Gaverhopke Den Twaalf

[bottled as "Extra" in the United States - alias added 6 Jan 09 - theisti]

3.3

255 reviews

Waregem, Belgium

Community reviews

3.6 Bottle conditioned. Pours a sedimented medium brown/copper. Bread, alcohol, fruity, a little baking spice. Big caramel finish. Low hop. Not super complex, smooth and the caramel makes it desert like but the booze is strong with this one.

4.2 Bruin bier met weinig schuim. Smaak is erg krachtig, zoet en erg fruitig, druif en bessen komen naar boven. Een bijzonder bier wat afwijkt van de standaard abt/quadrupel, maar daarom zeker niet slecht is.

2.9 Merci à Marc-André pour cette dégustation aussi inusitée qu’originale! Un liquide clair qui m’apparaît trop clair pour le style et qui de manière générale, ne représente aucunement le style. Un nez très alcoolisé qui me rappelle le raisin en fermentation, la grappa, le marshmallow, le miel. L’ensemble est puissant et annonce un liquide mince. En bouche l’alcool est violemment présent. Des notes de raisin et de figue sont véhiculées par un liquide mince et chargé d’alcool. Un quelque chose de curieusement herbacé comme de la rhubarbe également. Courte, sans arrière-goût et étonnante!

3.3 red amber pour. Aroma cherries brown sugar. tastes cinnamon almond cookies ginger. bready.

3.2 330 ml bottle pours out a dark brown with a little bit of orange highlights topped with a tan head. Nose is nutty malts some sweetness a little caramel pit fruit and a light spice. Taste is more of the sweet caramel malt and pit fruit.

2.7 Nauwelijks tot geen schuimkraag en een vettige dikke stroopachtige sediment. Nauwelijks geur waarneembaar, en ik vermoed dat ik met een slechte fles te maken aangezien er geen tot nauwelijks aroma waarneembaar en er geen schuimkraag waarneembaar is. Komt romig zoet binnen en smaakt naar gedroogd fruit zonder al te veel diep gang. Eigenlijk een quadrupel om zo weg te drinken zonder diepgang. Jammer!

1.4 Biere brune forte. Trop sucre. Aigre. Fruits pourris. Pas bon pas bon. Une fontaine mousse. Nananananana.

2.9 Bottle. I have seen ratings about this gushing, but my specific bottle behaved itself. Pours very dark amber to brown. Surprisingly light ! Small white head fades fast. Scent is bit sweet, but not intense at all. Taste is sharp on booze and sugar. Not too complex. Just plain sweetness from sugar, with some maltyness underneath. Boozy, as said before, but doesn’t have the body to go with it.

3.0 Murky light brown pour. Has a sweet, sugary aroma. Flavour is full of candy sweetness. A bit of a sugar bomb.

1.7 Amber brown. Lot of sugar and yeast. Again sugar and syrup in the palate. Unbalanced and gushing.

3.7 33cl Bottle from Prik&Tik Baelus, as Den 12. Hazy amber-brown colour, creamy beige head. Aroma of champagne yeast, grapes, green apple skin, figs, sweet malts, some hidden toffee. Flavour is quite sweet, creamy, figs, red fruits/roosvicee, malts, some toffee, bittersweet finish, alcohol bitterness. Full bodied, slightly alcoholic, very soft carbonation despite the champagne yeast (which is a good thing imo), creamy mouthfeel. Good.

2.9 33cl bottle at Backdoor, Ghent (23 IX 2015). A dark, strong looking beer with thick beige collar. The texture is sticky. The aromas are kind of artificial, and above all metallic. The mouth has lots of raisins, sirup, apple butter, dextrose, and of course an earthlike and unpleasant metal taste. This brew is far too sweet, with a raisin sugarness overwhelming other flavours. The spiritful ending makes this a strong full bodied beer.

3.5 cloudy brown, small offwhite head. nutty and malty aroma, quite nice. flavor is malty, nutty, boozy, quite well rounded, but rather strong.

3.5 Bottle@yesprs - Brown pour with beige head. Aroma and taste is sweet malty, with dark dried fruits, caramel sweetness, toffee, some spice action going on, sweet malty finish. Decent.

3.1 Bottle at yespr. Hazy orange colored with a medium sized off-white head. Sweet and fruity aroma of caramel and alcohol with notes of spices. Sweet and fruity flavor of caramel and alcohol with notes of spices. Warming alcoholic finish.

