La Brabançonne Brune
Brasserie Du Brabant

Presentation: 750ml green glass bottle with only a light brass colored crown top, no cork or label for that matter. Picked up at the newly opened Brasserie Du Brabant during a Brewery Visit with Wakefield CAMRA on Saturday 10th April, 2004 and lugged all the way back to the US.

Appearance: Wow, a silky smooth pour, carefully decanted into my Westvleteren Glass Goblet, some gun smoke still hung over the glass as it slowly developed a fantastic, almost exemplary appearance. Some may down mark this for its turbidity – but this beer is unfiltered and unpasteurised, so this is to be expected. A lovely deep murky (but not muddy) brown body that has a head formed from incredibly small infinitesimally small bubbles that form a typical incredibly smooth velvet blanket ¼” thick uniform collar light tan-brown head, reminding me of those seen on say Abbeye des Rocs and Westvleteren beers. Nice ring lacing forms easily with each sip, and it lasts. Intense finely attenuated bubbles in the conditioning.

Nose: Malts, and lots of them, mixed with some dark fruity aromas and a touch of Ginger in the middle and back end. This is brewed with 8 kinds of Malt, as is the Spéciale version, but unlike the Spéciale the normal Brune has some spices added and they really come through in the nose.

Taste: Fantastic, having spent nearly two weeks in my fridge, the beer still lacked clarity – but it bounced and punched with plenty of flavor! Malty with some oatmeal and Devon toffee-ishness to start with, the Cardamom really comes through in the middle and builds to the highest strength profile of the beer. The latter third has some black pepper feel with a mild clove finish that has a very slight cloying feel, though by no means detrimental.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, Silky and Solid. It sits in the mouth with a strong malty alcohol presence that is somehow inviting, like a nice warm clean sheeted bed when you’re tired, you simply cannot resist its charm.

Drinkability: I had absolutely no troubles dispatching the entire 750ml, including the dregs at the bottom of the bottle. Decidedly flavorsome and quite drinkable, it goes well with snacks of cold meats and cheeses. Where did the bottle go? I wish I had another!!

Overall: There was some confusion as to this beers identity and properties. We had all seen the Website and its beer listing before we viisted Brabant. But the scoop is that the 8% Brune is spiced, and the 9.1% Brune Spéciale is not – even though you would expect it to be the other way round!! So the Website listing is slightly incorrect for this beer, the Brune that is listed is actually the Brune Spéciale, at least that was our understanding!

Nevertheless, this is a very accomplished spiced Brune that has a superb classic Brune profile brought to life and spiced up, by well erm, Cardamom, Black Pepper and Cloves. Damn Good.

A new beer from a new brewery – as Lord Nelson said, keep an eye out for it.