Deca Brewery
Woesten-Vleteren, Belgium
Imported by: Waterloo Beverages, San Francisco, CA
Available: CA, IL , MD, MA, PA, VA
Waterloo Beverages LL C gave the assignment to develop & manufacture their Westoek Ale (6% ABV) at the Deca Brewery. As this was a very complex recipe to deal with, Deca asked Urbain Coutteau at De Struise Brouwers, to collaborate with this project.
ABV: 6
ABW: 4.78
Color: 13
Bitterness: 30.5
Original gravity: 1056
Looks like uniformly cloudy cider. Beautifully delicate sweet-fruit nose, pears and berries on the verge of over-ripeness. But that sweet is not in the mouth, no sir―it’s drier, and bready, with a bitter overlay and a light body that invites gulping (something the bitter finish accentuates). So we’ve got a complex, 6 percent ABV beer that has an invitingly quaffable character and a pedigree that promises quality. Probably great with fish or cheese.
Although well settled, this pours a cloudy copper color with a fruity (blueberry, blackberry) toffee nose topped off with a light, yeasty tang. The body starts faintly sweet and vaguely caramelly, turning more bitter and nutty in the middle and slightly tannic on the fairly quick finish. A not-so-careful decanting of a second bottle yields a notably tangy yeast soup, such is the sediment of this brew. An enigmatic beer, but one without a lot to say for itself.
Lew Bryson writes about beer and whiskey from his home in southeast Pennsylvania. He has a family and two dogs. That's all you need to know.
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.
