Gavroche

Brewed by St. Sylvestre
Style: Bière de Garde
St. Sylvestre-Cappel, France

Bottle. Beautiful, totally cloudy auburn pour yields a firm, sticky head. Aroma is slightly tart at first pour, though quickly transforms into a spicy autumn type brew... cinnamon, green apple pie, roasty malts, nutmeg, plump plums. Very nice. Flavor is dissappointing, considering the great aroma... malty, and very harsh, overwhelming minerals and a chunky, bad almond kind of aftertaste.

Warm rusty gold body with a mild yeast load, moderate visible carbonation, and a thick, foamy, and persistent beige head. Sweet toffee aroma with cherry highlights and some breadiness. Some toasty sweet malt and mild esters, but the flavor is surprisingly dry overall. Sparkling mouthfeel with a light-bodied, dry palate. Doesn’t even remotely suggest 8.5% ABV. Fair, but unexceptional.

bottle pours amber with a short offwhite head. Aromas of yeast, caramel malts and soft floral hops. Flavor is caramel, some toasted malts, and some floral hops on the finish. Smooth malty palate makes this quite drinkable and a little better than I would have guessed it..

D’une odeur forte et d’apparence brumeuse avec une belle robe et dentelle. d’un bonne saveur et sans arrière-goût. Dans son ensemble, elle est une bonne bière forte avec un bon goùt épicé.

Bottle: Red with an off white head. Aroma of yeast, light malts, some floral hops, and some spice. Flavor, fruity, some yeasty/bready notes, floral hops. On the sweet side, with a little bitterness. Surprisingly enjoyable.

33 cl bottle. Cloudy amber colour and quite fizzy. The head is big and beige. Malty and spicy aroma, with also yeast and some alcohol and roasted notes. The flavour is overall sweet, with some bitterness in the finish. medium body, average carbonation, medium finish. Surely lacks something to be called a classic, but is a very nice beer.

33cL bottle ("Order #1001"). Head is initially large, frothy, off-white, mostly lasting. Body is hazy medium to dark amber, bottle conditioned. Aroma is moderately malty (toasted grain/bread, cookie, caramel), lightly hoppy (flowers), moderately yeasty (leather, barnyard, musty elderly human’s furniture), with notes of honey and peach, light note of alcohol. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, moderately bitter. Medium body, velvety texture, lively carbonation, lightly alcoholic. St. Sylvestre makes good beer. But you probably already knew that. This one is surprisingly rustic compared to the 3 Monts beers. Lots of yeast character. Excellent flavor balance with a clean finish. I still prefer Bavaisienne, but this is very good stuff.

[Bottle from BeersofEurope] Hazy brown with a moderate head. Aroma of yeast, figs, caramel. full body with a fair bit of alcohol in the finish. Not the finest beer ever made, but I was pretty hammered by this point and it did the job.