Castelain St. Amand French Country Ale

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

Deep amber color with a 3/4 inch light tan head. Aroma is very maltly with a caramel influence, other then that not much here. Taste is malty with a hop background that is presented well, caramel, and grassy.

St. Amand label - best before 04-04-07. Pours bright autumnal orange into a tulip. Tan micro head with good retention and slight lacing. Deep malt aromas. Fizzy and full with a crisp, dry lasting alcohol finish.

Sea chantie. brown amber hazy gold hed. salty coria, a little metal. bubblegummy fruity. kinda yum jum.

It seems for me, that this beer is more like the ch’ti ambrée, amber color, with a fluffy beige head, leaving nice laces, toasted and caramelized malts, grainy accent, bready, toffee accent, hint of prunes and dry raisins fruitiness, and cookie dough in the aroma follows through on a medium-bodied palate with a grainy toasted and caramelized malt character, toffeish accent, bready, hints fruitiness and nuttiness, good carbonation, leading towards a sweet chewy malty finish.

st amand french country ale bottle from blue max liquors in minneapolis: i’ve had this before, but not for a while again until now. huge earthy floral aroma and smells of sweet malts, absolutely wonderful aroma to my nose anyway. the flavor is similar, delicate and well balanced. somewhat sour in the flavor, but not overly so. i’m biased of course, i love farmhouse ales ;)

The French Country Ale alias. Aroma of fruit and yeast, with underlying malt. Coppery amber color, with a large initial head, which shrinks to about an 1/8 inch. Flavor begins with malt and a hint of citrus. Earthy notes at midpoint. Ends with floral notes, and I hope hops. Obviously not many. Yeasty bready, but thin, and rather surprisingly refreshing. Arguably a sour/acid tendency, but not obnoxious. Leaves the mouth fresh.

From a (fresh) corked, caged bottle.

Pours a deep red amber with a modest head. A bit of citrus on the aroma, a bit of mango, a bit of humus. The flavor disappoints somewhat - very subdued, very mild, the tiniest bit sour, not much going on here.

750 mL bottle, goblet. An impressively deep hue ranges from honey gold to mahagony. The head is initially sturdy and spritzy, a frothy collection of light tan bubbles. Starting with a sweet hazelnut note, the aroma quickly shifts into all manners of earthiness conjuring images of wool blankets stored in a dry and dusty cellar. Mild elements of dried flowers, herbs and grass float past leaving room for date and plum essences. The flavor begins with a mild, nutty and bready sweetness kept in check by brisk, earthy hops. Some graininess is exposed at the center but is brushed away by the steady carbonation and lead into a lean and dry rustic finish with hints of fruity acidity. Up until the finish the body has decent weight and a velvety texture, though it’s quite fortunate to dry out at the end. I’m simply dying for a cold, post-Thanksgiving, turkey ’n leftovers sandwich right now.