100 Beers, 100 Days: Day #29
I’m going to cheat a little bit on this new beer thing, but just this once. I’ve had Duvel before. It was at David’s house when we all got together to watch the 2004 presidential debates. While I got the impression that I did not like it at the time, I didn’t give it a proper review and I’ve been trying to block the whole experience out of my head. So since I got a free one tonight at my usual bar, I decided I could cheat and do a proper review of it. I hope everyone will let me get away with it. I also hope I can get away with not drinking it out of a tulip glass. I’m kind of slumming it with this beer snob thing tonight.
Anyway Duvel pours the completely translucent straw color we’ve all come to expect and is topped with a gigantic head. You could carve with the head on this beer. It’s like merengue. That’s pretty cool, I must admit. It’s also highly carbonated which we’ve all also come to expect through the advertising. However, I must admit my 2004 feelings about this beer were confirmed. I still do not like it, though this time I can put it into words. I find it entirely too dry and bitter. I don’t want it to be as sweet as something like Gulden Draak (which goes a little over the top, in my opinion) but Duvel just goes too far in the other direction. There’s almost no sweetness at all. Being more on the bitter side just reinforces the dryness and left me wanting something more to drink after I was done. I’d say something more about the taste, but there’s really not much here to taste. Sarah thought it had a rather unpleasant aftertaste, reminiscient of like what you might find in Corona. That’s not exactly high praise.
So, having tried Duvel again in a more somber state of mind, I must agree with my past self. I don’t think I will be giving it another try.