Les Brasseurs du Temps Mea Magna Culpa

Brewed by Les Brasseurs du Temps
Style: Barley Wine
Gatineau, Canada

Draught at the brewpub. Pours a deep slightly hazy copper-red with a small creamy tan head. Aroma: Oh yeah, that’s nice: Lots of resiny hops, some dark fruit, caramel malt, light spiciness and light alcohol -- great stuff. Flavour: This is tasty and unique: Resiny hops, some Orangina in there (in a good way), a hint of wood, some spices, dark fruit, caramel malt and alcohol. Alcohol’s there but it’s still easy to drink. Medium bodied. Simply fantastic!

My Bottom Line:
Strawberry jam sifts through caramelized cereals, while piney hops procure flavor and resinous bitterness to this portly Barley Wine.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam tops the cloudy burgundy.
-Even though this brew has a lot of residual sugars, the mouthfeel never feels obese.
-The hops actually match the malt flavors throughout; a nice show of balance in exuberance.
-More complexity could be derived from the malts for this to be a top tier Barley Wine imho, but then again, this was quite young when I had it.

On tap at the brewpub.

2009-11-17. Dark amber body with a beige head and lace. First sip is quite sweet, malt, honey like sugars, just enough bitterness follows to prevent it from becoming cloying. Light fruit undertones throughout. Aroma is more subtle than expected. Mild, light fruit touches, hints of toasty malt may be my imagination. smooth average to medium bodied palate. 3+ Interesting, enjoyable. On tap at the brewpub

Draught. At the brewpub. Lovely beer - not sure starting with a full pint of this was all that brilliant, but it was sure tasty. Hazy deep copper pour with a large, lasting fizzy-frothy tan head, lovely smooth lacing left behind (4+). Balanced and mouth-watering aroma of (medium) alcohol, orange zest, cereal grain with some fresh-cut Christmas tree sap tossed in. The taste follows - smooth, but fairly "big" - balanced alcohol, thick grain, conifer resin and citrus, really stays on the palate - reminded me of Double Bastard. Thick-bodied, quite lively on the tongue, a bit alcohol-astringent, with a long dry, resiny finish leaving some burnt leaf acidity on the tongue - this is a good example of a balanced full-on malt contrasted against pungent resin bitterness BW, and in my book is a terrific beer - tasty, sophisticated, and dangerously easy to drink.

A reddish copper barley wine with a thin lacing off white head. A pleasant intense treacle aroma, vinous, and smooth, light blue cheese and organic notes, dark fruits and a bit of star anise. In mouth, an intense hoppy barley wine with rather smooth British herbal hops, light grapefruits, a bit of warming alcohol, closer to a I2PA. On tap at brewpub, Nov. 3 2009.