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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Belgians big and small

Rick Bonino

Selkirk Abbey has produced a pair of new beers on opposite ends of the spectrum.

The heavy hitter is Cuvee de la Nuit Profonde (Blend of the Deep Night), a blend of barrel-aged 8˚ dubbel, 10˚ quadrupel and Guilt imperial porter.

While most of it is headed for 22-ounce bottles, a limited amount is on tap now at the brewery, though it’s not likely to last long.

“It’s rich and kind of decadent. It’s fun,” says owner/brewer Jeff Whitman.

The beer was born from 8˚ aged in wheat whiskey and syrah barrels for 10 months, 10˚ in syrah, burgundy and triticale whiskey barrels for 14 months, and Guilt that spent a year in a burgundy barrel.

“I can pick up the syrah and burgundy more than I can the two whiskeys. That’s partly by design, and partly the way it turned out,” Whitman says.

“The whiskeys just sort of lend to the overall richness. The syrah, you get that delicate fruit in the front and middle of the palate, and the burgundy contributes that dry, tannic finish that I like so well.”

At the other extreme is IV, a rare interpretation of a Belgian abbey-style single, a style Whitman says is “all but lost.”

The base is pilsner malt, along with enough Chateau Special B to contribute an amber hue and subtle fruit and nut notes.

“It’s a soft, delicate beer with everything you would find in an abbey-style dubbel, but cut in half,” Whitman says.

As for the name, he adds, it felt pretentious to call it 4˚, following the Belgian beer numbering convention that roughly equates to alcohol strength. “It’s just too small of a beer,” he says.

At just under 4 percent alcohol by volume, it’s designed for eventual distribution in the Utah market, where that’s the limit for beer sold in most establishments. “We’re working on it,” Whitman says.