We have had some cracking brews from this Dutch brewery so we were intrigued when we saw this new edition, stating that it is Bordeaux barrel aged for a whole year! Wow. We then noticed that it has an alc vol of 8% and thought “hmmm this is going to have a real grape backbone and wonder if there are nelson Sauvin hops here?”.
Pouring an amber colour with a massive thumb width head full of large and small carbonated bubble. Head retains beautifully leaving a big wall of lacing on the glass as it slowly subsides. First whiff elicits sweet grape, green apple, funky sour overtones, white wine, raisins, and oak. This has the markings of a brilliant drop. As we first taste, the aroma is completely different to the flavour. We get white wine again, and a sweet toffee like malt, but also a bitter grapefruit tang and this acidic vinegar like palate with a dominate booze burn. Whoa. We get a subtle presence of vanilla and spice also..must be the barrel ageing. There is moderate carbonation and medium body. There is a real good balance between sour and sweet here and to throw in an 8% alc vol…sure it’s strong, but it’s sitting nicely. It’s such a complex array of aroma to flavour that we can’t help but sip and sip and enjoy it thoroughly. We don’t really know what bittering hops are used but we don’t care. This is a complex, well brewed beer, and any craft beer enthusiast will enjoy this. Very, very good.