Val-Dieu Brune (The Brown Val-Dieu)

Brewed By: Brasserie de l’Abbaye du Val-Dieu in Aubel, Belgium 

Purchased: 11.2oz/330ml bottle bought at Binny's in IL; 2013

Style/ABV: Belgian Dubbel, 8.0%

Reported IBUs: ?

Ah, the infamous doubleheader. Much more enjoyable when your team isn't the 2013 White Sox and they don't suck. About Val-Dieu:

The Cistercian Abbey “Notre Dame du Val-Dieu” was founded in 1216 by monks from Hocht, near Maastricht (the capital city of the Dutch province of Limburg) and the county of Dalhem. The legend goes that the uninhabited valley into which they settled was so hostile the locals called it the "valley of the devil." The monks renamed it "Valley of God," or Val-Dieu in French. Val-Dieu was the only Belgian abbey to survive the French Revolution. Today, the abbey is still linked to the Cistercian Order, and the abbey of Lérins.  

According to Wikipedia, the abbey's original church was destroyed in 1287 during the War of Limburg Succession, and again in 1574 during the Eighty Years' War, and again in 1683 by the armies of Louis XIV. Under Abbot Jean Dubois, from 1711 to 1749, the abbey flourished, until the church was destroyed again in the French Revolution. 

The brewery (Brasserie de l'Abbaye du Val-Dieu) was established in 1997 at the abbey farm. Originally, the monks of Val-Dieu brewed beer to make the water drinkable and to avoid diseases like dysentery, cholera, and typhoid. The beers brewed at the abbey today are inspired by the original recipes of the monks. The abbey emphasizes basic ingredients, a rigorous brewing process, and straight up legit water from the regional Gileppe dam. For more info, check out the abbey's website, or the Val-Dieu website.

The Brown Val-Dieu is described as having a coffee/mocha character, with some roasted malt character and spice.

Val-Dieu Brune (The Brown Val-Dieu)

Like the Blond, this beer was eager to leave the bottle, and poured with crackling, cackling carbonation. The beer pours into a cola-black body, and a centimeter of head quickly peaced out like some Date Sugar Yeast Magik shit. In bright light this beer is a hazy raisin-purple, and there's a brown ring of carbonation clinging to the edge of the glass. Agitating the beer does kick up some head.

The aroma here is more of the same stuff you get on the Blond: lots of wheat, perfume, fruity esters, and Belgian phenol stuff. There's a heavier chalky aroma coming from this, along with some hints of underlying booze, roast, and dark fruits. I'm getting some grapes, plums, raisins, and hints of rum.

You get a lot of chalky dark fruits in this, with some big boozy phenols, and some smoke and roast in the back. The surprise twist in this? The blast of mocha and chocolate towards the back. I'm getting rum, grapes, plums, perfume/phenols, hints of pepper, boozy depth, some powder/dust, and that malty blast of anise/smoke/roast/mocha/chocolate. The depth of flavors is nice.

It's apples and oranges to compare this Brown to the Blond, but the Blond was middling compared to similar beers. This beer is a legit contender in the Abbey Dubbel ring. The mouthfeel is medium-full to full-bodied, with creamy carbonation smoothing everything over, and chalky density with some hints of powder/dust and spice in the back. Palate depth is outstanding, with each sip taking you on a journey, and each journey lasting 15-30 seconds. Complexity is also good. I'm getting a blast of wheat/stone fruits, and then dark fruits up front with some rum; that rolls into boozy perfume and phenol, peppery spice, chalky density; the back has chalky malts, anise, smoke, roast, mocha, chocolate, and finishes seductively boozy with lingering spice. At 8.0%, this has seductive booziness, but drinkability is high.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. Hot damn, this is a good Belgian Dubbel. The expansion of flavors across the palate is top notch. I would buy this beer in a 4-pack or 6-pack format, or by the bomber. Like the Blond, this has a vinous quality that might work with Parmesan chicken and spaghetti with a red sauce, anything with a red wine sauce, purple potatoes or potatoes in general, rustic dishes, and meats and cheese, of course.

Random Thought: Does anyone else remember the second Sox game in that double header that went until 1am? No? I don't either, and I doubt the 7 people that were left in the stands at 1am remember either. 2014, baby.