Southampton Biere de Garde (French Country Christmas Ale)

Brewed by Southampton Publick House
Style: Bière de Garde
Southampton, New York USA

750ml bottle. Enormous difference from the first and second pour, as the yeast from the bottom changes the beer’s character significantly. First pour is a clear, dark amber. Big nose of caramel and butterscotch. Malty, faintly metallic flavor, a little spicy and grassy. Second pour is cloudy and the head has tiny little bubbles. Still alot of caramel on the nose, though more freshly-baked bread and yeast. Yeasty, spicy character, with a sweeping kick at the end, really earthy, pungent, and raw. Beautiful toward thre end of the bottle. I would almost like to shake up the whole bottle next time to get the yeast moving throughout.

Bottle from Charles Street in Beantown. What a beer. What a man’s beer! Dank, sweet, flat aroma of dirt and mushrooms. Flavor reduces that to an undercurrent with yeast, malt and straw as the topnotes. I was jarred by the earthiness of this beer but am now a convert. Dr. Fabulous and I see pretty eye-to-eye on this brew: a remarkable specimen of the style.

Almost perfect. Bit of the funky Bit of the saison. Overall, went down very nicely at the end of the night. Excellent. I disagree strongly with the negative reviews here.

Pours murky dark copper with an orange hue. A massive four-inch head of beige foam receded slowly to a solid skim-coat. Plenty of smeary lacework. Aromatics lead off with an unexpected amount of caramel malt. Hints of citrus spice and phenols follow through. Medium bodied and a bit chewy, with plenty of effervescence. Slightly coarse and grainy. Malt-forward on the pallet, with traces of coriander, bannana, nuts, and cocoa. Bitterness and alcohol are in check, and drinkability is high. Finishes with lingering caramel malt. I was really underwhelmed with this one. Tasting alot like a Dubble, and the spicing is almost non-existant. Lacking complexity and heavy on the malt.

Bottle, beige label. Pours a hazy amber\orange, off white head. Aroma is malty and fruit notes. Flavor is a nice combination of fruit, light caramel and malt. Semi-dry ans smooth, nice beer.

750mL French Country Christmas Ale (red label). Flickr(http://www.flickr.com/photos/26049401@N0 Herbal grassy nose to a bit of minerally yeast cake, backed with elegant slightly salted fruits and candy. Not bad. Pours a nice amber-gold, lightly hazed with a rim of whitish. Flavor is a brightly peppered, slightly bitter and tangy malt. Alcohol comes on a little heavy and supports a surprising amount of bitterness. Kind of mediocre. Not really working with my palate. Explosive carbonation. This beer is rough.

Popped the cork at SHPH. Pours a dark amber 2 finger off white head. Sweet spicy and earthy aromas. Flavor is lots of earthy bitterness with some fruit. Comes off kind of musky. eh.

5-23-08 bottle shared by fly (thanks!!)
Thick orange amber with a nice off white head and small spotted lacing. Smell is somewhat alcohol heavy with a touch of ammonia in there too. Nice balanced flavor that is mild and grassy. Interesting but not my favorite