Anticipation's Retribution

A Bisto advert once told me “save the best for last” so I diligently tucked away my bottle of Zatte Bie from De Bie brewery at the back of my fridge. Unfortunately, whilst I know what to expect from the generic beefy soup in the famous red tub, Zatte Bie gave me no clues.

If you’ve read my other posts you’ll know when it comes to beer bottles, I judge a book by its cover (and of course judge books on their bottle labels). I know I had a real dig at De Dulle Teve for having a label that looks like a child’s drawing, but for some inconsistent reason, that’s where this beer’s bottle has its appeal. There’s a silly picture of a snoozing farmer under a beehive which gives it a quaint ‘small brewery’ appeal. De Dolle’s label was plain weird. De Bie are making no attempt to be arty here, that’s for sure.

So, light humour; small, independent brewery and a funky name: sign me up!

I didn’t know what to expect in terms of style but I like a nice surprise. I had an inkling that it might be on the dark side and perhaps a little murky and I wasn’t far off.  Dark, amber, approaching stout-esque colouring with a handsome portion of sediment at the bottom of the bottle, for those who like that kind of grit. Top that off (literally) with a creamy, rich head staying put at the top of my glass. Things were looking good.

My wife poured her glass first and I had a sneaky sniff and for a second I thought she’d not rinsed her glass out properly. So I made sure I did with mine (like the nice chaps on De Bie’s website tell you to).  But I got the same, washing-up liquid smell that you sometimes can get. My heart sank. I took another waft to try and find something else, but alas, nothing if not more metallic aromas.

So I sipped through the handsome head to get a taste, hoping things would get better. Unfortunately it didn’t; it was so metallic I felt I was supping it straight from a tap. Big shame. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not talking about a beer that is so hideous I can’t stomach the whole bottle but it wasn’t offering much in terms of character on top of the iron tang.  Dinner soon followed, and with a tasty meal the iron filings soon became more subdued.

I’m a sucker for character though, and whilst the beer is definitely distinctly lacking it, the brewery’s charms have won me over and I’ve got a feeling I’ll be going back to try another one of their beers. Hopefully my expectations will be a little lower and they’ll have hit the mark next time.

De Bie Zatte Bie - 5

http://www.brijdebie.be/eng/products/p/3-zatte-bie