La Choulette Ambrée

Brewed by Brasserie La Choulette
Style: Bière de Garde
Hordain, France

Pours a hazy dark amber with a yellow diminishing head. Quite sour. Very spicy some rasin and earth. Somewhat winey. Gets more complex as it matures for a bit in the glass. A wee bit too sour. Has an airy mouthfeel. Spicy/sour finish.

Clear, amber body with a thick, fluffy, off-white head. Whole grains, oily nuts, caramelized malts, light earthy notes and a touch of apples as well. The body is full and robust with a character and a nice heft on the tongue. Definitely malt heavy across the board with some light hop character. Maybe a little too sweet for the style, but certainly not something I’d classify as "sweet". Its a pretty tasty beer with nice malt depth and an underlying earthy character. Not the best Biere de Garde, but still tasty and interesting, and definitely better than the Framboise.

Pours an orange bronze color with a large off-white head, aroma of citrusy fruit, sweet malts, and alcohol. Flavor is carbonated, sweet upfront, fruity, with a sour citrusy grapefruit-like finish. Good body, good brew.

Deep red pour with a clingy head. Thick belgian like taste. Somewhat swet with some fruit and tartness like grapefruit. Very clean finish, a bit of a strong alcohol taste.

Bottle. Beautiful semitranslucent brawn with big bubbly bready head. Smells like a wonderful tawny leathery breadloaf baking in a stone hearth. Oh my. This is a honeyed nectar delight. It’s quite sweet but balanced out by an earthy barley crisp finish. A delight, would buy this to share with anyone. Light and accessible enough that a neophyte could enjoy it but offer some real pleasures to the conniseur as well.

Deep earthiness and plenty of wood and tannins in an aroma that also offers dried apricots and marzipan. Hazy amber body is topped by a decent, fine bubbled, off white head that recedes to a cover that lasts throughout and leaves some lacing down the sides of the glass. Caramel malts are sweet in the simple flavour with mild bitterness and some mild cabbage-like notes. Dusty yeast characteristics and mineralic quality to the aftertaste. Medium dry body with moderate carbonation. Bottle (BB 12/05, Half Time, Sep-05) enjoyed with MartinT, Olivier_MTL, Rastacouere and Siroy.

Deep orange, gentle off-white head stays light, but offers light stickiness. Profound earthiness and fruited apricot/orange purée make up most of the nuances within my ability to catch. Focused orange flavours and peachy rather slim malts don’t appear as well integrated as they could be. I’m in fact a bit alarmed at how simplistic this seems. Certainly nothing noticeable from the hops while the yeast is barely a factor besides a soft estery nature. Airy palate from the very active carbonation that bites the tongue. A bit disappointing as the classic bière de garde from the makers of the awesome sans-culottes.

750ml bottle. Light, sweet, sugary aroma, accented by a moderate amount of herbal hops with a noticeable tea leaf character, along with lighter hints of fresh wood and orange. Rosy red-orange color with a lasting, foamy, off-white head. Mildly spicy and bitter to start, seeing an influx of candyish malt sugary sweetness that figures highly into the overall effect, and for the finish a blend of mild berryish fruit and gentle hints of peppery alcohol, caramel, spices and vanilla frosting. Lively yet lightly syrupy on the palate with a medium body. At first, interesting, but the effect seems to wear off somewhat by the end of the bottle.