REVIEW: BFM Douze

So, we've got another beer in my recent foray into strange European beers! Today's beer is from Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes, which from here on out will be referred to as BFM because it's quite hard to spell words that I cannot even confidently pronounce. This is actually not the beer that I intended to buy. The Party Source has a bunch of little tags on a lot of the beers labeling them as staff picks, noting their rate beer or beer advocate scores, and sometimes some tasting notes. I took note of one card talking about a coffee weizenbock, which sounded pretty fabulous. So I went to grab it, who wouldn't? But when I got home I found that I had accidentally grabbed the beer that we are checking out today, Douze, a Belgian style golden ale brewed with sea salt. Well, it's no coffee weizenbock, but it does sound pretty interesting anyway. Let's get into it. To the beer!

Douze pours a hazed over, particulate laden, golden bronze. It's topped by a thin, but rather resilient layer of loosely bubbled bone white head. While we're discussing the looks here, I do like the simple typography of the label but the real talking point here is the swing-top, love that.

On the nose, I'm definitely getting hints at that savory saltiness. It adds a very interesting dimension to the fruitiness imparted by the zesty Belgian yeast. Notes of lemon, pineapple, and even some subtle kiwi-ish hints are joined by peppery, spicy cardamom like notes that almost have me thinking saison.

Douze is light in body and full of fruity, Belgian, estery character. Bright notes of fruity lemon and peppery spice are joined by grassy herbal hop flavors. Douze is very well balanced. While on the nose, the sea salt was front and center, on the flavor end the saltiness doesn't manifest until the finish but it does linger.

This is quite an interesting beer. The saltiness lends it a flavor that I imagine would pair very well with food. I liked this beer, I didn't quite love it. I'm glad I tried it, but I'm not sure I'll be coming back for a second. I will be back for that coffee weizenbock at some point though.

HD