BREWER: Verhaeghe Vichte, West Flanders

STYLE: Red Ale 

ABV: 6.2%

VESSEL: 33cl bottle

TWITTER: #VerhaegheVichte

INSTAGRAM: #VerhaegheVichte

 

JYMI SAY’S…

When people look at me I know what they see…

They see a guy that is clearly an ultra elite beer reviewer.

When people read my words I know what they feel…

They feel the beer soul they never knew they had busting out from inside of them.

So people listen hard and listen now…. the label of this beer scares the s*”t out of me. To the point of I’ve had to leave a light on at night for a whole week. It’s just the face on the bottle, it’s so damn eerie. And the expression on the bird she is holding suggests our avian friend is expecting her to do an Ozzie bat trick at any moment (you may need to zoom in on the picture to fully appreciate this).

ANYWAY, what comes our way with the all important contents of this Flemish vessel is utterly astonishing and had my head shaking and hand scratching the shaking head throughout the 33cl experience.

Let me try and explain…

Ok, for starters the nose of this brew totally caught me off guard. It was like nothing I had ever whiffed from a beer before. And after a lot of deep sniffing and thinking I concluded that I absolutely HATED the smell. So much so I declared to my wife there and then that if this beer tasted like it smelt then I was going to award zero points. She looked up from something way less important than a beer review and said… huh? I moved on.

So I delved in with a certain amount of trepidation not really knowing what to expect.

HOLY F~*KIN S**T!!! I said out loud.

My wife glanced up from the unimportant stuff once more wondering what was going on and why I was talking to myself. I moved on.

The beer DID taste like it smelt but I absolutely LOVED IT!!. The dark look of the brew takes you down a path where one would expect certain flavours. But oh no no no, Duchesse De Bourgogne brings you a sour, acidic, fruity, cherry but sweet master class. It is absolutely stunning.

This Belgian Red is so individual, so brain scrambling, but oh so good.

Jymi’s Rating: 85%

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

Well-known for their brewing, the Belgians create a wide-range of beers. Some good, some bad. But, hey, that’s always a matter of taste. We all know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Now, Duchesse De Bourgogne is an interesting beer. It’s packed full of acidic notes.
And the thing is, this is an absolute belter of a beer. It’s outstanding. Mesmeric.

DDB has the power to turn a non-beer drinker into a beer lover. It’s different. It’s honey meets lemon texture is smashing. I love its point of difference: it looks dark and you expect a dark beer. You just don’t get one. You get something crisp, light, with different points of interest.

Belgians most certainly can brew beers. And if you ever needed proof, then here it is. DDB takes the rule book, rips it up, then stamps all over it’s ashes. And the beer world is all the better for it.

Sammy’s Rating: 91%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 88%

 

MOB review next weekend: NEWCASTLE BROWN ALE by HEINEKEN

AND THE WORDS OF THE MOB SQUAD WILL ACCOMPANY THOSE OF SAMMY n’ JYMI

BEER IS BETTER TOGETHER