Day 51. 02.20.10 Van Twee (De Proef/Bell's Collaboration)

De Proef Brouwerij (bvba Andelot)
Municipality of Lochristi
Province of East Flanders
Region of Flemish


De Proef Brewmasters Collaboration Series.
Van Twee: A collaboration featuring John Mallet of Bell's Brewing Inc. (Kalamazoo, Michigan) and Dirk Naudts of De Proef Brouwerij


Style: Dark Belgian Ale
Availability: Limited - One Time Brew
Format: 750ml
ABV: 7.5%


Bottle text & Info

Tasting Notes: 
"Van Twee" is Flemish for "from two." just puttin' it out there. Pretty awesome collaboration here. Let's have a taste. Pours incredibly dark, nearly black with a billowing tan head. Shows good retention with big sticky lacing. Big earthy nose, with some oak and vinegar making way for dominant dark cherry. Growing up in the frozen tundra of Michigan and the cherry capital of the world - the smell is sweet sweet nostalgia. Mouthfeel is medium to full body with some interesting porter and flemish notes. Pretty accurate when the press-release described this as a mash up of porter and dubbel styles. Starts out with some tart cherry juice coupling with subtle bretts and vinegar followed by more cherry interlaced with some roasted barley/chocolate notes - finishing dry. An incredible pulling together of styles that is masterfully done. Key trademarks of Flemish sours, Belgian Dubbels and American Porters are all pulled together by tart dark cherry. A really awesome sipper and a true one-of-a-kind experience.

Day 42: 02.11.10 Lonerider Deadeye Jack

Lonerider Brewing Co.
Raleigh, North Carolina


Deadeye Jack


Style: American Porter
Availability: Limited - Seasonal - Winter
Format: 12oz - 6pk
ABV: 6.0%


Bottle text & Info:
"Deadeye Jack represents our seasonal porter consisting of a strong malty background with hints of roasted chocolate, subtle  sweetness and low hop bitterness."


Tasting Notes:
Pours black into the glass with a quarter inch of mocha colored heads that writhes and bubbles leaving crater-like holes on top. Smells of bitter chocolate and molasses. Bitter up front with dark chocolate and roasted/charred coffee persisting throughout. I'm pretty impressed here. Lonerider just turned one year old and they avoided all the pitfalls here. No over carbonation, but not flat either - and they resisted the urge to go sweet here. Hops are a subdued but this one still finishes nice and roasty with some juicy chocolate/cocoa notes that bring in the sweet in the middle before finishing dry. If I had one complaint it would be that this is a bit thin for my liking (between medium and light bodied), but all in all a really solid porter. If I were Big Boss Brewing, I'd be afraid.