De Proef Brouwerij
Lochristi, Belgium
Imported by: SBS Imports
Seattle , WA
Available: AK, WA, OR, CA, AZ, CO, ID, MN, WI, IL, MO, KS, MI, ME, MA, CT, NY, NJ, PA, MD, DC, VA, NC, SC, GA, FL
Brewing professor and engineer Dirk Naudts founded De Proef in 1996. Witte Noire (“dark wheat”) ale is loosely designed as a Belgian interpretation of the wheat doppelbock style.
ABV: 7.5
ABW: 5.97
Color: 30
Bitterness: 18
Original gravity: 1068
I love Belgian creativity, and de Proef is certainly in this beer! I think the brewer’s been drinking German wheat doppelbocks for inspiration―there’s definitely a parallel here. It’s rich and creamy, with notes of molasses, fig cake, shoofly pie, roasted nuts and burnt raisin, along with a hint of clove, licorice stick and cocoa powder. Rich? Yes. But the wheat adds drinkability and really rounds out the beer.
Not quite noire―more a deep brown than black, really―this “imperial amber wheat” has an attractive, sweet aroma that reminds me of black licorice candy with a slight herbal-orangey-peppery edge. On the palate, the sweetness is still there, but it’s more of a dark chocolate and cinnamon variety, with some soft candied orange notes and a bit of peppery tang on the finish. Not a hugely complicated beer for one of such significant strength, but a nice winter mix of satisfying and refreshing nevertheless, and a surprisingly good partner to aromatic, rather than heavily spicy, Indian food.
John Hansell writes about beer, wine and spirits. He is the creator, publisher and editor of Malt Advocate, a magazine for the whisky enthusiast.
Once described as “beerdom's Brillat-Savarin,” Stephen Beaumont is the author of five books and countless articles on beer, spirits, food, travel, and how it all goes together.
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