3.7 33 cl. bottle. Clear brown colour with an off-white head. Aroma and flavour of malt, caramel, spice, hops, fruit and alcohol.

3.5 12 cl bottle. Pours hazy orange with a small off white head. Aroma is fruity and toasted malty and slight herbal. Sweet, toasted and slight caramelish into the finish. Bitter and slight herbal, dry and toasted finish.

3.1 On tap @ zythos treviso 2015. marrone, riflessi ramati, velata con schiuma beige fine e piuttosto persistente. aroma intenso, tostato, caramello, fichi secchi, miele d’acacia, lievito e crosta di pane. abboccata, tostata, poco amara, cacao frutta secca (fichi). molto calda, poco carbonata, corposa, rotonda ed oleosa. non del tutto armonica

4.0 330 ml bottle into tulip glass, best before 11/2016. Pours hazy/cloudy dark reddish brown color with a 1-2 finger dense khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of raisin, plum, fig, cherry, red grape, caramel, toast, brown sugar, brown bread, light chocolate, pepper, clove, herbal, grass, and yeast earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of fruity/spicy yeast and dark/bready malt notes; with good strength. Taste of big raisin, plum, fig, cherry, red grape, caramel, toast, brown sugar, brown bread, light chocolate, pepper, clove, herbal, grass, and herbal/yeast earthiness. Fair amount of earthy yeast spiciness on the finish; with lingering notes of raisin, plum, fig, cherry, red grape, caramel, toast, brown sugar, brown bread, pepper, clove, and herbal/yeast earthiness on the finish for a while. Damn nice robustness and complexity of fruity/spicy yeast and dark/bready malt flavors; with a great malt/yeast balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a very smooth, moderately creamy, and lightly slick/bready mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a slight warmth lingering after the finish. Overall this is a damn nice Belgian strong dark ale. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/spicy yeast and dark/bready malt flavors; and very smooth to drink for the big ABV. A very enjoyable offering.

2.2 Donkerbruin van kleur, ruikt een beetje melig zoetrottig. Smaakt veel te zoet, beetje metalig, weeïg,wat bitterzuur. Geen diepte, eigenlijk een beetje bagger.

3.9 pours a cloudy brown with a lot of sediment floating. Thin white head. Aroma is sweet and boozy. Notes of raisins, plum and dark cherries. Flavor is also sweet and boozy. Raisins, plums, and a slight tartness. alcohol is very present. Full bodied. low/medium carbonation. slick mouth feel finishes dry and the alcohol becomes a little more intense. This is definitely a sipper but I am drinking it real fast. Damn good quad. \

3.8 0.33 bottle. Dark brown color with a crimson tinge and a small, off-white head. Aroma of dark fruits, port wine, some flowers, and delicate malts with yeasts. Taste is sour-sweet; both sweetness and sourness take their point of origin in fruits. Generally the beer is rather estery, does not contain that much malts, caramel, and sugars but neither is it dry. Full body, slick texture, and soft carbonation. Finish is quite vinous as well although not what one would call long. Overall a very nice brew, does a great job at hiding its alcohol content and is certainly one of those session beers which one could enjoy while reading a book by a fireplace.

3.5 11.2 oz. bottle, consumed on 1-31-15. Labeled as “‘T Gaverhopke Extra,” for which this beer apparently is an alias. Pours a hazy, slightly amber, light to medium brown. Small to moderate amount of beige head. Obvious suspended particulate. Looks good. Yeasty, malty, mineral, refreshing aroma. Scents of carob, dust, and Cheeri-O’s. Sweet, sugary, malty taste features flavors of cake, toffee, milk chocolate-covered raisin, plum, and a touch of orange. Reminds me of an English dessert. A touch too sweet for my tastes but still enjoyable. A nice, pleasant, slow sipper. Full body. Smooth in the palate. Hit the spot. A solid and likable dessert beer.

3.2 bottle dated 3/2012. lighter colored, pinkish berry colored, looks like a beery flavored spritzer. sweet berry notes, not really quadish IMO. some dark fruits, touch of tartness.

3.9 Brune très foncée, effervescence très légère, très peu de mousse. Principalement maltée, plutôt douce, un rien torréfiée, la présence de levure de champagne se fait sentir, fruits foncés (dont des prunes), chaleur d’alcool, plus complexe qu’il n’y paraît. A regoûter avec deux ans d’âge.

