Brune
Brasserie de l'Abbaye du Val-Dieu

4/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

11.2oz bottle bb 4/12/13 poured into a chalice at fridge temp 8% ABV. The beer pours super chunky (it was purchased last week at room temperature and I didn't check the date). The color is medium brown and the head is a very light brown. The head recedes to a thin ring and island. The aroma is fairly strong for the style with big brown sugar and dark fruits. The taste is fairly oxidized burnt sugar with a strong alcohol presence for 8%. The dry finish offers just less than medium bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with just above average carbonation. Overall, too old and degraded to score. The beer shows promise if I see it fresher and would have to age well under the right conditions. Scored to the current average, but will actively seeking out again for an update.

 794 characters

4.08/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Pours a murky dark-brown color with a big top of white head that dissolves slowly and leaves some sticky lacings.
Aroma is dark malts, bread, caramel, tofee, chocolate, plums, raisins, brown sugar and spices.
The taste starts of sweet with notes of dark and dried fruits and brown sugar, with strong malty tones of bread and caramel in the back. Then finish has a slight bitterness and some good spicy notes. The aftertaste has a good lenght. Mouthfeel is soft and creamy, but maybe slightly weak. Medium carbonation with a medium body.
A very good example of a dubbel.

 573 characters

4.1/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from bottle to 10 oz serving glass. Dark brown colored liquid with a finger of foam. Nice aromas of dark fruits and powdered cocoa. Flavor is much more complex than the aroma. The dark fruit is there, and prominent, so lots of fig and plummy notes but there's also something tart like cherries. Under that is a caramel/cocoa flavor tying it all together. Got this one as a "mystery bottle" at a brewery and was quite pleased.

 432 characters

4/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

In the Maredsous school of Belgian beer, this is a nice go to Belgian that is not outstanding but will more than suffice.
Claims mocha (not really there) and a tad sweet, this will still leave you satisfied, but just know that there is even better out there.

 259 characters

4.09/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Intense dark brown color with orange gold highlights. Light tan cap and lacing.

Strong aroma of dark ripe figs and molasses accented with ripe dark cherries.

Wow, pretty complex and sophisticated flavors here. On entry the flavors present all together yet there is a high solo voice of Dry Oloroso Sherry richness that hints at but doesn't achieve sweetness. It's as if someone swirled caramel and honey in a bowl, poured it out then filled the bowl with the ripe fruits mention above. Finish brings dark barley notes of chocolate and unsweetened cocoa. I know, those two sound alike but they're not the same.

Full texture with balancing carbonation.

Another roasty, toasty hearty brown that does credit to Belgian brewing tradition.

 742 characters

3.55/5  rDev -12.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

Clear brown color with beige head. Aroma has mostly yeast esters with brown sugar and some sourdough. Taste starts sugary and yeasty, continues with some earthy notes and a light cardboard bitterness on the finish. Light body with a high carbonation, also quite dry on the finish. It tastes really authentic and "belgian" but it doesn't stand out with anything.

 361 characters

4.28/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Nice definite toffee and bready notes...not quite as sweet as St Bernardus, with a just a tinge more metallic aftertaste than St B's
Would enjoy again, but would let it flatten out a bit more in the glass and get rid of some of the effervescence .

 248 characters

4.13/5  rDev +2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured from 750ml bottle into Chimay goblet.

L-Medium brown pour with a quarter inch of tan foam.

S-Copper metallic smell, yeast, brown bread, sweet malts, musty wood.

T-Brown bread, yeast, toasted grain, tart raisin.

F-Heavy carbonation, creamy mouth feel, not overly sweet.

A solid brown ale, refreshing and light for an 8% beer. Quite easy to imagine monks drinking this.

 380 characters

3.94/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Dark brown amber colour (almost black actually) with a decent head of foam that stays very well. Smell of toffee and some roasted malt. The taste has toffee and roasted malt as well, together with licquorice, caramel and dark chocolate. There is also a strong (pilsener?) hop profile in the finish. I didn't note any fruit esters: this is more of a malt-hop-dubbel. It reminds me of some German doppelbocks actually. No complaints here though: a good dubbel, especially for those who like their beers a bit less sweet.

 518 characters

4.34/5  rDev +7.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

I was given a few samples of beer from this brewery marketed in Spain as Maset. This one is Maset Rubia.

330ml bottle into 350ml beer glass.

Pours a hazy, medium brown with a small head. Lots of lacing.

Nose is big with malts, brown sugar, toffee. Nice.

Palate is big and malty with brown sugar, toffee, caramel and biscuit. Well balanced. Very nice.

Mouth feel is good - medium bodied and quite silky smooth.

Overall a very enjoyable beer. Big, malty and quite sweet.

Highly recommended.

