Pater Lieven Brune

The next beer of our Ardennes winter retreat -- and this is number eight for those who want to keep track -- was Pater Lieven Brune. We had the 750 ml bottle after a long hard day of playing in the snow.

It pours with a lovely thick head and is very dark. The first sip revealed less body than that initial expectation, however. It was thin and a bit too fizzy at the start.

“It’s a good drink for moments like this”, said Nona. “A quenching relaxer at the end of the day.”

There’s a hint of citrus here, which seems fairly odd for a dark beer. But then I see from Michael Jackson that Curacao is added (as well as coriander) to all the beers made by the Van Den Bossche Brewery, so that would explain it. It’s brewed in Sint-Lievens-Esse, East Flanders -- a long way from the Caribbean island.

After a few minutes, the burnt malt flavours emerged more strongly, giving this abbey beer a heartier mouthfeel. It’s got a bit of a cold coffee taste, too, and it goes extremely well with biscoti alle mandorle.

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