Couckelærschen Doedel
Brouwerij Strubbe

 

 

 

 

Case brought by a friend into work.
Really cool old style label, small 8oz bottle. Label says
"Bier met nagisting op de fles", which means "bottle fermentated:
Pours out light amber brown color, borderin more on the darker side of tan, almost a copper tone around the edges. In the light a bit of ruby red at the edges. Lovely medium head, good carbonation. Nice cloudiness on the 2nd pour.
Smells of sour apple, wood, sweet fresh yeast, bread, grain, brown sugar, floral. Finishes a bit peppery.
Taste is light, a bit sweet but balanced. Light malt, sugar, yeast, brown bread, grain on the start, finishes with tart plum, caramel and a light tingling black pepper note. Yeast again on the finish, a flavor I really enjoy.
Body is medium, a bit sweet, but with carbonation and light prickle from the yeast, balance is achieved.
Overall, I would compare this to Leffe Bruin in taste and aroma, but with a cooler label:)

I'm really puzzled how I got around to buying this, 'cos it isn't what I thought I did. In any case, thanks, Kurt!

Pouring amber with good clarity , the beer is capped with a dense off-white head with excellent retention. Lacing is good too. The nose is quite refreshing. Smelling lighter than the appearance would have me believe, I get some honey, cotton candy and a wonderful floral character. A little citrus brightness is present, probably from hops? Just a little bready/biscuit like too. As it warms up, the floral character grows, along with a sugar-like sweetness. A little coriander too. Good stuff.

The palate opens with a rather simple sugary sweetness, almost glucose-like, light but potent without being syrupy. The floral character. There's a minty character, not really green or herbal, more flavor-like, along with a Stevia-like sweetness. Maybe some vanilla mid-palate before a finish that's sweet, almost artificially so. The citrus character is much more muted on the palate. Looking up the description on RB, I'm informed that there's a camphor-like substance here, which probably is what I taste as the blend of the minty zing and artificial sweetness. Medium-light in body with high carbonation, the finish is drying but the flavors are a little disappointing. Alcohol is not really noticeable, and in an 8oz bottle, I can't say I'm having any difficulty whatsoever. I'd drink it again if it were easier to get.

A: Muddy amber color with a large cola-like white head that settles slowly to leave good lacing.
S: Aroma of rising dough and baking bread.
T: Flavors start with yeastiness and progress to a dusty sourness, with a background of cinnamon.
M: Good body.
D: Good start as we drank our way through the Strubbe line in Bruges.

A rather simple label with very little information, not even the brewery is mentioned. It pours a clear, brown copper beer with a thin head.

Smell of caramel and fruity Belgian yeast, giving the beer an estery apple smell.

Taste is light caramel with a nice Belgian yeast with medium strong fruitiness and a nice light bitterness. Not the most outspoken beer around, but certainly a great drinkability and perfect example of how good Belgian yeasts are.

Pours a clear darker amber. Crème head. Sweet nose that is almost like caramel...maybe maple syrup. Flavor is a touch woody with mild yeast influence. Seems to be a metallic tone to it that leaves a taste in your mouth. Feel is smooth. Overall it is fairly drinkable. Certainly nothing stellar here.

04/06/06- On tap at the Toronado in San Francisco, CA during Belgian Beer Month.

Presentation- Via the tap into a tulip style glass.

Appearance- A darker amber pour, maybe a light mahagoney. Virtually no head with a light lacing.

Smell- Light perfumy scent. Maybe a light touch of malt and maybe a bit floral. Smells of some kind of alcohol besides beer. However, the scent is very nice.

Taste- Definite spices...of what though, I can't really determine. The flavor kind of reminded me of heather. A bit sweet, perfumy, maybe even tea like at times. Seems to have a few hop aspects as well with a light orange or so flavor. Interesting and tasty.

Mouthfeel- Lightly creamy, seems a tad heavier than the 6% listed.
Light carbonation...almost cask like.

Drinkability- Different and flavorful. This one is still confusing me a bit. I did like it though. Try one if you happen to see it.

Sampled on Day 1 at the Lucky Baldwin’s 7th Annual Belgium Beer Festival.

Beer Listed at #7 of 60: Doedel Strubbe Brewery 6%


Properly christened as “Couckelærschen Doedel”, this brew is originally from Koekelare of Lootens (which closed in 1972) and is continued to be brewed by Strubbe today. Translates as ‘Cock-A-Doodledoo’.

Dark amber body with a slight haze, had a reasonable looking cream colored crown in the goblet. Malty nose with some spices hidden in the aromas. Soft carbonation but a good looking brew nonetheless. Starts with a very bitter entrance, grapefruit like bitterness, and a little black pepper on the tongue. Dry middle but bitter-sweet, a rather strange mix. Some caramel and a hint of toffee malt show themselves in the finish. A very bitter, malty brew with some sweet spices. Mouthfeel was soft but the grapefruit sharpness cuts through this and makes it feel spiky at time. The alter-ego profile makes this one a little difficult to work through. A one glass beer for my tastes.

Now I had a bottle of this many years ago during a trip to Ostend, Belgium. The draft version seemed a little lacking, but it was nice enough and far from boring, but just not to my tastes. I don’t recall this be anything special when I tried it the first time, so I guess my memory isn’t that bad.

BB 30-11-05. White head and cristal clear beer. Nose is porty, cinnamon, litle maltyness and some candy but with that also quiet papery. Taste is also quiet light and gives dark candy, porty, (litle carramellic) malts, medium sweet followed by good moderate bitterness. Litle light mouthfeel as there is not too much taste in this one. Easy drinkable but not too much to discover IMO.