 496 characters

3.88/5  rDev -4.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Reddish brown in color with a large creamy tan head. Looks a bit like root beer at first, but red hinst show through when held up to the light

Has a nice smell, seems malty with brown sugar, toffee, and caramel.

A but sweet up front, more like a fruity sweetness, mainly cherry. Has a touch of toffee as well, and with the sugar and carbonation, reminds me a lot of drinking a cola drink, but with alcohol warming at the finish.

Feel is a bit watery, and with the carbonation, feels like I am drinking a cola.

How much you like this one depends on your tolerance for sweetness. I didn't find it overly sweet, but those sensitive to sweets may find it a bit much. I think the best comparison would be it is like drinking an alcoholic cherry Coke. Good, and I liked it, but may not be to all tastes.

 801 characters

4.38/5  rDev +8.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

From Club del Gourmet of El Corte Ingles. In Teku glass. Watching Sons of Anarchy 6x09. Amazing aroma, great taste. One of the best brews that can be bought at El Corte Ingles. To enjoy slowly

19 Enero 2019. En su copa. Viendo el Protegido. De Club del Gourmet del Corte Ingles. 26 meses pasada de fecha. Si bien no tiene nada desagradable, le falta intensidad en las notas oscuras. Mantengo puntuacion por estar pasada

 420 characters

3.71/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Dark brown colour, creamy big off white head that lingers all the while. Great lace. Smell of candied sugar, caramel, milk chocolate, hints of xerry wine and red fruits. Medium to full body, lively carbonation. Taste of caramel, cherries, chocolate. Finish with some toasted nuances.

 284 characters

4.29/5  rDev +5.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured from 0.75 l bottle into goblet.
L: Turbid dark red-brown with a medium foam head.
S: Dark fruits, caramel.
T: Caramel, dark fruits, very complex.
F: Tight body and medium carbonation.
O: Great example of belgian dubbel.

 226 characters

4.56/5  rDev +12.6%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

Aftertaste of this a bit hazy brown or maybe closer to dark golden colored beer is especially light, which I really liked. While I am new to this style, so far there are few beers I've tasted that had such an enjoyable aftertaste.
Smells a bit like champagne or white wine, has a nice looking foam which disappears very slow comparing to many other beers. Overall very light, so as the 8 degree alcohol within this one which is close to unnoticeable.

 450 characters

4.26/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Aroma is lightly sweet (banana?) and molasses-like; a touch smoky and tart with a slight crayon-like aroma. Cloudy and dark brown with ruby highlights; pale tan head that doesn't last especially long. Lots of rich, malty sweetness, toasted bread crust, notable alcohol; spicy, dried fruit-like flavors; a bit of that crayon-like taste; slight accentuating bitterness; some alcohol in the finish followed by a fruity and malty aftertaste. Smooth, frothy, mouth-filling carbonation; surprisingly little dryness from the alcohol.

Solid and straightforward; plenty of sweet, roasty malt and frothy carbonation which makes for an enjoyable experience. Not especially complex, but the flavors and aromas that are present are enjoyable. The alcohol is a bit boozy for my taste but not uncharacteristic for the style.

 811 characters

4.45/5  rDev +9.9%

Poured into snifter.
Hazy brown beer with nice beige head, excellent retention. Smell of hazelnuts, dark fruits, toffee, smoke. Flavour of dark fruits, candy sugar, yeasts, smoke notes, very complex, balance between sweetness, sourness and bitterness. Medium bodied, slightly alcoholic brew. Magnificent!

 304 characters

3.93/5  rDev -3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

They had lots of stuff hand written about it being a handmade cloister beer, so they're right in that they're an Abbey beer. At 8%, I was concerned for my sobriety, but what the hell. Surprisingly, it had lots of banana flavors and virtually no bitterness, but had a few sour notes, so it was leaning towards an Oud Brun. The alcohol was hidden well in a very caramel-forward beer. 4.

 384 characters

3.52/5  rDev -13.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a hazy dark crimson-brown with a foamy khaki head that settles to a partial film on top of the beer. Foamy swaths of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt, dark fruit, alcohol, and slight smoke aromas. Taste is much the same with smoke and dark fruit flavors on the finish. There is a mild amount of smoke bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer that is fairly tasty but the smoke presence I am getting is unexpected for the style.

 574 characters

4.22/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a stubby, brown 33cl bottle into a snifter Most of the dark, muddy sediment at the bottom of the bottle added in the pour. The beer was still rather clear, dark brown in color, with a small bone-colored head. The head soon died to a top coat but ample and attractive sticky lacing was left clinging to the glass as the level slowly reduced.

Sweet and fruity aroma. Sniffing this is the only way one gets a hint that the ABV is over 4-5% (except for some warming).

