CulturAle Press

Cellaring Beers:  Urthel (De Leyerth) Vlaemese Bock Flamy Dark Ale   At  10 Years From our “Vault”

Date:  February 26, 2018

The Story—  The de Leyerth brewer — a mom and pop operation — talked about this beer to All About Beer:  “A dark beer of 7.5% ABV: the color is all due to roasted malts so it gives a very chocolate aftertaste—women all like that. It’s also more bitter than a normal dubbel. We call it “Vlaemse Bock,” but it’s not traditional German bock style. Here in the US, everything is put into styles. I just brew a beer, and people put it into a style category”the other way around.

The brewery claims to produce only 4 beers.   But we’ve had 8 of them and we suspect we’ve missed many more.   They do, however, brew the core four as the foundation of their brewery.  But, really, don’t sweat styles with this creative brewery, just enjoy this rich dark Belgian ale.

When we tasted this at the iconic Monk’s Cafe in Philadelphia in 2007 it more than impressed us.  A distinctive dark malt played to cherry, grape and a very nice prune range of fruits and made for a very gentile strong, but far from disabling Belgian pleasure

The Beer—   Dark fruits and dark malts.   Dark malt.   Some caramel.  Just a bit of oxidation, but really, for over 10 years, not a whole lot.   Some orange; some nutmeg and less cinnamon.  Dry spices as it drinks.  Quite good for the age and the brown caramel still has some clarity.   It’s remarkable successful at 7.5%  — practically a session for a vault beer.  Ellie’s notes: grape & cherry gumdrops,deep sweet but clean fruit candy, slightly smoky dark booze; if there are spices here, they’re dry.

Value —Very Good.   These beers, like many European gems, have risen in price in the last several years, but this one is still in the “don’t have to sell your car” range.

Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

 In February, we’re digging into our legendary “vault” where we’ve been storing hundreds of bottles of beer waiting for the right time to taste them (or sell them for charity).   The charity market has slowed, so we’re working through them in front of a fire and finding some disappointments, but more very surprising delights.   You can find the full list –eventually– here on this “index post.”

 We’re often asked to share our tasting notes on over 33,000 beers; this blog is in answer to those requests.   Not all our notes, though.  The great beer writer Michael Jackson admirably followed the Thumper Rule, and we’ll try to do the same.  (“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all.”)   All the beers we post are from the top half of our ratings and most are from the top quarter.   Of greater value, we think, are the stories behind the beers,   and we try to give you enough about the brewery, the style and the places to find great beer to help you on your own beer journeys.   At CulturAle Press we try to write books and publish posts that will help you “Drink Well and Travel Safely.”