Mad Bitch!

This month I’ve bought a load of beers that I’ve never tried or heard of, on my impossible quest to have tried everything going! Last night I opened a bottle of De Dolle Dulle Teve – the name itself is a mouthful. I had no basis for this choice apart from the fact that De Dolle brewery begins with ‘D’ and I was looking at ‘D’ breweries. There you go.

The label is a piece of work, as are all the labels in the De Dolle brewery. It looks like a cross between a child’s drawing and... well, it looks like a child’s drawing... and not in a good way like a few of De Dolle’s other offerings sport on their bottle (see Oerbier). Labels obviously have no relation to the liquid inside but they can be so important. There are people who know loooads about breweries, region and style who will make their choice on a much more informed basis, but for mere mortals, just like a book is so quickly judged by its cover, why should a beer not be judged by its bottle and label? With Dulle Teve, shit as it may be, half of you thinks “well if they wrap the bottle in this turd of a label they must be pretty confident in what sits inside.” Well, that’s what I thought, anyhow.

The label informs me it’s a tripel and the 10% strength tells me it’s a real strong one. Dulle Teve means mad bitch so I see where they’re going there. I’m happy I didn’t know that before buying it because I think I’d have probably avoided it for that reason. Rubbish name AND label are perhaps a step too far.

I’m pleased I did get my hands on it though because it definitely holds its own. Just like English bitter ale can sometimes taste a bit samey (although that’s no bad thing – just not exciting), blondes, dubbels and tripels can occasionally fail to have character to lift them from the surrounding pack. It looks fairly standard, with a deep gold colour and a nice lasting head and it smells great. My first impression was that it belied its super strength and there wasn’t that kick you get at the back of your nose with 7/8%+ beers. The main initial aroma is tropical fruit and that’s the kind of whiff that I like. In the mouth, once again there’s a familiar frothy fizz that most Belgian ales give and the strength begins to show. It comes through the nose after you’ve swallowed as opposed to on the sniff. After you’ve swallowed comes the interesting part. A very unfamiliar but distinct smokiness appears in the mouth. It was very unexpected because you usually only expect that from stouts, porters and the like, or for the very adventurous – Rauchbier (very freaky smoky fare from Germany to be tried at least once!). In a golden ale like Dulle Teve, however, it’s not to be expected, but I commend De Dolle brewery for giving me exciting surprises in an otherwise standard tripel ale.

Would I get it again? Yes. Not necessarily straightaway but it’s one to remember.

De Dolle Dulle Teve - 8

http://www.dedollebrouwers.be/en/dulleteve.htm#