Bedondaine et Bedons Ronds Amère Veilleuse

Brewed by Bedondaine et Bedons Ronds
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Chambly, Canada

An amber beer with a disappearing beige head. The aroma is nicely hoppy combined with citrus notes. The flavor contains notes of grass, hops, caramel, and lots of lemon. Nice one - definately not English in its interpretation.

Copper colour. Herbal, piney hop aroma. Fairly toasty front, and a little bit bitter. Sweet brown bread malts complement a slightly ashy astringency. Quite bitter in the finish.

(RBSG05) Clear amber body with an off-white head. Aroma is medium sweet, earthy, floral, orange. Taste is medium sweet, floral, orange, some earthy. Soft, light-medium body. I expected a gimmick but was pleasantly surprised at how it came out -- the bitterness is there, but the use of less intense hops means that it never comes close to overpowering or tasting one-dimensional.

Big lasting head sticks to the glass. Irregular off-white head. The nose is huge, golding hops assault coming up floral and grapefruity with an earthy backbone. Limey herbal acidity reminds of algae. Very bitter, but not overwhelmingly so. Well contained hoppiness, dry spiced flowers, sharp mineral aspects. Light-medium bodied, nice carbonation. Precisely what it claims to be in the form of a huge bitter, but 200 IBU? maybe not

Pours a deep-caramel with a well-lacing off-white head. Nice, fresh, English hoppy bitterness in the aroma with some good caramel malty balance. Body has a touch of lemony citrus that results from the tremendous amount of hops used and a clean, crisp maltiness. Nicely balanced, unique and interesting.

The Lure:
An immensely colorful bouquet of flowers rests gleefully on a soft earth, watered by caramel and apricot juice. Hop leaves fly about in the dry-hopped gusts, as miscellaneous fruity esters hang on to the timid almonds. Resinous, dry-hopped goodness, with a cask-bubble head (although this is not on cask).

The Festivities:
Advertised for now as 200IBUs (although that might change after the lab tests). A muscular leafy and conifer bark hop bitterness garnishes the back of the tongue, but surprisingly balanced by a capable malt sweetness and grain character. Body even emulates the size of a regular ESB, medium-sized, very drinkable, a session is definitely possible with this one. A wet soil diversifies the flavor profile, as citrusy hops barely touch the finish to help ease the bitterness. All Nugget and Goldings here, by the way. Nicolas is a balance freak, and it shows even in this massively-hopped ESB. A true testament to his talent, imho. My prediction is that the lab tests will state that this is more like 80-90 IBUs though.

Transcendence:
Falling face first onto a hop vine, but immediately soothed by a malt balm. Voluntarily diving back in.

Draught at the brewpub
Copper color, nice head, nice lacing. Nose of pinecones and dandelions, bright crisp piney hops. The flavor is balanced, not overly bitter like I was expecting. The finish is clean, balanced, lightly sweet with no alcohol. I could drink more of this.

Dark amber with a thick lacing light moka head. Pleasant floral aroma with grapefruit notes. In mouth, rich hoppy floral hops, not as overbearing as last tasting of this beer, much less astringent, sweet caramel malt, nutty notes, veering on a classy IPA.