Castelain St. Amand French Country Ale

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

Ok, I am not quite sure when this bottle was from so I don’t know if it was really aged or not. However, it pours a white foamy head and a reddish body. Has a really pretty fruity aroma. The taste is fruity and slightly sweet; maybe even a little winy. It is a little dry and slightly bitter with notes of honey. An interesting beer and pleasant to drink.

75cl bottle from Willow Bend Liquors (Tampa, FL). Rated on 3/21/08. Pours a ruby brown color with a one finger off-white head. Aroma is honey, oak, earthy, bread. Flavor is faintly spicy with notes of sweet caramel, complex aged cheese. Light to medium-bodied with a quick finish.

750ml bottle. Great head on this beer. Rocky towers of off-white foam and excellent lacing on top of relatively transparent clear amber body. Really beautiful head and lovely lacing. Nice malty aroma. Soft; not too sweet. A little earth, malt, slight yeast. Nothing amazing about this beer, but easy to drink and fun to watch.

Soft caramelly, earthy palate. Golden-amber colour. Kind of musty aroma. On the tongue it gets watery late. It’s a rounded, lighter, softer example of the style, without much nuance.

North Raleigh Tasting. Pour is amber with a cloudy haze. Funky aroma (in a good way) Honey, orange, and a slightly sour finish that I really enjoyed.

Somewhat cloudy copper body with a medium frothy tan head. Sweet woody, musty apple aroma with some light honey and spice, lightly tart. Sweet fruity flavor with honey and spice. Medium body with high carbonation and a smooth sweet finish.

Pours with big luscious head in a tulip. Lots of lace. Hazy amber color is not so pretty of a shade. Total smokiness in nose. Flavors, though, are a total mess! Yeasty and a little smoky but generally just thin. Palate is highly carbonated and a little sticky. I can see this being beer for pairing with rustic country food but on its own is not so great.
re-rate</br>This Aug 31, 2005 dated bottle is like a different beer than the previous bottle. It is far fruitier, not at all smoky like the first one. Much more fruit: apples, pears. Disharmonious sourness in nose and palate too. As thin as it seemed the first time and also highly carbonated. The first one was just odd; this one seems like it’s seen better days.

Popped this open last night...Deep orange color w/ a orangish-tan thin head. Great nose of sweet fruit, some spice, a bit of citrus. Flavor was of oranges, caramel and I had a touch of metallic on the first few sips. Very little lacing...Medium carbonation and a easy palate. I’d like to try this one again...