Before we begin, here's the description:
Silver medal at Soleure's extreme beer fest 2007. AnFrom their website:extreme black beer whose nose goes toward pepper, vanilla, ashes, tobacco and fresh hops. It reaches the palate all in softness, but quickly becomes intensely bitter, though not very dry. Long and satisfying finish.
This Cuvée was created in the honor of the Jurrassian revolutionist Alex Le Rouge. Enjoy this wonderful Cuvée at about 10°-12° Celsius (50°-53°F), with a crunch of bitter Chocolate or a Cigar. Cuvée Alex Le Rouge can be sequestrated for a few years in a cellar. Ingredients: water, barley malts, hops, cane sugar, yeast, Serawak pepper, Russia tea, Bourbon vanilla.
Médaille d’argent aux Concours suisse des bières extrêmes, Soleure 2007.
Cette cuvée est une Jurassian Imperial Stout, une bière extrême
couleur ébène, mousse café au lait, nez partagé entre des notes poivrées,
vanillées, empyreumatiques et de houblon frais. Au palais, son attaque douce
fait vite place à une amertume, puissante sans être sèche, qui intensifie
les arômes de bouche. Finale légèrement brûlante et très longue.
Après plusieurs années de garde, cette cuvée limitée se dégustera
avec un bon cigare.
Lets see what beer words we know... medal... swiss, extreme beer 2007.. black beer... vanilla... Palate .. bouquet.. keeping... cigar.
ok... so that's most of the stuff from above. whoo hoo, I almost know French... so what do I think of this beer?
Yes, it was black, it had a dark brown head. The bubbles looked like big pieces of pepper. The bottle is very cool, a short grolsch style (I kept the capper). I smelled, well, complex, there was some vegetal smell (mostly) also some chocolate and coffee, the pepper and vanilla wasn't in the smell. It felt thin, it didn't burn like a 10.276% ABV beer would/should.
It did have a little alcohol taste. But also a lot of the vegetable (which is normally celery) flavor. It had a little of the pepper flavor, alont with some vanillay. As it warmed, there was a little cherry tartness in the flavor. It says it was brewed with pepper, but I get more of a pepper spice in many hefeweizen beers.
All in all, it wasn't that great of a beer. It was better than the one I had before it (see above), but still wasn't that great. If I didn't go in expecting Imperial Stout, I might have enjoyed it more. Damn those expectations!!!
This beer is available at Crane Alley. If you are interested.
I don't know how you can miss the pepper. It made me sneeze when I smelled it. I agree it could be better, especially give the price I paid for it. But, in my quest to try every beer I've never had before , I was obligated to taste it. Still a really good beer, just not worth 12 bucks.
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