RJ Spéciale Ambrée (Cheval Blanc)

Brewed by Brasseurs RJ
Style: Amber Ale
Montreal, Canada

Bottle. Clear amber color with bubbles and nice foamy white head, mostly lasting. Yeast and metal aroma. Taste is sugary (candy), yeast, malt, hops and metallic aftertaste. Bière de couleur ambré clair avec des bulles dans sarobe et un bon collet mousseux qui perdure. Odeur de levure et de métal. Au goût, elle est sucré (bonbon), levure, malt, houblon et un arrière goût métallique.

Bottled. Apple and herbal hops aroma. Cloudy, orange/brown color, yellow head, good lace. Sweet start but soon gets bitter, a fruit bitterness like grapefruit has, fruity, herbal, medium body. Didn’t like the bitterness much.

[bottle] Murky bronze, with a splotchy, white head. Surprisingly clovey aroma with some malt and some sourness and a little musty. Clovey and malty flavour with some sourness that I would swear comes from wheat malt...but it says 100% barley! Almost no perceptible hops except a faint bitterness at the end. Medium body with medium carbonation. A nice drink, but really not what I expect from an "amber".

Poured a reddish amber colour with a small white head. The aroma, taste and mouthfeel remind me of a wheat beer. Some clove and sweetness in the nose and the same spice in the taste. This combines with a vaguely sweet maltiness, but the palate is smooth and soft. Decent Beer.

Aroma:Wheat and sugar appearance:amber beautifull head Flavor:Weath,yeat small bitterness and malt.

12.21.04 341ml bottle thanks to Secret Santa. Hazed, glowing, brownish-golden pour with little head. Yeast and biscuit nose with apple and caramel and juicy hops. Flavor is malt laden and nutty but not too thick. A sort of grape and herb (coriander) taste is not what I expected, but it’s lively and crisp -- appleskin, parsley, celery(?). Interesting stuff, it smells like a grassy Belgian golden but tastes more like a wit of some sort. Thanks, Santa! That was fun.

Pours a cloudy amber color, thin white head. Aroma of spices, malt and fruits. Peppery flavor with malt, yeast and fruits. Light body, soft carbonation. The spicy aroma and flavor was totally unexpected, this is a pretty average beer.

Bottle: Poured a clear amber color ale with medium head with average retention. Aroma is comprised mostly of what I think is the Cheval Blanc yeast. Taste is also tainted with this yeast, which has a very particular small and taste but that I very much enjoy. Malt is also present. Overall, I guess this is an above average amber ale (which in my mind is far from the most innovative or complex style out there). Note, this was a freshly brewed bottle which always increase the quality of Cheval Blanc since there are not known to age very well. Re-rate 2008: Bottle: Poured a hazy orangey color ale with a small foamy head with minimal retention and no lacing. Aroma of wheat with some light spices and some medium sweet malt. Taste is also dominated by some medium sweet malt with some light spices and some light yeasty finish. Not the greatest beer but still a lot better then what I had expected from this brewery.