2005 Vintage Deep dark brown, hazy with huge yellow-brownish head. 4/5 Grapes, Pineau des Charentes, vinous, old wood, woodstainer, preserved dark fruit & oranges. 9/10 Dry woodstainer, vinous, grapes & raisins, special kind of brandy with complex flavours: more dark fruit, slight fruity acidity. 9/10 Full bodied, burning & alcoholic, syrupy in an "ethanolly" way. 5/5 A superb brew, even better than the 2002. 18/20 2002 Vintage Very dark brown-amber with a red shine, slight haze; thick creamy head. Nose of fresh, ripe brambles, or the same on sherry; thick bramble- or raspberryjam, homemade and covered with white brandy. Intensely fruity. Sour-sweetish taste in the best traditional West-Flemish style. Phenolic, very estery. Fruity, but more like plums or raisins - with a dash of lactic acid. Tart, non-viscous fruit yoghurt? Immensely thick & warming sensation. Very highly saturated (for a barreled beer), alcohol obvious. Just superb - a return to the past, both for DDB as for West-Flemish ales. Kris H. tells me this has been end-fermented with Brettanomyces. I can well believe him, relying on the taste. New points for 2006 Vintage THE BRETTS ARE BACK!! The nose tells it: last year Brettanomyces was there - but one knew once one was told. Now there’s no mistaking any longer. It smells like a super Russian River beer. The taste is just WOOOWW!! The Bretts are back in force, with a musty, mushroom, old wine or port with a gueuze tang; dusty, but juice-bursting deep dark grapes. This vintage is the best so far! 2006 vintage, special bottling Châteauneuf-du-Pape barrels Hazy-brown with orange highlights. Overwhelming nose with wood, vanilla, brandy, dried fruits (as figs, mango, apricots), vinous and cake. Woody, wine, red berries, pineapple with a sweet-sour perfect balance. Viscuous, near chewy, fiery alcoholic and - great. Wow. An exotic version of Reserva 9/4/9/5/18

(!Vertical tasting between A(marks as above): bottling date 6/2003; B [marks in text]: bottling date 7/1994) Colour: A absurdly huge white, dense head, going down lacey, straw-yellow coloured beer, slight (cold?)haze; B fully clear, yellow to pale amber beer, big bubbles going to good white head [4] Nose: A honey-ish, immediately followed by beautiful fresh hops from the sack; B alcoholic, nutty and mushroom/mouldy nose [7] Taste: A surprising chalk flavour – normally a typical nose-only feature. Then hoparoma but much more restrained than in the nose. Finish is citruslike, like lemon without the acidity. End bitterness is, again, chalk-like if that makes any sense; B oxidized, but resulting in a perfect balance of sweetness (cookie/biscuit-like), acidity (lactic and fruity) and a reference to hoppy bitterness. Very fruity flavours: apricot, papaya, citrus and loads of honey [9] “Palate”: full-bodied, heavy without being syrupy. Fresh hops again in the aftertaste; B the oxidation notwithstanding, thanks to the acidity, this is much more refreshing – paradoxically for an aged fresh-hops beer [4] Overall: These results are very strange. The acidity is cruelly lacking in the young beer, which has a much more satisfying hopsaroma. The “Arafat” (Arabier on draught for those illiterate in Dutch and Palestinian) is probably better both in taste and palate. Arabier used to be the only DDB beer I preferred young. I’m afraid Arabier has also suffered under the yeast-embargo B:[17]

Best before: Dec 2003. Caramelized sugar, candy, citric acidity, some decomposing leaves, quite complex, cant seem to find the right words for all the aromas. Dark amber, quite bubbly, head is a nice creamy layer. Strong, almost sticky caramel flavors which easily reach the back of the throat. Fruit on top of that. Dry mouthfeel, full and warming body.

Best before 2005. Raisins and peaches in the aroma. Brown, flakes of yeast big fluffy head. Raisins, sweet brown sugar and a slight citric aftertaste. Very warming - the perfect winter beer. This bottle was a little bit too sweet - aging will probably do a lot to this beer.