Awesome Beer of the Week: De Dolle Oerbier

Since we had an American version of a traditional Belgian style last week, it's only fair to make this week's Awesome Beer of the Week a somewhat experimental Belgian beer: the Oerbier by De Dolle.

It's a kicker. If anything, Oerbier tastes stronger than it's 9%+ alcohol, and comes on with an explosive, flowing richness of both taste and feel. Lots of malty sweetness, some nutty flavor and vanilla all strike immediately on the first taste, and the strength of the combination is delicious enough to be startling. Oddly, there's also something fruity or wine-like about it, which is accentuated by the high alcohol.

Apparently Oerbier means "Original Beer." According to their website, "The little person on the glasses is the Oerbier man, a simple creature who holds a brewers fork in his right hand, symbolizing the work and science, but looking to the other side, the result of all this, the glass of (Oer)beer."

De Dolle Brouwers, by the way, means "The Mad Brewers."