It seems that Val Dieu Winter ale and I were destined to meet. Just this past Friday, I found myself at the liquor store perusing the aisles for my regularly scheduled beer purchase. One of the beers I spied was a 750ml bottle of Val Dieu Winter Ale. It seemed a bargain at only $6.99, but I decided on a few other beers and figured I would get it next time.

After I was on my merry way, I began to rethink my decision. Why hadn’t I bought the Winter Ale? After all, I heartily enjoyed both Val Dieu Brown and Val Dieu Tripel in the past. The beers from this Belgian brewery always seem to be truly wonderful. Oh well, there was next time, I thought.

Later that night, my Beloved Barbara™ and I were out to dinner, and decided to finish the night with a few at Summits Wayside Tavern . Lo and behold, what was on draft but…..you guessed it…. Val Dieu Winter Ale. So I ordered up a glass despite the fact that it was $6.99, as much as a bottle would have cost me at Green’s.

They served it up in a stemmed, bowl-shaped Trappist ale glass, allowing the full rich aromas of the beer to waft to my nose, enticing me to take a sip. But before we partake, let’s examine the beer a little, shall we?

The importer provides the following description:

Beer Style:..... Belgian Abbey Ale Alcohol by Volume:..... 10.5% Characteristics:..... Holiday Dark Ale with chocolate and Port Wine overtones. Ingredients:..... Pilsen and Torrifier malts, Hallertau-Hersbrucker and Saaz hops

A strong, dark, spiced Belgian ale made especially for the holidays. Val Dieu does brew up specialty beers for Christmas as special orders, and this one may have been brewed specially for the American market, though I can’t be sure. Whatever the case, this one was a definite treat.

The liquid was a dark reddish brown color in my glass with a very light creamy head crowning the top. A fine layer of Brussels lace clung to the sides of my glass as the liquid descended. Upon my first sip, my tongue was overwhelmed by a parade of wonderful flavors: Sweet molasses, rum raisin ice cream, brown sugar, licorice, a hint of chocolate, candied fruit, and spice cake all came to mind.

There were notes of slightly musty Belgian yeast flavors, too, though the other flavors did their best to drown them out. The beer finished ever so slightly sweet in the finish. That finish was very, very warming, too, with lots of alcohol heat nicely balancing the beer. That should be no surprise, however, since at 10.5% this one is twice as strong as most beers.

If you see a bottle of Val Dieu Winter ale, don’t make the same mistake I did. Buy it immediately. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must go. I’m off to snag that bottle I should have bought in the first place.



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