Swaf Ambrée (formerly Vervifontaine)

Brewed by Brasserie de l’Abbaye du Val-Dieu
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Aubel, Belgium

Yellow gold. Clumpy foam deposits sticky patches of foam on the glass with each sip. Perfumey aroma of tangy herbs and rose petals dusted with white pepper, lavender, and musty yeast. Background brett and mandarin orange whispers. Pillowy and meringuelike on the tongue. Extremely engaging, right away, with an integration of glazed malt sweetness, lightly toasted hay, and gritty brett. Trenchant herbal hop bitterness effortlessly penetrates the lush malt textures, but it remains remarkably balanced. Despite the firmness, an equally amount of elegant softness lies beneath. Delicate rosewater and succulent mandarin orange and fresh peach notes negate the robust brett punch while palate hugging herbal hops and richly textured malts sustain the deceptively full body. Vivid white pepper and lavender are greatly lengthened by the powder textured body and zestful sharpness. Teasingly dry finish is laced with sea salt, bitter herbs, candied mint leaves, and medicinal-tinged brett sharpness, as randomly exploding pockets of moistness fill the palate. Had I tasted this beauty blindly, I’d have mistaken it for a Fantôme creation...it’s that charmingly rustic. What an experience.

Head is initially large, frothy, rocky, off-white, mostly lasting. Body is hazy medium amber, bottle conditioned. Aroma is moderately malty (cookie, caramel, toasted grain), lightly hoppy (flowers, orange), lightly yeasty (cobwebs, barnyard), with notes of clove, nutmeg, oregano, mint, honey, etc. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, moderately acidic, moderately bitter, long. Medium body, velvety/creamy texture, soft/lively carbonation, lightly alcoholic. Wowwwwww. As expected, the acidity works better in this context than in the brune (for me), and everything about this is absolutely wonderful. The aroma, mouthfeel, appearance, and length of the finish are extraordinary. It’s a damned shame this wonderful brewery closed. Sigh.

Bottled (BBE 2009)
Hazy amber-nut brown color, foamy tanned head. Interesting nose: like mixture of Orval and De Dolles - horseblanket, lemon and sweet yeast. When beer warms up, it becames musty. Flavor is quite unique too: licorice, sugar, spices. Liquerish sweet palate. Hides 8% very well. Something not to drink in quantities.

(Bottle 33 cl) Pours a clear, pale, amber golden with a creamy, off-white head. Fruity, lightly exotic aroma - perhaps the ginseng? Good, full body with sweetish, malty accents and a spicy edge and a touch of yeast. Very Belgian and very decent. Courtesy of Beerole. 040307

Bottle, 7%. Sweetish aroma, a little aniseed. Almost clear grey/brown colour. Small creamy head. Malty, slightly peppery flavour with a little sherry. The pepper is nice and balances malt and sweetness.

Orange-amber beer, hazy; with a very creamy, off-white head, leaving lace. Very perfumed and leafy nose, smells of roasted malts, nutty as roasted peanuts. Again quite roasted, toast-like taste. Remarkably little bitterness (isn’t ginseng supposed to be bitter?). Retronasal some citrus, orange-like. Quite burning MF. Rather well bodied, and sweet aftertaste. I am under the impression that the original Vervifontaine beers were more spiced, characterised by the ginseng. This is rather sweet.

(Bottled, red cap) Murky dark amber-orange color with a very large, firm and lacy head. Perfumy, slightly plasticky and sweetish ginseng aroma with berry and toilet hints. Sweetish and acidic, fruit-berry flavor with a mildly bitter, salty and astringent finish. Long, lingering, raspberry and salty licorice aftertaste. Medium-bodied palate with slightly foamy carbonation. A quite original, quite well-balanced brew, but definitely not drinkable in larger quantities.

11.12 oz bottle, best before 07/07/07, split with Tiggmtl on 8/27/06.
Good to see it’s still bottle conditioned. Massive, clumpy, beige/ginger-skin colored head is fiercely stubborn. Plenty of medium-sized bubbles cascade upwards in an earl-gray tea colored body with some lighter golden tints. Head is well-retained and sticks about everywhere to the glass.
Sweet nose seems underattenuated from the outset. But earthy, musty yeast spread about crunchy graham crackers helps break apart some of these thick, caramel sugars. Kind of reminds me of the D’ecaussines line of beers, with it’s heavily yeasty, hearty, robust, unrelenting cellar quality.
Spiciness, almost ginger-like, breaks open the palate, but filling in the holes seems to be more fatiguing caramel and heavy honey-like sugars. Doughy and at the same time fruity, with a strong tart-cherry/orange-rind note that must come from the spices. A bit more of the crusty breadiness and cracked grains emerges upon warming, but it’s certainly not getting any less sweet. All the while, the yeast chips at the palate (I really don’t like this yeast, despite really enjoying Val Dieu trippel, I certainly don’t remember that one being this musty/moldy).
The chain of sugars is unbreakable, leading to a thick, rich texture. Expressive, somewhat engaging carbonation works overtime to help keep it drinkable, but it can’t ultimately. Alcohol not noted in aroma or flavor.
Seems like a competent Belgian ale, but just WAY underattenuated and the spices are just confounding and brash. I’ll have what they’re having (Jeff and Ernest). Thanks anyway, Stephen. Maybe the blonde and Brune will prove better.