La Choulette de Noël

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

Bottle (from Bitter Virtue, BBE April 07). An understated beer which on first drinking is only so-so, but once you get acclimatised is quite tasty. Malty with sweet toffee flavours, almost spicy but not quite with a slight vinous flavour. Quite drinkable with the earthy hops balancing the sweeter malts.

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry & tupalev -- courtesy of tupalev. The last beer of the night from a recent tasting with lots of strong beers -- let’s see if I can decipher my notes. Pours a clear ruby with an average size white head. Simple but pleasant aroma of roasted malt, yeast, spices and some fruit. Flavour follows the aroma and finishes with a light bitterness. Medium to full bodied. Nothing I’d go out of my way to get again but a decent enough beer and one of the better versions of this style that I’ve had.

Bottle (750ml). Shared with blankboy and tupalev - tupalev’s bottle. Poured clear ruby with an average white head. Roasty-woody malt aroma, mild spices and yeast, some mushroomy bitterness. Taste of roasty malt, slightly sour grain, mild hops and lots of pungent spices and yeast. Thick, flat, astringent mouthfeel - this is pretty nice, sweet and roasty, a little less grain would suit me, let the yeast and spice carry it I say.

My bottle, shared with Hogtown Harry and Blankboy to finish a really solid tasting session on a crappy windy February night. Nice dark amber, small white head. Interesting musty spice and malt aroma. Some yeast and roast as well. Nice malt and roast taste, lots of yeast. Certainly has that outdoor barnyard sort of feel that this style can give as well. Lingering earthy bitterness. Another solid offering from these guys, I think that’s 9 of theirs I’ve had!

Had this at BJ’s Winter Ale Fest. Beer poured a clear, dark amber color wth an average, frothy, off-white, mostly diminishing head. The aroma was pretty plain jane: moderately malty with notes of roasted grain and caramel with light miscellaneous notes of clove, coriander, trace raisin. The flavor is moderately sweet and lightly bitter with an average-length finish that ends with an increasing amount of bitterness until it ends with a heavily bitter pop. There is an unfortunate unclean flavor here too. The body was medium-to-full, the texture was creamy, the carbonation was soft and there was a light alcoholic burn.

Bottle. Another nice one from this brewer. Nice savoury mouthfeel, touches of caramelly sweetness, with nice vinous character, some herbaceous hops in the finish. Very well balanced i thought, and would probably go really well with turkey at Christmas time. Lovely stuff.

750ml bottle, 2004 vintage. Intriguing aroma, exotic and fleeting with suggestions of dark candyish sweetness, faint orange peel, very lightly sour berryish fruitiness, old leaves, an herbal, tobaccoish character and a touch of cellar must. Lightly hazy medium-dark copper brown color with a fully lasting, creamy, off-white head and matching lace. Upfront sweet, malty flavor, abundant dark sugary malts, a short burst of hop bitterness and lightly tart, rich, tropical punch-like fruitiness then enters before the nicely balanced, lightly citric and lingering finish that features just a hint of warmth, some raisin and spice. Palate is smoothly effervescent, body is medium. May be a handful of months past its best by date, but it is a "Bière de Garde" after all, and certainly does not appear to be any worse for it.

Red/brown with a good-sized white head. Sulphury, earthy nose with notes of caramel, strawberries, and prunes. Light flavor, musty, somewhat sweet, with some fruity (strawberry, cherry notes) overlaid by a musty bitterness.