The Brewery

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The Beer

Many Belgian brewers who produce specialty beers will tend to offer two varieties that they swear by, a blonde beer and a dark or Christmas beer. The dark beer will have the fragrance and colour of roasted malt, with the occasional addition of a dash of candy sugar. Brasserie des Carrières is no different with their Christmas "Brune"...

At the Brasserie des Carrières the brewer is also the maltster. Julien Slabbinck is Quality Manager for Malterie du Château in Beloeil, known for its specialty malts.

In common with many microbreweries in the rural southern part of Belgium, Julien is dedicated to his terroir, sourcing his ingredients from as close to the brewery as possible.

The barley is grown in fields owned by the cousins of his business partner François Amorison and malted to his specifications.

A typical feature of these Diôle beers is a touch of caramel that gains in intensity through the styles: from blond to amber and finally brown. The reason? The mash basin is heated directly by a gas flame, causing the malt to caramelise.

This dark Diôle is fruity and zesty, the alcohol has a warming effect and the finish is slightly bitter. It is pure and honest, brewed only with basic ingredients.

And it seems it has a feminine appeal. Diôle Brune came out on top in a comparative blind tasting test held with a female panel.

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Alcohol

8.5% ABV

Fermentation

Diôle Brune is a top-fermented beer that re-ferments in the bottle.

Ingredients

Diôle Brune is brewed using water, a house yeast, pils malt, caramel malt, roast malt, Cascade Aramis hops and two other hop varieties.

Colour & Transparency

Diôle Brune shows up dark in the glass with a hint of red. There is a slight pearlisation underneath a head of café crème-coloured froth.

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Serving Temperature

8 – 9°C / 46-48°F

Serving Glass

As with the Diôle Blonde and Ambée, the Diôle Brune is served in its own branded glass featuring the ‘devil’s tail’ logo. A useful tip is never to machine wash your beer glasses to avoid corrosion and help you achieve the perfect serving result.

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Character, Tastes & Aromas

The aroma reveals touches of slightly roasted malt, biscuit and a hint of herbs.

The vibrant aroma is also present in the delicate taste, with its mild and warm caramel flavour that causes the alcohol to fade into the background.

The finish provides a pleasantly warm feeling followed by a touch of bitterness.

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Culinary

Diôle Brune is highly recommended with a tomette cheese, made from unpasteurised cow’s milk with added beer and malt, as produced by cheese affineur Jacquy Cange.

It also makes a great pairing with desserts, especially those including chocolate.

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Keeping and Storage

The brewer advises that bottles of Diôle Brune can be stored for up to two years. Keep your bottles upright in a cool, dark and dry place for optimal storage.

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Availability

Bottle ✔       On Tap ✖

Diôle Brune is available in 33cl bottles. Brasserie des Carrières is a microbrewery and as such doesn't have a massive output, certainly when compared to some of the bigger players in Belgium.

Locally you won't have any trouble finding the Diôle beers via the usual channels; those being specialised beer shops and café's. Outside of Belgium it will be a bit more difficult to lay your hands on this artisan beer - but it is possible.

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Other Brasserie des Carrières Beers

Diôle Ambrée
Amber beers are not as prevalent as they used to be. This type of top-fermented beer was the response of Belgian brewers to the foreign pils beers that flooded the market from the beginning of the 20th century. A contest was stag ...

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Diôle Blonde
The Diôle Blonde was the first beer introduced by Brasserie des Carrières. Its launch at the end of 2012 came after much fine-tuning and many a test brew in this microbrewery at the Malterie du Château in Beloeil, where brewer Jul ...