Duvel - Belgian bottle beer

Can you name 3 famous Belgians? Jean Claude Van Damme, Hercule Poirot, Plastic Bertrand? (OK there might be more..) My point is that Belgium has always been a quiet sleepy (I’m not saying boring) kind of country, which traditionally has not excelled in very many cultural areas and achived worldwide praise. However in the fields of food and drink the Belgians do have a place at the top table. Bruxelles is considered by many the gastronomic capital of Europe and has far as beer is concerned Belgium is one of the best producers.

Now when I talk of Belgian beer I’m not talking of weak artificial toxin laden largers guaranteed to provide gargantuan hangover the following day. I’m talking of expertly produced bottled ale more akin to the traditional British real ale than the fizzy European mass produced products. Most Belgian bottled beer is produced on a small scale by independent breweries sometimes run by Trappist monks. Although not made by monks Duvel is the undoubted King of the Belgian Beers.

***A BIT OF HISTORY***

Duvel is produced by the Moortgat Brewery in Breendonk. Jan-Leonard Moortgat first established the brewery in 1871. Moortgat gradually with the help of his two sons Albert and Victor expanded the family business. The Moorgats were always looking for ways to improve their product and in 1918 Albert decide to try and brew a new kind of beer based on the types of British ale he had come across. He travelled to Scotland to obtain a particular kind of yeast used by local Scottish brewers.
At first Albert was shunned by the brewers who wanted to protect the integrity of their product but eventually after travelling across Scotland and visiting many breweries he managed to obtain a sample of his desired yeast. Even today this yeast is used in the production of Duvel. When Duvel was first produced in 1921 it was described by tasters as ‘a real devil’ hence its name ‘Duvel’ and today another generation of Moortgats are making the beer in the same way that Albert did more than 60 years ago.

***PERSONAL EXPERIENCE***

I first tasted Duvel in Amsterdam many years ago whilst staying with a Dutch friend of mine. When we visited his local bar he suggested that I try a bottle of Duvel, I had not developed a taste for English Ale at the time and I tended to avoid bottled dark beers but he assured me that Duvel was a ‘light’ beer in appearance at any rate. As he showed me the almost ritualised pouring of the beer in to the specially designed glass (like an oversized elongated Cognac glass) producing a golden glowing liquid with a rich froth on top, I sensed that this was something special. I raised the glass and took a gulp to which I received a horrified look from my friend and those around me. I was stopped and told that Duvel was not a gulping beer but a sipping beer. It must be treated like a fine wine or Champagne.

I took a sip and was converted.

The description of Duvel as the champagne of beers is not so spurious as at first it might seem.
Like Champagne the secondary fermentation of the beer occurs in the bottle as the beer matures.
This gives Duvel a very distinctive refined taste.

***HOW IT’S MADE***(the technical bit skip if you want)

Like any beer Duvel is a blend of hops, barley and yeast added to pure spring water.

The alcohol is obtained from the fermentation an extract of sprouting barley, which is then seasoned with hops to create the flavour. The added yeast produces the alcohol and the carbon dioxide from the sugar present. The careful balance between alcohol content, hops and gas give the beer it distinctive qualities.

For the making of Duvel only the finest barley is used, this is known as double-row summer barley. The barley has to be germinated before it can be used to brew with. This involves soaking for two days and then laying it out on the germination floor, for the process to take place. After a time rootlets and leaf shoots can be seen sprouting. Inside the barley enzymes are produced that will eventually convert the starch present in to malt. After 5 days the barley is dried on the kiln floor with hot air. All this process takes place in the Malt-house.
The next stage takes place in the brewing hall where the malt is mixed with the brewing water. In the case of Duvel the water used is natural spring water obtained by the breweries own springs. The resulting mixture the mash is heated in stages to allow the enzymes to break down the starch into fermentable sugar. After a filtration process the liquid component, the ‘wort’ is separated from the solid, which is then boiled. At this stage the hops are added to provide flavour. The hops used in Duvel are from Czech and Slovak varieties considered of the best quality. They provide a bitter taste to the beers with a pleasant fruity aroma. The sterile boiled extract is then pumped to the fermentation vessel after it is cooled.

Two types of yeast can be used when brewing beer depending on the type of beer desired. Ale yeast or (Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Carlsbergensis) is needed for top fermentation which takes place at a temperature of 7 to 12C over a period of 10days. The yeast sinks to the bottom hence the name top fermentation. For Duvel lager yeast (Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Cerevisiae) is used for bottom-fermented beer. In this process the temperature is kept at 20-26C for up to 8 days, the yeast this time floats to the top forming a thick froth. After this stage the beer is transferred to maturation vats and stored at 0C.
After maturation the beer is filtered and then bottled. Dark glass bottles are used to prevent oxidation. In the case of Duvel a secondary fermentation is required to take place in the bottles so sugar and an exact amount of active yeast is added just before bottling. The beer is kept at 22C for 10 days and then cooled down to 6C and kept for another 6 weeks. At this stage the beer develops further its fine aroma and subtle taste. The whole process from beginning to end takes 3 months.

No additives or preservatives are added and the beer is not pasteurised, in essence it is a pure, natural product.

***HOW TO KEEP IT AND DRINK IT***(the essential bit!)

The bottles of Duvel must be kept upright in a cool dark place and must be allowed to settle for at least an hour before pouring. For the best taste the beer must be drunk at between 6C to 10C. A clean, dry (not chilled) Duvel glass should be used.
The use of the right glass is not just a gimmick. The traditional Duvel glass allows the beer to be poured correctly tilting glass at an angle of about 45 degrees so that the beer pours in to the rounded curve at the side of the glass and then runs slowly to the bottom without being agitated. The beer must not be poured quickly otherwise the yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle will become mixed in and cloud the contents. It is also useful to slightly turn the bottle in your hand as you pour again to prevent the sediment from entering the glass. A small volume of liquid and sediment ~1cm should be left in the bottle after pouring.
If poured correctly the beer should be a clear golden colour with a thick, creamy foaming froth on top. The design of the glass allows you to fit the froth comfortably within its volume. The shape of the glass also captures the aroma of the beer, which is released when the glass is tilted on drinking, thus a strong fruity odour is noticed to complement the bitter malty taste when the beer is drunk. It has a fizzy full bodied slightly acidic but fresh taste that perfectly complements its strength.
Duvel looks like an ordinary lager when poured but on tasting you quickly find a subtlety of taste and aroma and strength more akin to strong real ale. It is a deceptively strong beer (8.5%) and care should be taken not to consume too much!

*** AVAILABILITY***

When I first started drinking Duvel it was rather hard to find in the UK but more recently it has started appearing in many of the better off licence chains (try Oddbins) and you can also buy it from Sainsburys.
Priced at around £1.55/bottle and considering its strength and quality it is a real bargain. For an interesting present to a beer lover a presentation box containing two bottles and one Duvel glass only costs £3.20.

Enjoy it but remember sip don’t gulp!

Thanks for reading and rating this opinion.

© Mauri 2002