Gavroche

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

Huge., big-bubbled head - very foamy indeed. Fresh, yeasty nose with hints of spices, citrus (especially oranges) and seems slighlty cellared. The flavor is pleasant and refreshing. LIghtly hopped. Very bright. The excess carbonation takes away some of my enjoyment. Thin - the flavor just kind of fizzles out and leaves me wanting more. True to its style, but it just doens’t add up to the farmhouse ales by Southampton, for example.

Hazy amber colour. Yeasty aroma with firm malts, light spiciness. Hazy yeastiness, light maltiness. Not bad, but rather nondescript and overly yeasty.

341 ml bottle, best before Jan 2008, from Metro Joanette in Verdun, Quebec (May 2006), served at cellar termperature in a Maudite snifter. A big fizzy pop goes the cap, and a huge stream of foam fills, the glass, off-white and frothy/large-bubbled, subsiding slowly and leaving generous snowflake lacing atop the oily whisky-colored liquid.....there is a light whiff of skunk from the bottle, but it’s quickly subdued by a hugely yeast, lightly caramelized-malty aroma with lots of fresh grasses and a bit of orangepeel....the flavor is quite delicious, lightly smoky and thick with caramel, a perfectly realized balancing act between sweet malts, sour yeast, and mineralic undertones that become fairly strong later in the game....strong yet supple mouthfeel also provides plenty of spice as you let the scintillating liquid pleasure your tongue, anise and oregano, orangepeel and coriander and a touch of pepper and seaweed....marvellous and transporting.

Bottle. Pours copper with a huge head. Aromas of malts and yeast, flavors fairly sweet, but not overpowering. Clean finish. Hints of hops are noticeable on the palate, the alcohol is well hidden.

Copper color with lasting head - floral, perfum-like aroma, with background spicy hops - a bit one-dimensional for the style - it drinks more like a standard amber ale - a very dry, toasted bread flavor dominates, with a hint of honey-like sweetness near the finish - drinkable, but nothing special.

Bottle from Beer of the Month Club. Decent French amber with a diffuse head. The taste isn’t as complex as I’d like, making the alcohol a bit too prominent, but this is not bad.

Bottle: Poured a murky brown color ale with a super huge foamy head with good retention. Aroma of grainy malt is quite dominating with a light funky touch coming from the yeast. Taste is quite complex with some caramel malt that end up a bit dry with some sweetness and a light funky and bitter finish. Body is above average and alcohol is well hidden. Better the most take on this sometime ambiguous style.

Bottle from Super Saver. The pour was turbid ruby.coppery with great lacing and a 2-finger off-white head. The aroma was of tart fruit, mushroomy malts, some taint, and some definite sangria/fruit punch hints. The flavor was caramel malty, slightly dry and red winey, with some subdued nuts and spices as it warms. Complex palate that never really gets sweet, but seems to drift ti dryness as it warms. Nice yeasty fruity funk throughout.