Moortgat Brewery and Hof van Cleve are launching a special collaboration: Brewmaster Hedwig Neven of the iconic Duvel and three-star chef Peter Goossens of Hof van Cleve have jointly created a limited special beer. Our beer sommelier Sofie Vanrafelghem has tasted the unique beer and gives her unsalted opinion.
The Duvel x Hof van Cleve is a blend of three beers from the original Duvel. These are three Duvel beers that have each matured in different wooden barrels: pure oak and wooden barrels, on which whiskey and tequila have previously matured. In the Duvel Moortgat microbrewery in Puurs, the star chef and master brewer experimented with the various barrel maturations, resulting in this beautiful blend. The special beer was filled into 75cl bottles, a suitable size to be served in a restaurant such as the Hof van Cleve.
“This collaboration was born spontaneously, literally between pot and pint,” says Michelin-starred chef Peter Goossens. “We have joined forces, combining our creative and gastronomic knowledge with the technical and artisanal know-how of the Duvel team.”
Tasted: the Duvel x Hof van Cleve
The red-brown beer is adorned with a full beige foam. The nose immediately meets the notes of malt with accents of dark chocolate, coffee and cocoa. There are also hints of molasses, honey and dried figs, as well as some woody notes.
Just like Duvel Barrel Aged 2022, this wood-aged ale also has a clear tart edge to the taste, which makes the beer slightly winey. Only the acidity is more pronounced here, but very pleasant. Cask aging ensures that you get a layered and complex wood-aged beer with a very intense taste in the glass. The roasted malt notes are really enhanced by that fine acidity. Both end with a rather tense aftertaste, which lingers for a long time.
Conclusion
This initiative is particularly valuable because it demonstrates once again how great the culinary potential of beer is. Star chef Peter Goossens clearly turned to a good brewery to create a fine wood-aged ale. Duvel Moortgat has many years of experience in barrel aging and knows how to select wonderful blends every year. But is this also a three-star beer?
The complex taste is beautiful, precisely because it is not – as often – characterized by a sweet heaviness.
Well, it gets good points from me, because it is, just like Duvel Barrel Aged 2022, a very fine and successful wood-aged beer. The complex taste is beautiful, precisely because it is not – as often – characterized by a sweet heaviness. It could join our country’s wood aged toppers. The price is quite high though. Although this is rather due to the fact that many fine wood-aged beers, including our old geuze, are actually very cheap, especially compared to wines and champagnes, while sometimes more expensive to create.
Where to take?
To taste the beer, you can go to the three-star Hof van Cleve restaurant in Kruisem. A little too expensive for your wallet? Don’t worry, you can also discover beer at the Duvel Depot in Puurs-Sint-Amands and in the bars of Stadsbrouwerij De Koninck in Antwerp. Ideal for sharing with friends. Unfortunately, you can’t take a bottle home. This decision was made because it concerns a limited number of bottles that have been created through a long maturation process.
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