Beer Tasting: Ommegang Valar Morghulis

Ommegang Valar Morghulis Dubbel

8% ABV

We often will put descriptors in front of the word "nerd" to delineate between a certain field and a complete lifestyle. One prime example, which fits well with this blog, is the "beer nerd". We've covered this fairly extensively, but what happens when you start combining specific types of nerd-dom? I'll tell you what happened to me. I've known about Ommegang's Game of Thrones themed beer series for a while now, but I've never had the pleasure of tasting any. So when I saw this one on the shelf, it was a collision of worlds and an utter no-brainer--it was coming home with me.

Both Hacksaw and I are fans of the books in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, along with the HBO series Game of Thrones. The latter is undoubtedly responsible for this line of beers, but seeing as alcohol, and specifically ale in some cases, plays a significant part in the series, it fits. On a side note, it seems as if the popularity of both craft beer and the show have contributed to the relative success of this series of brews. So why don't we see more of this type of thing? How have we gone so long and not seen a commercial brewery do an entire Star Wars brew-niverse (see what I did there)? A brief Googling turned up a few beers inspired by George Lucas' masterpiece, but not a series quite like Ommegang has done. If it exists, someone please tell me! Anyway, on to the beer.

Observations: Valar Morghulis pours a really pretty reddish brown with a robust tan head. The nose is fairly weak, but notes of toffee and raisins are faintly detectable. The flavor profile really exemplifies the dubbel style. The first taste brings a slight sweetness and flavors of caramel, toffee, and raisins to give your palate a big hug. It finishes with just a touch of alcohol burn to keep you honest and leave you with a lingering taste of cherries. As it warms a bit, the cherry and general fruitiness from the Belgian yeast start to shine through a bit more.

As I mentioned last week, I've been on a bit of a Belgian kick lately. This one just fanned the flames. For some reason I've always craved dubbels in the fall and the Valar Morghulis was an excellent candidate. All men may die, but hopefully not before tasting this beer (two cool points if you caught that one).

Cheers,

Jacob