La Bičre du Boucanier Dark Ale

small bottle. Hazy deep amber in color with a huge head, dissipates but the small head that’s left retains well. Aroma is full of brett, light sour cherry, caramel and spice. Initially the aroma is metallic but that subsides a bit. Taste is bretty, with light sour cherry in spots, caramel, light soap here and there, and light spice. Light to medium body, with only a faint hint of the alcohol in the finish. Not bad, but a bit oxidized....

Tap @ Ebenezer’s Pub in Lovell Maine. I’ve seen this bottle a lot but didn’t really know what it would be when I ordered the glass and it was tasty. Pours dark amber with a tan ring. Nose is sweet. Taste is sweet and fruity with a touch of barleywine feel.

That commercial description is f’d up. White painted 33cl bottle opens with a steam locomotive chuff. The beer is blood red and supports an enormous, lumpy and stable mocha froth. Fantastic brettanomyces nose- horseblanket and white pepper/galangal with cherry pie notes- plus citrus zest, maple syrup and licorice. Tastes tart and fruity, juicy, with gummi-candy flavor and sharp peppery spice. Finishes with stunning lime, tar, and almost-bourbon, followed by a quinine aftertaste and long, slow ethanol burn. Light but not watery palate, superbly dry, and practically crackling with beesting carbonation. Excellent beer… complex, balanced, and amazingly drinkable.

33cl, from Geers Oostakker, complex, hazy, rocky head, good brew, but not a topper

Non saprei, speravo che fosse piů complessa (vedi Gulden Draak), invece si dimostra l’ennesima birra rozza e scracagnata degna giusto del bucaniere mezzo orbo che si trova in etichetta. Alcool sovrabbondante, poco altro; una noia mortale.