LAmère à Boire Elephant Mild

Brewed by LAmère à Boire
Style: Mild Ale
Montreal, Canada

Dark copper color, with a small beige head, mild crunchy, toasty, biscuity malt nose with some yeasty fruity notes and a mild nutty aroma follows through on a light-bodied palate with a yeasty, toasted, biscuity malt, fruity, nutty character, with a light flowery hop leafy accent and with some toffee, almondy notes, leading towards a mild toasty, lingering hop bitterness finish.

On tap at L’Amère à boire. Pours dark brown with a small head. Retention is short. Nose is light chocolate and roasted malt. Hints of butterscotch. Quite sweet with notes of dark fruits. Taste is light fruits, some sweetness, some butterscotch and malt. Too much butterscotch to me. Not very good.

En fût. Verre de 12 oz à la brasserie. Arôme: Odeur de caramel fruité. Apparence: La couleur est ambrée-brunâtre. Présence d’un mince col beige mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de caramel fruité avec une pointe de chocolat et de sucre d’orge. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement huileuse. Faible effervescence en bouche. Arrière goût fruité. (Rating #2740)

A dark lightly hazed brown ale with a thick moka head. In aroma, a nice sweet malt with lightly burned caramel, and a bit of butterscotch. In mouth, a light and vapid ale with diluted malts, light lactic notes, buttery and oily mouthfeel, boring. On tap at brewpub Oct. 31 2009.

In short: Breakfast jam (blueberry/blackberry) in a pint.
How: Tap at brewpub
The look: Dark ruby body topped by a long-lasting small tan head
In long: Nose of dark fruits jam (blueberries and all). Body is surprisingly thick and doughy for a such low abv and (apparently) filtered beer. Taste is a bit too sweet. Rather fruity beer with blueberries and blackberries and if you add the sweetness to the mix you end-up with a beer that really tastes like a breakfast blueberry+blackberry jam. With some hops this could have been a killer but sadly there’s not much to balance it out except for a light woody (bush-like) notes. Yet by the second half of my pint the unbalanced sweetness didn’t bother me and I started to enjoy more its nourishing body. I’ve had fruit beers that tasted less fruity than this beer. A decent addition to the Amère À Boire Elephant line off beer which is meant to be a cheaper line of session beer. And with the recession it is nice to save a few bucks. I carry my paycheck everywhere I go. It’s too little to stay alone.

My Bottom Line:
Sweet chocolate bread rises above this Mild Ale’s blackberry esters, quickly dried out in the finish for a quaffable session.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam floats atop the mahogany-tinged brown.
-The round and silky body is created by a combination of well extracted malts and inverted sugar.
-Hops are not that important flavor-wise here.
-The yeast makes an appearance towards the end, stuck to the earthy hops’ subtle bitterness.
-The sweetish aroma is really enticing and never linear.

On tap at the brewpub.