BFM Cuvée du 7ème

Brewed by BFM (Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes)
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Saignelégier, Switzerland

Unknown vintage of my swing top bottle, but has had time to gather lots of dust. Pours with a large, rocky, white head covereing a cloudy, light orange body with some medium sized particles floating around in it. Some alcohol legs stand above the minimal lacing on the side of the glass. Aroma is rich orange zest, tangarine hops, some citric sourness (and barnyard), lightly tangy toffee malts and some muscat grapes. Taste is dry and quite tangy with a bit of sourness. Lots of lemon with some apple, earthiness, and wood. Creamy mouthfeel with soft bubblees. An odd, sour instead of bitter IPA.

Bottle, 2006 vintage. Fluffy white head tops a hazy amber body. Faint apples on nose, mild funk, grass, faded bitter hops. This was super dry, funk and strong bitter that developed very late in the taste. A touch of apples, mildly tart, some hay, yeasty, hints of spice (pepper, herbal), very slight toasted malts come through. Full mouthfeel, lush, with super drying, earthy finish. Would love to try this fresh.

This one is a style bender. Bottle pours a hazy orange body with a small beige head that has some legs. Aroma is fruity and herbal. Peach, white pepper, lemongrass, and some floral hops. Medium body with low medium carbonation and a prevailing dryness. Taste has some lemonrind, cracked pepper, and lots of herbal and floral notes. A lavender water note seems to be present. Very intriguing!

750mL Bottle. #00276. Fermenting bread dough, wet pineapple, and fresh spring grasses. Pours a deep, hazy bloodied amber, fuming with a pillowy, mousse-like sand-colored head. Flavor is a sweet wash of tangerine and apricot juice, fettered with a bit of oak-like brett and chewy sugars. Very complex in mid-colored fruits and bread. Good flavor profile for sure, but it takes a while for the hop oils to shine. The smack really runs with slightly old-tasting EKG. Light and fluffy. I like it as a beer, but it’s pretty far off style. Not really sure why this should even be an IPA. Good beer, with complex, pleasing well developed flavors balanced by some yeast characters and long-drawn hops.

750 ml bottle shared with Phil, served at cellar temperature in tulip glasses. MA18/08

App.: Cloudy orange-copper, tight white head, good lacing. Aroma: Lots of sour cherries, spicy and peppery, a bit funky, some light non-descript fruitiness, a bit of sweet malt, some leafy hops, a bit of peach, some yeast and bread crust. Palate: Medium+ body, fairly soft carbonation. Flav.: Much like the nose – sour cherries, some spice and funk, a bit of wood, white pepper, a bit of yeast and bread dough; lightly tart, fairly bitter.

Quite enjoyable and Phil agrees. A very unconventional IPA. Nice job.

I was pleasantly pleased with how this one turned out. Pours a hazy light orange, with an impressive cloudy like head. Lots of citrus in the nose, ever present since it was opened. Some crispness as first, followed by some hay, candied fruits and a bit of honey sweetness, rounds out into a very dry finish. Very delcious and unique

Opaque brown-orange, large small-bubble head that fades to cap. Aroma gives off fruity ale yeast as well as funk, some nice citric notes in bitter orange, and a noticeable sweetness reminiscent of English barleywines. Taste is very malty - toasty, caramely, quite an interesting taste really. Honeyed light fruits, some grass, hay, and must, spicy noble-like hop notes. Yeasty as well. To summarize: caramel, toast, grass, and yeast - all over the map, quite interesting. Finish is long and moderately bitter. Little detection of alcohol whatsoever. Truly complex and unique, not sure if I quite enjoyed it more than as a nice deviation, though.

Pear, boiled peanuts, and mud on the nose. Muddy brown pour with an enormous head, full of sediments. Musty pear, caramel, malt, and fig flavor. Alcohol noticeable. Light grass finish. This was pretty good, but an IPA? What hops were used?