Thiriez LAmbrée dEsquelbecq (Amber)

Brewed by Brasserie Thiriez
Style: Bière de Garde
Esquelbecq, France

Bottle from Degarth. Thanks! Hazy deep coppery pour with 2-finger off-white head. Aroma of hopcitrus, caramel malt, brown sugar, some fruit. The taste is caramel malty up front, with emerging brown sugar, hopcitrus, some apricotty notes, and some funk. Another complex beer that was a great part of my Independence weekend beer-a-thon!

750ml Bottle: I saw this was new at Royal (and I believe to MO) so of course I had to get it. I believe three total Brasserie Thiriez are availbile. It pours with an explosive head that took multliple pours to get it all in my stien (only glassware I have to hold whole bottle, I’m sorry I know its not proper glassware). A this hazy orangey amber color beer with some floating to sinking sediments. A small ring of head remains atop the beer. The aroma is nice, nothing too distinct. the flavor is great. Rather mild, yet complex. Has figs in the background but for lack of better ability to describe it, it just hides in the background, seemingly wanting to explode onto the palate but remains in the background. Sugary up front, but spices do come through with an interesting finish. Nice toffee, malts, sugary, syrupy, doughy, wheatish, and definitly some apples.

750ml. bottle at HW open house. Hazy amber color with a large off white head. Mild aroma that was somewhat grassy with a hint of honey. Spicy, fruity flavor with some caramel and a lighly bitter hop finish.

Bottled. Aroma of malts and light spices. Hazy, orange color, off-white small head, few lace. Light sweet, light bitter, light spices. Flat and no character.

This is a difficult pour, a fizzy yellow/beige head erupting from the light amber body and over the sides of the glass regardles of the care being used. Small particles swim through the glasseven when undisturbed for some time. The aroma is interesting, caramel coated peanuts, yeast, pear, and light spicing. The mouthfeel is fluffy, near unsubstantial. The flavor is a light, sweet malt - caramel and toffee - with pale brown sugar, light pome tastes, bread dough, and a soft nutty bitterness. It finishes sweet and sugary. It’s an interesting drink that makesme wish that i liked it more.

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Beverage Depot, Naperville, IL<font size=-1>

750ml bottle. Fairly interesting, multi-faceted aroma, with notes of toasted grain, sugary sweetness and doughy, musty yeast, alongside lighter suggestions of mild spices and tart fruits, and including pepper, cinnamon, freshly cut grass, cake frosting, apple, mint, pear and white grape. Hazy medium-dark amber color, generously dusted with sediment and sporting a hugely frothy and lasting head. Flavor is lightly spicy and bitter to start, quickly becoming fruity and again lightly tart and crisp, finishing with a light, brown sugary sweetish malt presence meeting bready, lightly estery yeast and gentle, leafy herbal tones. Texture is highly creamy and effervescent, carrying the flavors well. Body is medium. All in all, somewhat intriguing. Allow sufficient warming for maximum results.

Certainly pours a nice amber color, a mix of red and copper notes. The beer is incredibly well carbonated, it in fact starts to foam out of the bottle as soon as I pop the cap, and lots of floating yeast bits are kicked up and make it into my glass. Luckily it makes it’s way into my glass with out spilling a drop. The myriad, of quickly cascading streams of carbonation keep aloft a fluffy, three-finger thick, amber tinged tan colored head that forms a rocky surface as times wears on. Malty aromatic notes of caramel and toasted grain are joined by a light fruitiness reminiscent of tart plums and raisins and a spicy yeast character that evokes notes of clove, pepper, and perhaps a hint of ginger. Overtime a nice sour sweet apple note becomes quite prominent and pleasant.

The taste is dry and spritzy up front, but leads to a fruity sweet note that is magnified by the caramel malt notes. The sweet malt notes and fruity yeast character remind me of sweet plums and fragrant apples; these notes actually linger for quite some time in the finish. The finish also has a lingering, lightly astringent bitterness to it, which adds a nice balance to the sweetness. This beer is so well carbonated that the spicy, zesty, almost peppery character of this beer is magnified in the front of the mouth as you first take a sip of this beer.

This beer is light and refreshing, yet still manages to have a nice heft to it that makes it a bit satiating as well. Refreshing, yet satiating I really how the beer strikes a balance between these two, disparate descriptors. As the beer loses a bit of its spritzy carbonation it begins to become a touch more satiating, but it is still not heavy or chewy. The malt character is quite nice here as well; I really like how the best Farmhouse Saisons can have such a pronounced malt character despite all of the other exotic yeast characters and flavors.

<font size=-4>Purchased via mail order: <a href=http://www.liquidsolutions.ws/main/>Liq Solutions<font size=-1>

Really, really, really fizzy. Light notes of peanuts and caramel corn, some apples. Honey, maybe. Nice flavors, but their intensity is lightened considerably by the carbonation. Dry, herbally bitter finish.