412. BBC Bourbon Barrel Bière de Mars, BBC Bourbon Barrel Heine Brothers Coffee Stout, and New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red

Tonight I headed on over to Jeffrey’s to meet up with him and Jeff for some good ol’ fashioned beer sampling. We had kind of an odd mix for tonight’s drinking smorgasbord, but all three were tasty in their own right. The two beers from BBC paired nicely both because they were from the same Special Reserve Series, but the Bière de Mars and the New Glarus were, while not similar, very complimentary. At least they were once the Bière de Mars warmed up. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Previously, we’ve sampled Heine Brothers Coffee Stout (the unoaked version), Rye IPA 75, Brandy Barrel Aged Queen’s Knickers and American Pale Ale from Bluegrass Brewing Company, and Fat Squirrel Brown Ale from New Glarus.

BBC Bourbon Barrel Bière de Mars
This beer has a super-oaky nose—the creamy vanilla oak sweetness overpowered pretty much everything else here. It starts with a sweet front that dries out quickly (it tastes like via the oak, since it is even creeping in here), opening up the middle to a creamy oaky bomb that continues on into the finish with tannic flavors that linger on the palate. At this point, it was interesting and tasty, and the group consensus was that it needed to be aged a bit to take some of the oakiness out of the body. However, as it warmed, the oakiness faded into the background, allowing some of the Bière de Mars characteristics to emerge. Here, the creamy vanilla hints of the oak merged well with the dry malt sweetness and Belgian yeast character. While I thought it was good before, the nuance that developed was delicious and downright impressive. Kudos, BBC.

ABV: 8.5%

BBC Bourbon Barrel Heine Brothers Coffee Stout
After the gratuitous snickering at the name of the coffee makers, we poured our second beer. The nose was a rich mix of nuttiness, dark chocolate, and coffee. Beginning with sweet chocolate, Heine Brothers Coffee Stout moved into a drier middle that featured a nutty rich coffee flavor before the slight chalkiness and roastiness of the finish. I forgot to take more notes because the Bière de Mars was finally starting to warm up, and was getting a lot tastier. However, this beer also got better with some warmth, although my nod for the best beer of the evening goes to our next beer...

From justdrinkbeer: “An oatmeal stout brewed with English roasted barley and caramunich malts to impart a roasty and slightly sweet malt flavor. The Heine Brothers specially roasted organic Mexican coffee is added in two doses. A ration is stirred into the hot unfermented wort to extract coffee flavor. Then freshly brewed coffee is also added after fermentation is complete to impart a fresh coffee flavor and aroma. An additional conditioning in Woodford Reserve Borubon Barrels for 90 days compliments this already robust beer with notes of bourbon and oak. ”

ABV: 7.5%

New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red
Pouring a light bubbly cherry, Wisconsin Belgian Red has a very sweet cherry nose mixed with candy sweetness underneath. The body is light, with spritzy bright candy sweetness and cherry flavors blended beautifully in the body. The finish is dry and fruity while the body light, smooth, and clean—there is an evenness and balance across the profile in both flavor and mouthfeel that was enjoyable. Very light and very drinkable—it tastes like melted cherry Otter Pops, but in a good way. This is one of the more interesting beers I’ve tried in a while—I’m glad Jeffrey decided to bust it out, as I had never tried it before, and it was far, far better than I anticipated. Damn, that was some tasty beer. And already the scheming to score some more begins...

From the New Glarus website: “You hold the marriage of wine and beer. Belgian Red is a tapestry of flavor. This beer is brewed with whole Montmorency Cherries, Wisconsin Farmed Wheat and Belgian Roasted Barleys, lagered in oak tanks and balanced by Hallertau hops we aged in our brewery one full year. Over a pound of Door County Cherries in every bottle makes this beer uniquely ‘Wisconsin.’ So unique, in fact, that we applied for a patent. Expect this beer to be ruby red, with a medium body that is highly carbonated and intense with cherry flavor and bouquet. Serve your friends Belgian Red in a brandy snifter or champagne flute and toast life with beer from the land of Wisconsin.”

ABV: 4.0%

Also, the funniest comment about beer I’ve read in a long long time: “Whew. You can’t swing a dead cat in this state without knocking over a firkin of mild.” Dag. Thanks, Jeff. You made me spit out some beer while reading, which is always the sign of good times and clever verbiage.

(9/17/2010)

278. Jolly Pumpkin Bière de Mars

Jolly Pumpkin is rising in over all popularity around these here parts—we’ve got more of the delicious dirty band-aid we love going on with this beer. We can add Bière de Mars to the list of delicious beers from Jolly Pumpkin—we’ve previously sampled E.S.Bam and La Roja.

