Swaf Ambrée (formerly Vervifontaine)

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.

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.

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.