Les Trois Mousquetaires S.S. Sticke Alt

Brewed by Les Trois Mousquetaires
Style: Altbier
Brossard, Canada

A beautiful red amber ale with a thick moka coffee head. A good aroma of roasted malts, and bruned caramel. In mouth, a very robust hearty beer, with crisp malt, residual sugars, treacle candy. Rich bodied. Un autre bonne biere de l’ami Jonathan. On tap at Festival Bières et Saveurs, Chambly, August 30, 2007.

Bottle. Dark brown body with a huge beige head and very nice lacing on the glass (4+). Sweet malt with and interesting malty tang in the aroma. Similar flavour, starting out with a rich malt and following through with a moderate bitterness that lingers into the finish providing a pleasant balance. Flavour does not betray even a fraction of the 7.2% abv. Average to medium palate. This is pretty solid and very drinkable - an endurance runner rather than a sprinter.

My Bottom Line:
This lovely Sticke Altbier’s balance of well-extracted bready caramel malts and ripe herbal, wooden hoppiness leads to a levelled noble hop bitterness with citrusy tips. Yet another clean, crisp, huggable session seasonal from Les Trois Mousquetaires.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A marvelous, everlasting head sits atop the darkest copper.
-The big-bubbled effervescence is perhaps a little too expansive.
-This doesn’t drink like a big beer at all; it’s very drinkable.
-A tad more malt presence in the flavor profile would make it phenomenal, imho.
-Some fruitiness leaks from the caramel maltiness.
-This is severely underrated!

Bottles and tap; 2007 and 2008 vintages.

Very dark brown with a thin head. Tastes yeasty and like an old ale, grapefruit hops. Aroma neutral to a bit funky. A lot of good ideas that did not team.

Clear brown color, with a rocky foamy beige head, yeasty bubblegum nose, with a taosted grainy malt accent, with some toffee and caramel notes, and a subtle tobacco aroma follows through on a medium-bodied palate with a toasted grainy raw malt character, with a biscuity note, a mild earthy floral hop, a roasted malt and toffeeish accent, leading towards a raw maltiness, dry hop finish.

Numerous times on tap and bottle. I prefered the tap. Clear ruby with a large beige head. Sweet caramel and a touch of smoke on the nose. Creamy body with a whole lot a sweet caramelized malts. Toffee, some wood and some distant berries (strawberries!?) flavours. Barely any nutty flavour, probably buried by the upfront caramel taste. Grassy and leafy hops in abundant quantity. Hop profile has an english/american quality to it. Finish is a little peppery with a medium bitterness. A little smoke touch all along. Flavourful beer. More hard-hitting and about as interesting interesting as their regular Alt that is more subtle and well-balanced. Not quite what I expect from an Alt. Parts of it felt like a Barley Wine Light. Very good beer. Doesn’t last long in my fridge but I’ve never been good at keeping a Secrete anyway.

750 mL bottle from Jovi, served at cellar temperature in a tulip glass.

App.: Deep reddish-copper, clear, moderate tan head. Aroma: Nutty, caramel and toffee, a touch of funk, a touch of alcohol, syrupy brown sugar and molasses; an ambiguous herbal/woody note, a little like rootbeer. Palate: Medium body (but a bit syrupy) and medium carbonation. Flav.: Darker roasts in mouth, more molasses, more herbal; some caramel and toffee, a bit of nuts and wood; finish is pleasantly bitter, lightly sweet and sticky with some wood and alcohol.

Bottle - 750ml. Dark copper body with good carbonation and a huge beige/rusty frothy head. Average malty/hoppy aroma that lacks complexity. Some tiny herbal and sweet notes are detectable. Sharp hoppy taste with oaky and brown sugar hints. Ends with a rubust, long, warming bittersweet finish. This almost tastes like a Bockbier. Enjoyable.