Don-De-Dieu Is Just Dandy

Beer O’ The Week: Don-De-Dieu

Brewer recommends storing for three years

Wamp’s Wisdom

Photo: J.T. Wampler

Don-De-Dieu is billed as a tripel wheat ale from Unibroue in Chambly, Quebec.

It pours a hazy, honey color with a lively white head. On the nose, honey, vanilla and a floral aroma are all present. Taste is fruity and nutty with a spicy aftertaste that could be attributed to the 9 percent alcohol content.

Overall this is a tasty beer that seems to get better as it warms to around 
50 degrees. Normally I don’t like wheat beers but this one is quite nice and well balanced. The brewery recommends aging this beer up to three years to develop flavors to make a smoother beer. If you attempt this, make sure you store upright at 46 to 61 degrees out of the light.

Pair with goat cheese or sausage.

Rating: 4 caps

Rico’s Reaction

I don’t really want to talk about the taste of this brew.

Oh, sure, it’s an excellent wheat
 beer from our neighbor to the north with a great flavor that masks the 
9 percent alcohol content. It’s definitely a recommend and worth your time to check out if you like this type.

In this instance, though, I have some questions I’d rather explore.

First, how do you pronounce Don-De-Dieu, and secondly, once you do know how to pronounce it, how do you resist asking for it in a cartoonish sissy lad French accent? And how can a company named Unibroue not go for the obvious and have a unibrow mascot, even though Unibroue probably isn’t pronounced unibrow?

Then, how do you actually achieve storing a beer for three years? I know exactly what would happen in my case. There would be some evening a couple of months into the process where I’m bored, sitting around the house with an empty supply of beer, wine, etc., and I’m either too broke or not in the mood to go make any purchases.

“Screw it! I’m cracking open that Don-De-Dieu! Woh-ho-ho!” I’ll exclaim in a cartoonish accent that would make Maurice Chevalier blush.

And that’ll be the end of that little experiment. So finally I ask, “Does anyone have some self-restraint for sale?”

Rating: 4 caps