Bière de Mars pours a hazy nut brown with a minimal ivory head. The nose has candy sweetness followed by vinegar and sourness, with the vinegar tartness predominating. Candy tartness opens the flavor profile, turning to sourness in the middle and continuing along to become lightly chalky and alkaline into the finish. Bière de Mars closes with some citric tartness and a sour twang, ending bright and fresh on the palate. The body is medium to light, with tight, sharp carbonation that rounds and shapes the beer effectively. Some puckering due to sourness/vinegar tartness in the mouthfeel. Another excellent beer from Jolly Pumpkin; it could use a bit more complexity across the flavor profile besides the sourness, but that’s small potatoes here. Bière de Mars is fresh and lively, and, like all of the Jolly Pumpkin beers, worth drinking again and again.

From the bottle: “Brewed with two yeasts. Mellowed in larg oak casks, and re-fermented in the bottle, our Bière de Mars is a sustaining beer brewed to comfort in the gusty ides of March and welcome in a wealth of warmer weather.

‘Beware the ides of March’ – Some guy to some other guy, a long time ago.

Please enjoy our beers in good health, Cheers & Mahalo plenty!”

ABV: 7.0%
Blend 2, Bottled 2-24-10

(4/4/2010)

204. New Belgium Biere de Mars

This is our fourth beer from New Belgium; the previous three include Fat Tire, 1554 Enlightened Black Ale and La Folie. Biere de Mars is part of the Lips of Faith series, which is where good dogs go to die.

Biere de Mars has a hazy orange color and a light white head. The nose is pretty clean—there is a slight odor of brett-based funk, but other than that, not much else. In terms of flavor, Biere de Mars starts dry and thin—about the only real malt flavor present is flat and crackery. The middle has some low-level citrus and light mustiness and spice flavor combined with a bit of sourness, and it ends clean in terms of the malt profile; there is some lingering yeast-based sourness and spiciness. Biere de Mars has a very light, thin body and a dry crisp bite from the carbonation—we’re guessing this one has a very low final gravity, which is par for the course for saisons. The funky odor in the nose does increase with warmth, as does the spiciness in the middle. Overall, a lighter and cleaner beer than we expected, but enjoyable and very drinkable.

From the bottle: “A celestial collision of orange-hued ale, citrusy lemon verbena, and unidentified flying brettanomyces.”

From the New Belgium website: “For the first time in three years we are pleased to offer one of our favorite harbingers of spring, Biere de Mars. With earthy tones of ripe mango and lemon verbena, this bottle-conditioned ale reflects the hearty character of the southern Belgian and northern French countrysides. Brewed with barley, oats and wheat malt, Biere de Mars’ celestial orange hue inspired the planetary play on words. Brettanomyces, a wild yeast strain, added for bottle-conditioning creates a refreshingly sour flash across the palate. Lemon peel coupled with the lemon verbena imparts fruitlike character and a citrusy finish.”

ABV: 6.2%

(1/20/2010)

131. Ommegang Bière de Mars

Our second beer from Brewery Ommegang; our last one was their Witte. Bière de Mars is a dusky copper with a pillowy ivory head that leaves a whole buncha lacing behind. The nose is tart, fruity, and spicy, kinda like Elli. Beginning with a dry malt front with some slight sweetness and candy notes, Bière de Mars moves into estery, yeasty, and spicy flavors in the middle before finishing dry with some tartness and a little bit of lingering funkiness. The body is medium with some creaminess, and there is brightness in the mouthfeel from the carbonation, although the beer is also rather dry overall. Bière de Mars gets better as it warms; it would be nicer if the nose and the body were more evenly matched, but this could be a product of age. None of the hop characteristics noted on the bottle are present, but again, this could be due to age. A good beer that we’ll have to try again under fresher conditions.

From the Ommegang website: “Ommegang Bière de Mars is a Belgian-style amber ale with a bit of magical space dust woven in - Brettanomyces bruxellensis, a wild-yeast used in the secondary fermentation. The Brett imparts added tartness, a bit of zing and some farmhouse funkiness. Also dry-hopped, this new ale continues our exploration of using Brett for secondary fermentation in limited-release beers.

Bière de Mars reveals a copper-amber body and a frothy white head that builds, clings and stays. Aromas are of malt and grain, clove, fruit and a bit of funk. Flavors are full-bodied with delicate malty sweetness, followed by spicy, peppery yeastiness and Brett-induced funk. Hopping is subtly bitter and aromatic, bumped up a bit by dry-hopping. The finish is dry and gently lingering. At 6.5% ABV, Bière de Mars offers easy quaffing; it also pairs nicely with spicy foods such as barbecue.”

ABV: 6.5%
Batch #2, October 2008

(11/8/2009)