Malheur Dark Brut is taking beer-ponce levels to new highs. Everything about it is beer undercover... as champagne!! Besides the svelte bottle, there's gold trimming around the cork and controversial green glass. Some brewers will argue that this leaves it open to light contamination (heaven forfend!). Apparently, UV light can penetrate glass and gives an eggy aroma, but brown glass can prevent this. I've never experienced it myself, being one to buy most beer in brown bottles and not leave them on the windowsill, but experts is experts! Finally, and most obviously, the name 'Brut' is a clear indication that they're placing themselves in the higher echelons of the drinkosphere (I just made that word up).
Having such pretensions and one could say delusions of grandeur (not to mention £15 a bottle) could lead to overblown expectations and eventually disappointment. Conversely, if this beer really is the mutt's nuts, why should it not assume the identity of something on a higher plane?
How does this prestigous beer fare after all its self-supposed fanfare?
It pours with a suitably champagnesque head; fast to rise and gentle to fall. Its body, of course, could be no further different to champagne but its dark brown has wonderful clarity and spark. We drank in champagne glasses to rise to occasion and it worked fairly well. The only thing I missed was a larger top to plunge my nose into to get a good whiff (I'm in the habit of getting foam on my nose these days...) but I got a good idea nonetheless.
It did go further than your standard dubbel with a really sumptious aroma; hot chocolate was the first pleasant surprise, along with strong caramel and vinous alcohol. The treats continued into the mouth, with burnt butter, a gentle yeasty sweetness and a perfect hop bitterness in the aftertaste (try that one, champers!). There's no fruity element but there's enough going on, really.
It totally belies its strength, aside from a cheeky little zing in the nose after swallowing. The real trick it pulls is its fluffy lightness; this is where it really earns its 'brut' stripes. It floats in your mouth, bubbling away marvellously and doesn't leave too much behind (although enough for a 'chewer' like me). The sweetness left behing is the final treat.
Impressed? You bet. My only qualm is that, whilst it is much better than your average bruin/dubbel, it's not that much better than the best; perhaps not to justify the price. Don't get me wrong though, this is seriously good.
Malheur Dark Brut - 9.5
http://www.malheur.be/bieren.php?l=nederlands (Dutch/French only)
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