Les Trois Mousquetaires Oktoberfest 2006

Formerly brewed at Les Trois Mousquetaires
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
Brossard, Canada

Almost clear burgundy body, medium-large dark beige head with good retention. Looks good. Aroma of toasted malts and nuts. Taste is full of sticky toffee and brown beans in molasses. A little inappropriate sourness bothered me a bit, reminded me of barrel aged beers but was just wrong here. Some alcohol presence and it’s only 6.5%. Some cooked vegetables. Very sticky mouthfeel. This rating is for the bottle, it was better draught when I had it at the Mascouche Oktoberfest but I didn’t take notes. A little better than the 2005 version and at this rate of improvement it will be excellent by the year 2012.

Bottle (341ml). Via trade with mouton_noire. Deep clear ruby with a large lasting foamy tan head. Dry sweet malt (a bit of caramel, cocoa and nut), very yeasty, herbal hops keep it balanced - quite grainy. Taste is very nutty - like fresh hazelnuts, not sweet at all, grain and potatoe, earthy, grainy, very light alcohol - this is roasty, dry and very fresh - one of the best I’ve tasted in ages. Chewy body, light carbonation, decent astringency, a longish finish with a slight nutshell aftertaste - excellent. I’m stunned how good this is - thanks, Marie-C (and Alain for the second bottle).

2 x12oz bottles shared with several Quebecois and one other drunk American at tiggmtl’s going away party in Montreal, from a New Belgium glass. Dark amber-brown with a thick off-white lasting head promises grand things....alas, the aroma is immediately disarming all such notions, rancid nuts and musty, dry and dead old yeast, vegetal components killing the reasonably pleasant underlying caramel and smoky/toasty malt components....it gets worse on the tongue, dry and burnt like day old blackened toast, more vegetal touches, acrid and rather dirty if truth be known. Infection? Water problems? Don’t know but this was just not fun for me.

Bouteille de 341 ml achetée chez Saveurs Unies (Terrebonne, QC). Arôme: Odeur d’alcool, de caramel et de dattes. Apparence: La couleur est ambrée foncée. Présence d’un mince col mousseux beige avec une large dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de caramel et de petits fruits confits. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement crayonneuse. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Présence de noix fumé en arrière goût. (Rating #667)

Caramel malt and a hint of chocolate, Clear auburn, pours a firm finger of tan head, some fine lace. Flavour has a caramel start, underlying woodiness and a nutty finish. Medium bodied, well balanced, nicely bitter. Very good , though it seems like a dunkel?

Nice amber color with a beige head. It has a caramel taste and aroma. The flavor is of malt with some fruit added. It has a nice bitter finish, very good.

Botlle.Pours lovely ruby red with large tanned creamy crown. Aroma of fresh malty lager with good dose of hops. Medium bodied with nutty front, chewy malts followed. Solid lightly roasted finish. More on woody, nutty side lager. Late juicy green bitters at the lips. Good.

The pour reddish copper color with a thick, diminishing frothy tan head. The aroma is special, a lot of mix and match, there’s some nuts, caramel sweetness, hops, malt and some wood. The flavor is sweet and malty, some nut and a pleasant wooden hops bitterness, interesting. The body is light to medium with a pleasant creamy texture and gentle carbonation. Interesting oktoberfest, this brewery started flat and dull but keeps getting better.