Saint Martin Lumière D’hiver
Brasserie De Brunehaut

Pours a clean deep amber color, with a tan head. In the aroma, a roasty chocolate smell. In the taste, chocolate malt, a slight fruity presence, and kind of sticky sweet. It does leave a sticky dryness in the aftertaste. An interesting beer, very close to a English porter with more sweetness.

Best till J-06. Pours in with thick lasting and leaving laces of yellowbrown foam at the glas. Beercolor is deep brown and totaly clear.
Nose is sweet malty and (mostly peach& banana)esters. Altogether ok but nothing great. Taste is a lot better, full malty( caramellic and litle chocolate), less sweet then nose lets expect with alcohol and licht bitterness in background. Aftertaste is lightbitter from hops withsome chocolate/roast notes. Altogether not too strong so easy drinkable and alcohol not too dominant make it a enjoyable beer for me.

Picked up during my recent Belgium Trip. As we had arrived early for our scheduled tour of the Brasserie Caulier, we decided to tromp around the town of Péruwelz. I picked this offering up in a small beer store called Le Brassin.

Presentation: 12 ounce brown glass bottle. The label has a red border which encompasses a skyline picture of Tournai, recognizable due to the monstrous Cathédrale Notre-Dame on the left of the label. Listed as “Lumière d’hiver – Bière de saison… Brune du Tournaisis”. The image and significance of a fancy red, yellow and blue shield at the side of the wording “Abbaye de Abdij Saint-Martin”, is somewhat ruined, and the mystery solved, by the fact that the Contract Brewer is clearly stated as being Brasserie Brunehaut in the top right hand corner of the label. It also states that this is 8% by Volume. Clearly this is a contract brew.

Appearance: Muddy tawny brown with some oak and chestnut hints that has some ruby flashes when backlit. Lovely tan colored smooth clinging head that laces extremely well. Fine beaded carbonation.

Nose: Deep sweet caramel nose with lots of sticky Devon toffee and thick yeasty odors. The alcohol is evident when deeply inhaled.

Taste: Lots of caramel and thick chewy malts, heavy yeast flavors, light spices and a sweet finish with the merest hint of orange rind. Toffee flavors cling to the cheeks and tongue once swallowed, which makes way for a spicy tingle. This has a tasty complex finish long after the beer has been swallowed.

Mouthfeel: Solid performance in this department. Warming malty alcohols with a thick chewy character that fills the mouth and warms the stomach once swallowed.

Drinkability: The 33cl I had was more than enough, quite sickly after a while if I am honest. This is more of sipping beer – as the Winter (Hiver) name does indeed suggest. Nice for a cold night though.

Overall: Strange but quite intriguing – but not one that would entice me to part with my hard exchanged Dollars for Euros again.