with a fine off white head. Aroma is funky brett, plastic, tangy peach / apricot fruit notes. Flavour is composed of tany apricot funky, horsey, light lacto tartness. Palate is light tart, pucker, highish carbonation.

33 cl. bottle @ home, bought @ Plus Culemborg. Reddish brown with an off-white head. Aroma of red fruits. Sour taste with some sweetness from the fruit. Bit unbalanced but oddly nice.

Bottle split at the ABC Beers pre Borefts tasting, 24/09/15. Chestnut brown with a beige head. Nose is funk, mellow fruits, light cake mix, dates, trace of spice. Taste comprises tangy dark fruit shreds, sour mash, light brett, wood must. Medium bodied, fine carbonation, semi drying close. Decent.

24th September 2015
Pre Borefts Tasting at ABC Beers, Den Haag. Cloudy amber beer, good pale tan head. Airy palate, mild fine carbonation. Tangy fruits that have light touches of both sourness and bitterness. Trace of wood and some Flemish Red twangy wine. Light finish. Entertaining.

Sampled bottle at ABC Beers Pre-Borefts tasting. Thin off white head. Burgundy pour. Funky aroma. Slightly sour fruity aftertaste.

Süß säuerlicher Antrunk, mild bitter. Dumpfe trockene Herbe, langweilig. Trinkbar. 9/9/9/9//9

Bottle at ABC Beers Pre-Borefts tasting, The Hague. Pours murky brown with a small off white head. Aroma is funky, barnyard, horse blanket and manure coming out with light malt, toffee and a little fruit. Flavour is moderate sweet and light sour. Medium bodied with soft carbonation.

Bottle @ ABC Beers Borefts Pre-tasting. Hazy reddish color, small to average sized off-white head. Smell and taste malts, sourness, horse blanket, sourish fruitpeel. Average body and carbonation.