Castelain St. Amand French Country Ale

Brewed by Brasserie Castelain
Style: Bière de Garde
Benifontaine, France

I was pointed in the direction of this rating domain by the "powers that be." There’s nothing blonde about the biere de garde I’m drinking, but here goes... Hazy, ruby-colored ale with a small, creamy, beige head. Great retention. The aroma is of pear, leather, barnyard, caramel and everything earthy. Sweet and watery flavor. The ABV is completely hidden, but the taste is almost cloyingly sweet and thin. The light hops kick in at the very last possible moment. Medium-bodied with a silky mouthfeel and soft carbonation. Dryish finish.

Clear, copper body with a very thin, white head. Malty, slightly skunky aroma. Sort of sweet malt with odd off-flavors. The hops are understanded when not skunky. The body is moderate, for the best aspect of this one. The flavor sucks as well, with the alcohol coming through to be far too strong for the stated amount. Really disappointing, as I was beginning to enjoy this style.

Cloudy amber color with a beige head. Aroma and flavor of malt, candy, and yeast. Pretty good.

"St. Amand" French "Biere de Garde". The smell was amazingly uninhibited fruit. hazy copper, full malt flavor up front. Absolutely depressing finish, hardly any hop to be detected. Leaves a cloying, astringent malt character. I probably won't go back to this one but it was good to try once.

Labelled as St. Amand. Clear dark gold/apricot color. Very smooth looking - poured with very little head and clear lacing. "Fresh" smelling. Sweet with cantaloupe and honeydew melon flavors/aromas. Medium bodied - smooth and mellow tasting. Finish was dry with some lingering sweetness. Enjoyable.
Earlier Rating: 8/21/2002 Total Score: 2.8
Mine says "CH’TI" most prominently on the bottle. Orange and Pink hued body. no head!? kind of flat (not a good sign,huh?). Tasted a bit flat, but did not appear to be an old bottle. Very sweet, with a strong alcohol taste, some drying hop flavors towards the end. This could possibly be past it’s prime, will rerate if i find another!

amber, color..thin almond colored head. aroma is mildly sugary sweet, a fair amount of mustiness. flavor has a wet papersack mustiness as well, just seems sweeter and fake. flavor is mostly thin, and generally not that good.

Hazy orangeish brown, effervescent with fizzy soda water head. Aroma is strongly of cider, ginger bread and apricot. Flavor is sweet and fruity and very much like a dubbel. The cider is again the prevalent theme but I get hints of hazelnut and pipe tobacco. Somewhat creamy with a thin, slightly musty finish and overall too sweet for my tastes.

Pours a dark brown color with a nice creamy head. Lacing is evident but not very dominant. Aroma is slightly fruity with a strong yeast nose. Flavor is well rounded with a light alcohol kick in the end. Finishes smooth and mild, very close to a belgian dubbel. Overall this one was well aged and has a good amount of complexities. Thanks Indra!