Alpine Beer Company Chez Monieux

Brewed by Alpine Beer Company (CA)
Style: Sour Ale
Alpine, California USA

Rating #1700. 750mL bottle, courtesy of goldtwins. Thanks, Larry! Pours a hazy, raspberry color; thin, off-white head with fine-bubbled lacing. Solid amounts of tart raspberries and red fruits in the aroma; funky, tart citrus, and some toastiness. Medium mouthfeel: toasty, raspberry tartness, some funk and citrus notes; reasonably funky and tart, with relaxed red fruits and toastiness; pretty solid, if a bit messy overall. Medium finish: toasted malts, raspberries / red fruits, and breadiness; soft malts in the end.

Well, I have been waiting to try this one, hoping that it would not be a let down. Damn, it is not starting well. Looks and smells a bit like Cherry 7-Up. Flavor is sickly sweet, with only the slightest wisp of oak showing up. Damn.

Courtesy TheCheeseMan. This one poured a clear rose color with a thin off white head. The nose is full of sweet fruits like cherry and strawberry, but it smells like a cherry soda. The taste is of semi-tart cherries with a touch of creamy vanilla and oak along with a good amount of carbonation. There was an acidic feel to it, but not exactly full on sour like you would hope. A soda like mouthfeel with the big carbonation and a syrupy cherry finish. This is certainly drinkable, but from a sour beer or anything that would live up to the price tag.

Pours a very lightly hazy, overly filtered rose color. A swirly, off-white film is all the head that this brew can muster. Wet, soapy lacing mostly rejoins the body. The nose disappoints right off the bat, showing primarily sweet cherry soda notes where one would hope for a true, sour Kriek aroma. Vanilla, oak, and a touch of lactose completes the nose. Flavors, too, are a letdown, with overly sweet, very lightly tart cherries dominating. Vanilla laden oak serves as a saving grace, imparting a smoothness that, combined with the lactic creaminess, makes the beer drinkable. The body is soda like, with clumsy, obtuse carbonation and a semi-sticky finish. This is drinkable, but it is essentially nothing like the masterful Belgian examples that it was based upon, and at $28/750ml is an outright travesty.

Bottle @ ORL throwdown, thanks to Beerlando for bringing this. Pours rose, with only a faint white ring in the glass. A little cheesy funk aroma, cherry, oak, and vanilla. Tart, a little sweet, cherries, oak and vanilla in the taste. Dry and sparkling. Overall, this was good, a touch sweeter than I’d like a lambic to be. Better lambics to be had for $28, but glad I got to try it.

Pinkish red pour with a thin bubbly ring. Fairly tart acidic nose with hints of oak and red wine, some cherry. Tart up front that rides through to some wine like hints, to oak, to some nice funk, then some cherry, and more lingering funk. Rather large carbonation, light body, a dry finish. Good, but something is missing here to make it top notch. However, I did enjoy it quite a bit.

Hand Bottle... SMAACMSM O-Town Throwdown, Part Sept... This beer rocks!... Hazy amber/orange ale with a small, frothy, off-white head. Smells a bit like New Glarus Belgian Red without the pie crust fragrance... cherries, vanilla and wood. Medium-bodied with a lightly creamy mouthfeel and very light, tingly carbonation. Medium sour with only mild sweetness and a trace of bitterness. Crisp, tart finish. I enjoyed this one immensely, but at $28.00 per bottle, it’s a little too spendy. Thanks go out to TheCheeseMan for bringing this one to the Throwdown!

Courtesy TheCheeseman. Pours a slightly reddish copper with a thin white head. Sour apple cherry aroma with a hint of some barrel flavor. Smooth funky sour taste with a little fruitiness in the end. Good not great.