Country of Origin: Canada
Availability: Another Unibroue offering, like la Fin du Monde, and available at the same package store.
Do they also carry Bushmill's 1608? Forgot to check. Again. I'll remember just as soon as I need to buy some. Sort of like fixing the roof when it rains.
Price comparison: 1.45 times what I pay for everyday beer.
Alcohol percentage by volume: 9%
Cute bottle/label? Standard-shaped bottle; textured metallic label with a boat on it. Ooh pretty.
Appearance: Looks like your standard pale ale; active carbonation; head disappeared almost immediately but left some lace up the sides of the goblet.
Scent: Yeast is prominent; chased by cloves and peaches, of all things.
Flavor: More yeasty than the Fin du Monde; I was also reminded rather oddly of banana liqueur or possibly maple walnut. The bottom of the bottle was more peppery and felt thicker in my mouth than the rest of the bottle.
Impressions: Not as smooth to me as the Fin du Monde. I was constantly aware of how much more booze per sip I was consuming at any given time, which to me sort of defeated the purpose of having the higher alcohol content.
Will I buy this beer again? Sure. It's not as much of a diva as the Fin; more of a good collaborator with perhaps a white-sauce pasta sauce like carbonara. I had some potato chips with it, since I have little to no class, and it tasted pretty good with them. The main point is that I didn't feel as comfortable drinking this on an empty stomach as I did drinking la Fin du Monde, but they are obviously two different beers with two very different agendas.
Rating:
4 out of 5 cute beer glasses
Reviewed: September 2, 2003
