Bel Ame Ale
Logsdon Farmhouse Ales

Very fun to play with! Faint, musty Belgium aromas linger, and help to establish the body and finish off the palate, with a cream, butter finish. The dobble play!

Bought on the half-price shelf at The Beer Temple... a year past its Best By date.
Popped the top and was suddenly met with abundant foam. But I scurried the bottle to the sink in time before making a mess of the Thanksgiving kitchen. When the coast was clear, I appropriately poured Bel Ame into my Westmalle goblet... brewer of the world-class dubbel.

I've had several Logsdon and they do great Northwest terroir. But Bel Ame is a classic dubbel. While I've only had two from De Ryck, I'm thinking the yeast came from them because it acted like it had centuries of pedigree. Despite a year past its prime, foam was two inch abundant and, once receded, created new lily pads of happy protein; all perched on a chestnut bod. So, Bel Ame is a great Looker. Smells are conventionally classic; dark fruit, brown sugar and mystery spicing. But for Tastes and Feel, I really have to score based on the bottle before its Best Buy date. All is balanced, but it has entered its peak and now faces the downhill slide that all protein faces. Finishes semi-dry, by some miracle not understood by me. And wondrously soft in my mouth.

The greatest thing is my great luck; buying this the day before Thanksgiving and having it with honeyed sweet potatoes, pecan pie and good friends. This Thanksgiving, I am grateful for many, many things too numerous to list here. But Bel Ame's timing could not have been better and well worth the wait ! And besides, timing is key.

I won't find Bel Ame again, but this reminded me to look for De Ryck some more.

3/18/21 Well I did find Bel Ame again and also at Beer Temple. But I only bought one believing that it was impossible for a dubbel 18 months past its Best By Date to still be good. It is still good. There were six left on the shelf and I'm buying more in the next few days. So if you want any, you better get there first. In the meantime, I'm keeping count at UnTappd. Cheers to your collaboration ! This is a yeast to keep for the ages. A votre sante' !

4/28/21 I'm done saying how great this again. I bought another copy yesterday and there are still more. And I'm not telling you where. Bel Ame is for the ages.

12/21/21 Actually, I'm not done. I found the last copy at The Beer Temple. Let the beauty and mystery of this dubbel remain in my imagination. How fitting for the Solstice to remind us that even on the shortest day of the year, humans have longevity because of invention and collaboration.

750 ml bottle into a goblet. Released mid- 2018, had 6/12/20.

Pours a ruddy medium brown, cloudy, with a one and a half inch head of creamy foam and a good amount of foamy lacing. Aromas of grapes, caramel, malt, herbal hops, brown sugar, dates, some spices. The flavor follows the nose- grapes, caramel, malt, herbal hops, brown sugar, spices. Smooth, a very good medium body, well carbonated on the high side.

Excellent rendition of the style. Lots of grapes and caramel, with a perfect touch on the hops that gives a classic recipe a great twist. Really enjoyable.

 

an awesome example of a dubbel here. a beer that should probably be listed on the de ryck page, as i think it was made there, but i am reluctant to add a duplicate beer, so i will review it here, i do not believe there are two separate versions of this, someone correct me if i am wrong. the bottles are appealing, the collaboration is a unique one, and the beer seems to represent a near perfect take on a dubbel, perhaps less ambitious and unconventional that the collaborative space usually yields, but ill never complain about well executed beers in the classic styles like this! its deep chestnut brown from the bottle, fizzy and active and with a lasting off white head of tiny bubbles, really pretty brew, low shine and not quite clear. tons of character to this in nose and taste, raisins and figs, honey and caramel, wet soil and tree bark, apple and cherry, unique old worldy belgian ale yeast with a drying tendency, light spiciness of white pepper and clove, and a bready thing to it, some minerals come on late. a little brown sugar in the middle here, a trace of fruity tartness, and an almost creamy feel in its effervescence, just insanely good, regal and festive, not too alcoholic, and perfect for a chilly christmas eve! i love the complexity here, how old worldy it is, and just how much of it i want to drink, i knew this would be good, but this is ahead of expectations. way more de ryck than logsdon to me, even though i am far less familiar with their beers. world class dubbel here, ill have to find another bottle!

 

 

Bottle shared by someone last night, thanks for the opportunity!
Chestnut brown in color with a thin off white head. Rich caramel maltiness with a hint of herbal earthy lightly tart notes.

Collaboration brew with Brouwerij De Ryck (Belgium). Dark ruby-brown top fermented Ale balancing gentle carmelized malt taste, a subtle bitterness of hops and delicate notes of herbs.