3.3 2nd Winter(s) Bierfestival Vichte: Brown. nice malty sweet nose. Taste of sugar, malts, caramel and almond.

1.5 Winter(s) Bierfestival Vichte: Brown with a red reflex. Really nice almond malty sweet nose. Taste has to much residual sweetness, malts, caramel and almond.

2.0 Al naso é molto potente.La schiuma é leggera e difficile.In bocca esplode: sapori che spaziano.É una birra interessante, soprattutto per le botti do Champagne, ma troppo, veramente troppo, dolce.

2.0 Dark amber quadrupel with a sweet smell. Medium body. Taste of sugar, alchool, caramel. Too sugary.

3.2 First, let me discuss the original version, i.e. brewed limitedly by Eric Ameye, the man who started Gaverhopke in 1994 and - as far as I remember - only sold his beers at the door of the brewery. I was stupid enough to buy a whole crate of his beers - including this one - at the beginning of this century... Anyway, this was his magnum opus so to speak, an ’abt’ (quadrupel) with loose, unstable, dirty yellowish white head and dark wine red colour, hazy in general appearance. Strong estery aroma, caramel, port wine, chocolate, candi syrup, pear, overripe blue grapes, elderberries, brambleberries, raisins, cloves, some DMS (red cabbage) and a subtle sulphuric H2S hint, fortunately not present in all the bottles and less outspoken than in most other beers he brewed at that time. The taste was estery, sweet without stickiness, caramelly, smooth, meaty and earthy, very yeasty, port wine hint in the finish, warming alcohol, low hop bitterness. Clearly inspired by Westvleteren 12 but well below that quality level, though I did find this to be an interesting beer with a somewhat different personality than usual in this style. Then Ameye’s brewery was taken over, and the new owners updated many things, yet kept this locally legendary quad in existence. The new version now still comes from a Steini bottle but with totally different label; I bought this particular sample at Fontana in Sint-Niklaas. Loose, bubbly head taking a minimal amount of forcing to fully develop, retreating into an egg-white, moussy, irregular but steady rim over a hazy copper-tinged translucent brown beer with small clogs of dead yeast and proteins at the bottom. Aroma of old ruby port, no more H2S at all, sweet melting caramel candy, candied fig, rum-soaked raisins, baked banana, hint of red Haribo candy even, honey, toffee, maderisation (this is apparently an older bottle by itself), beef broth, ripe blue plum, brown sugar, brown rum, marzipan and nougat, chestnuts, apple sauce, gari, peppercorns. Very sweet onset, lots of stewed plum, banana chewing gum and candied fig with a sourish edge of ripe blackberries, soft carbonation, full but lean mouthfeel, a tad vinous. Residual brown sugar cloys a bit to the palate but adds a certain ’lightness’ to an otherwise filling, very caramelly and toffeeish, eventually almost chocolatey beer (meaning: cocoa powder diluted in water rather than milk), with ongoing banana ester and brown sugar sweetness in the finish; the sweetness sticks to the teeth a bit while at the same time retronasal madera and old port-like effects shine. Ends with a brief and superficial dash of earthy hops - only providing some vague background bitterness - and an afterglow of liqueurish, kahlua-like alcohol, while the brown sugary sweetness keeps cloying alongside overripe blue plum, banana and candied fig impressions, about the same flavours it began with, but the alcohol does add a certain ’pepperiness’ which is not at all unpleasant, certainly in combination with the maderisation. Lacks some complexity for a quadrupel but was lucky enough to experience elegant ageing, I do like the sweet madera- and ruby port-like aspects of this; the alcohol sits firmly in place too without overpowering anything, but this altogether too sweet and cloying even after a couple of years of ageing. Not a bad quad at all - didn’t even gush like many Gaverhopke beers of that time period did - just a bit too sweet and straightforward for what it could have been. In any case a totally different beer than the original version, the same degree of alcohol warmth and residual sweetness has been kept in order to maintain its original character I guess, but the outcome is altogether notably different. One conclusion can be made after tasting both versions, though: this is an interesting, demanding quad, but too simple and obviously way too sweet, both in Eric Ameye’s and Gudrun Vandoorne’s versions. I would not bother about this one too much anymore. My rating here is necessarily an average of both versions (2.9/5 for the original and 3.4/5 for the new one - this has very clearly improved in spite of losing some of its original character).