The flavor is mildly sweet with a slight bitterness and a touch of sour. There's a load of dark fruit over medium and medium-dark malts with a hints of smoke, wood, and coffee in the finish and aftertaste. Hints of plums, prunes, dried cherries, roasted nuts and fruit cake. Yum (approaches 4.5)

M: Full, creamy smooth feel with fine, soft carbonation.

O: A very satisfying and drinkable brune. The 8% ABV is mostly well hidden.

 911 characters

3.89/5  rDev -4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Abbey val dieu brown pours adeep reddish brown. A beige head which is quite thin sits on top. The body is dense and fades with lacing in it's wake.
The aroma I get hints of sweet malts candied sugar and molasses but there is also a sourness to the aroma as well as vinagar notes.
The taste is dark fruits and sweet candied sugar. Some malts too while the yeast gives a bit of a spicey taste as well. Also, there is a sour taste one can pull out.
While the brew is still chilled it drinks dry and bitter but as it warms the sweetness of the brew comes out and hepls tone down the bitterness.
This brew drinks thinner then most dubbels with some warming alcohol on the palette.
This is a good beer but with decent flavor but what throws me off is the sourness like one might taste in a Flanders style. In any event a pretty likeable brew.

 836 characters

4.01/5  rDev -1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured from a stubby brown bottle into a goblet. Dark, reddish brown with one inch of beige head. Thined slowly but left lots of pretty lacing all around. Aroma was malts and for the first time I get the "bread" description for beer. Mouthfeel heavy in a good way. Maybe substantial instead of heavy, you know it's there but it isn't a burden. I picked up some nuttyness, brown suger and some alchol. I got this one on a whim with no expectations. I'll get it with malice of fore thought next time.

 498 characters

4.05/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Pours a hazy brownish dark red with one finger thick cream colored head. Settles to a thin ring, with a few thick rings left down the glass. Smell: brown bread, baker's chocolate, cooked red apple with a brown sugar and cinnamon dusting. Taste: upfront it's ripe pear and toasted brown bread with a slight alcohol note, then into powdery unsweet chocolate, red apple skin, cinnamon and (very mild) anise. Mid sip there's some balance from a mild earthy hopping. Medium bodied with fluffy carbonation, juicy towards the end of the sip before a semi-dry, spice accompanied finish. Nice dessert compliment or dessert itself. Cork stamped 10/12.

 641 characters

3.96/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

33cl stubby brown bottle into a matching Val-Dieu goblet. Again, an example of the best by date being already surpassed (7/7/11) yet I have no gripes about this brew being over the hill by any regards. The brew appears a dark mahogany color with seriously clarity when held to the light. A finger and a half of mildly tanned cap sits atop and slowly fades leaving a full wall of lacing effect on the glass.

The aroma is straight blackstrap molasses coupled with notes of brown sugar, raisins, dates and dark belgian candy sugar/syrup. There is a hint of something root beer or cola-like across the middle of the nose before going on to something more like fruity to floral hops with a hint of earth. Across the back, as this brew warms up there is a hint of something almost dusty or musty about the grain inclusion.

The taste is similar to the aroma in that molasses is a very solid inclusion to the flavor profile. Hints of brown sugar, raisins, dates and belgian candy sugar all support in a formulation to add to the complexity of the sweetness in this brew. However, there is a solid contrast of citrus to fruity and floral hop elements with enough alcohol inclusion to keep things in check. Whereas the aroma led on to this being somewhat oxidized and dusty, the flavor profile is rich, luscious, inviting and very much fresh.

This is a medium bodied brew with a slick, modest amount of carbonation that was perfect for the style. Overall it was a decent take on the style with the aroma being a bit underwhelming but the flavor really picking things up. My only gripe is that the flavor and residual malt character almost had a bit of piercing sweetness that stung the back of the throat. Having dried this out just a little bit would have helped to increase the overall enjoyable and drink-ability. As-is I almost feel guilty like I should go take a shot of insulin to counteract the sweetness of this brew.

 1,918 characters

4.22/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

750 ml bottle into chalice, 02/09 cork dating. Pours lightly hazy dark reddish brown color with a nice 1-2 finger light khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Spotty foamy lacing clings to the glass. Aromas of big raisin, prune, caramel, toffee, toast, chocolate, molasses, herbal, earth, clove, pepper, and yeast spices. Damn excellent aromas with great balance and complexity. Taste of raisin, prune, toffee, toast, bread, molasses, chocolate, herbal, earth, clove, and yeast spices. Lingering notes of dark fruit, molasses, caramel, toffee, toast, biscuit, nuttiness, earth, and clove on the finish for a good bit. Nice balance and complexity of flavors; no cloying sweetness at all on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a fairly creamy and slick mouthfeel that is very nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a slight warming noticed well after the finish. Overall this is a highly excellent Dubbel! Great flavor complexity and balance; and very smooth to sip on. Highly enjoyed this one.

 1,054 characters