kerstbierfestival essen

One of those beers commemorating the first World War, this time by De Vlier in the Leuven region; 75 cl bottle with crown cap, from De Hopduvel in Ghent, shared with Goedele. Thick and mousy, papery lacing, pale yellow-beige, slowly dissipating head; initially clear, very dark caramel brown robe with ruby red glow, misty and a bit more 'dirty' brown with sediment. Aroma of old walnut shells, hard caramel, forest floor, tea bags, toasted bread, coffee grounds even, nutmeg, blackberries, treacle, dried figs, damp earth, 'sirop de Liège', dried thyme. Sweetish onset with hints of apricot and plum, but also with a rather pronounced blackberry- and elderberry-like tart aspect, as well as a very slight 'dirtiness' so likely mildly infected; medium carb, full and slick, notably resinous body. Dry old hazelnut- and hard caramel-like maltiness with bitter toasty tail, but some stewed dark fruit sweetness lingers at the back to, along with (especially in the end) quite some earthiness, phenolic spicy impressions and warming, ruby port-coloured alcohol. Seems a tad infected as said, but otherwise a streamlined, smooth 'massieve ale', with the toasted bitter aspect reminiscent of Scotch ale, which is probably what this was implicitly intended like (the echo of this old and once popular style still clearly resounds in the dark ales of present-day Belgium).

Strong blonde beer fermented with lager yeast, so strictly speaking a strong pale lager, hopped with wild hops grown in the garden of the brewer's neighbour, a man called André, hence the name Dréke (an affectionate diminutive form of André); only 400 bottles made, actually a second batch, but the first one was never released due to infection caused by the hops - a problem solved in the second batch by macerating the hops in wodka first (!). From De Hopduvel, now over three years old (bottled in mid-February 2017). Thick and pillowy, eggshell-white, stable head on an initially lightly hazed, pure 'metallic' golden blonde beer, turning into a misty, somewhat deeper apricot-hued blonde with sediment. Aroma of herb cheese and old abbey cheese rind (the hops having become cheesy due to age), freshly cut celery, lemon thyme, dried dill, margarine, soap, white bread pulp, meadow flowers such as buttercup and white nettle, green plant stalks, dried lemon zest, Conference pear, iron, straw, apple peel, minerals. Spritzy onset, lively carbonated, very 'crystalline'; very light fruity aspects of green pear and apple, supple body, a tad metallic at the edges. Pale malt cerealliness paired with a light-footed soapy wheatiness and a clearly noticeable oat creaminess, leading to a medium long finish with a 'green', very grassy effect as well as a lot of floral hoppiness (camomile, white nettle, blossoming lemonbalm, Dutch clover); the bitterness is relatively gentle (as is usually the case with wild-hopped beers) but nevertheless stretches out over the root of the tongue in a pleasant, elegantly quenching way. Granted, the hops have gone cheesy by now so I guess I should have bought this in 2017 and not now, but they have also retained subtle yet elegant, grassy and floral qualities with a very 'rustic', meadow-like effect, something I can hugely appreciate. Creamy, albeit a tad metallic, but easily drinkable and different - for a Belgian-made strong pale lager, this is considerably better than I was expecting.

750ml bottle. Clear, orangey golden colour with average, frothy, osteoporosing, minimally lacing, snow white head. Sweet-ish malty, ephemeral, slightly phenolic and minimally hoppy aroma, hints of green and yellow apple, gooseberry, some grassy hop, later additional hints of sweet bread and orange zest. Taste is sweet malty, slightly husky, bitter, phenolic, fruity, hints of honey, yellow apple, some orange zest, grassy hoppy overtones, some alcohol; watery texture. So-so.