À l’Abri de la Tempête Corne de Brume

Brewed by À l’Abri de la Tempête
Style: Scotch Ale
L’Étang du Nord, Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Canada

Original batch 500ml bottle provided by Glouglouburp. I’ve never had this fresh, but it seems to have lost a bit in these years in the bottle, which sucks, because I was seeking this out forever. Aroma is a bit milky, lactic, cardboardy weathered malts. Flavor is a bit more redeeming, with a gentle sweetness and calm malt characters that hints of something that used to be fantastic. Oxidation has taken over, though; a bit of sherry, but more cardboard, and a thin body. I do have a fresh bottle as well, although I hear it’s not as good; I’ll certainly be rating that one sooner rather than later, and hopefully will be able to enjoy this beer as it was meant to be had.

500ml, thanks to after4ever! Pours translucent, and very dark brown with ruby highlights and a massive, lacy tan head. Big sweet aroma of brown sugar, smoke, molasses and nuts. Medium body and light carbonation. That same smoky, nutty molasses nose translates directly to the taste, with all sorts of little flavor swirls to compliment the main theme. I need to figure out how to brew this stuff.

500. Batch 1. Can’t thank you enough, Glouglouburp! Holy cow, what an amazing beer. Pours crystal clear super dark brown with brilliant rubied highlights. Enormous sudsy tan head. Huge malty, bready nose--smells like biscuit, brown bread, and sweet caramel. Medium body, perfectly balanced: drinkable but complex, slows you down just enough to enjoy the pleasures of the flavor. Biscuit, brown tea, brown bread, caramel, nuts, and toast on the mid-palate. Peat showing through as well, mildly. Long tea finish. Mild herbal hop there at the end. Good stuff.

341ml bottle, dated Nov. 2007. Pours perfectly clear cherry mahogany. A beige head of medium to thick density built to a inch-plus, before settling into some remaining errant whisps on the surface. A few threads and ropes of lacework stuck around for the duration. Aromatics are laced with bright and clean malt. Loads of malt and scorched kettle. An alcohol presense makes itself known as well as a hint of smoke. The mouthfeel is crisp, creamy, and sticky. Residuals stay tacked to the tongue. The pallet is malt-forward, to say the least. Loads of ripe barley, caramel, and a whiskey- like alcohol note. Bitterness is subdued, as is all other hopping. This brew is all about clean malt character and substantial strength. Finishes with lingering malt, warming alcohol, and a hint of smoldered barley. I was told that this brewery makes thier own barley, but the label has plenty of cryptic french, so I cannot confirm. I was ready to be let down by this obscure small bottle that cost $6.99 in Quebec, but wowza! Probably the best Scotch ale I’ve ever had. Word.

Bottle, thanks for sharing iowaherkeye. The body was dark brown with a khaki head. The aroma was definite Whoppers. I got that from badbeer. There was also some pears and vanilla. The taste had Whoppers with some smoked malt. There was also some caramel. An overall light body with low carbonation. Well made.

12 oz. bottle shared by tjthresh. Pour is brown, with slight ruby highlights. Clear, with some carbonation and a 1/2 inch dirty white head. Aroma is scotchy, nutty, with some faint woodiness. Taste is thinner than I had expected, though the Scotch taste and woodiness come through nicely. The finish has a slightly unpleasant soapy/cardboard thing going on. Nice beer, thanks for sharing Tom.

12 ounce bottle from the Festivus guy. Pours brown with thick brown head and good lace. All malt here. A touch of peat maybe. Woody. Not the same thing as say Alesmith Wee Heavy. They seem to be of two different styles. Comes off like diluted Scotch Whiskey. Light body. Medium carbonation. Dry finish. Decent.

Bouteille brune de 331 ml. Nez d’alcool et de malt caramélisé. Robe cuivrée. Goût marqué par le malt caramélisé et l’alcool. Une certaine amertume de houblon est présente en arrière-goût. Il s’agit d’une très bonne bière, mais le prix demandé n’est peut-être pas totalement justifié.