Phew, life has been crazy. Work, bar stuff, family life, and great weather has filled in all my time in the past few days and weeks. So I’m a little behind on the blog posts. Okay, a lot behind. Two weekends ago, I was lucky enough to hook up with Matt, from http://onebeeratatime.wordpress.com, to drink some beers he had brought back from Quebec, and a pair of beers I had that were aching to be shared. It was a splendid time, killer weather to sit out and sip beer and chat, great, ummmmmm, Asian (Vietnamese? I can’t remember) food, and a bit more great beer. We started out with a light warm up, I had a Brooklyn Lager, and I think Matt had a Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA. After a bit of stretching we got well into it.
Dominus Vobiscum Lupulus – Mircobrasserie Charlevoix
This epic bottle Matt got after chatting up the proprietor of a bottle shop in Quebec. After demonstrating his savvy, the purveyor suggested he get a bottle out of the back, and this was what he brought. Incidentally, “Dominus Vobiscum” is Latin meaning “The Lord be with you”. And also with you, Charlevoix.
Dominus Vobiscum Lupulus - Microbrasserie Charlevoix
From a 750ml champagne bottle, with a vintage date of 2009 (at 10%, best before is a non-issue), the beer pours a slightly hazy yellow with a hint of orange at the centre. A nice bubbly head lingers and leaves a bit of lace. The aroma is interesting, almost like cider, but with a yeast that is very champagne-like (though maybe it’s the romanticism of the bottle). There’s a sort of evergreen hop, not quite pine, but definitely a little resinous. The taste is sweet and spicy, a bit like a wheat beer, with a hint of bubblegum. There is a heap of hops, piney and dry. The finish is a bit strange, but nice. Really hoppy and drying, but with a lingering sweetness on the front of your tongue. A good dose of lemon peel starts to come out as the beer warms up a bit. The beer has huge carbonation on the tongue. It’s sweet, and medium to heavy bodied, but the carbonation cuts through it well. It’s sharp on the cheeks, and bitter-dry on the back of the tongue. The mouthfeel is as complicated as the taste. This is a thoughtful, slow sipping beer. Great for an evening in a comfy chair, but also great on a sunny summer day. I’m so glad I got to drink this. Easily one of the best brews out of the “New School” of North American brewers. Not easy to come by, so if you get your hands on a bottle, count yourself lucky. Thanks Matt for a solid start, and thanks to the nameless purveyor of fine ales in Quebec, for believing in a kid from Ontario.
So where do you go after a crazy good hoppy boozy Quebecois ale? To bed you suggest? Oh no, I say, there is drinking to be done. And there are beers that can follow a mighty brew like this.
Chimay Grand Reserve (Blue)
Considering the LCBO has delisted Chimay Blue (demonstrating, once again, their total cluelessness regarding beer), we were fortunate indeed to have this lovely 750ml bottle of what most consider the finest in the Chimay line. If you don’t know about Chimay, do some reading. Suffice to say, Chimay is from one of 7 registered Trappist breweries in the world (Abbaye Notre Dame de Scourmont), and is one of the most widely available. Incidentally, this beer holds an A+ from the bros over at BeerAdvocate.com. Epic.
Chimay Grand Reserve (Blue)
From a 750ml dinner bottle with both a lot number (#L09-444) and a best before year (yeah, year), 2014. Considering it also identified that it was made in 07/09, that means this beer has an expected shelf life of five years. This is a beer not unacustomed to being cellared for a year or two. If you do find some bottles of this, consider laying a few down. Anyways, the beer poured an opaque brown, with reddish orange at the edges when held up to the sun. A decent head disipated quickly to a nice ring. The aroma is immediately raisins and prunes, and other dark dried fruits. Sweet and jammy. There is a good dose of Belgian yeast, and a spicy aroma, hints of cloves and a bit of pineapple. There is a a boozy astringency as well. The taste is immediately yeasty, with a sweet jammy taste, again with dark fruits, almost reminiscent of port. It is spicy, with pepper, cinnamon, and hints of ginger. There is a lingering sweetness, that just goes on forever. There is a light carbonation, but it barely touches the thick sweet mouthfeel. Despite the yeasty astringent taste, the 9% alcohol is well hidden; I could drink it all night (if I had access to enough to sustain me). This is definitely not a beer for the uninitiated, but if you’re into bigger beers, or are at least open-minded, this could well be one of the best beers you’ll drink.
Okay, wow. Two epic beers. I’m tired just reliving it. Surely there is nothing that can follow this one-two punch? Well, my dear beer drinking, blog reading friend, I would suggest there are at least three beers worthy of being consumed after this experience. From the new school, I would say try Les Trois Mousquetaires Imperial Baltic Porter. Actually Matt had a bottle of that, but it was not on the sched. From the Crazy-Hard-to-Find category, you could see if you can find a Westvleteren ABT Quad (which, I must boast, I’ve had at Volo’s King of Quads), but good luck. Not that you’ll have much better luck finding what we did drink, but it’s slightly easier to come by. And that is
Trappistes Rochefort 10
Rochefort is from another Trappist brewery (Abbaye de Notre-Dame de Saint-Rémy), and 10 is considered one of the best beers in the world, depending on who you ask. As a side note, I’m impressed how accurate my tasting notes are on this last beer, given how poor my hand-writing was at this point. Seriously, it looks like Ben was keeping notes for me. Perhaps I’m a bit spoiled, as Castro’s often has 10, and so I’m not an unfamiliar drinker.
Rochefort 10
From a 330ml bottle with a best before date of December 23, 2014, and a frightening alcohol identifier (11.3%), the beer is a dark opaque brown, with a good head that dissipates to a nice foamy layer that left lace that was more lace then glass. The aroma is again port-like. Alcohol and woody, with a nice yeast smell. There is a heap of molasses and burnt sugar in the malt profile, and a spicy medicinal aroma. The taste is like drinking rum, alcohol and burnt sugar, prunes like in port and licorice medicinal spiciness, almost like Jager. Holy crap, this beer is insane. The mouthfeel is medium to full body with a light carbonation, but a velvety smooth body that caresses your tongue and throat, and leaves you (dangerously) wanting more. Wow, by the time I was done drinking this, every beer was probably the best beer I’d ever had. But this really was a remarkable beer. Yes it’s expensive and hard to find, but do yourself a favour and find it. You won’t regret the effort.
So after a meal of absolutely incredible beers and also some tasty take-out, we settled in for dessert. No notes, which was sensible I think, but we shared a bottle of Milk Stout, which I am pretty sure was Charlevoix La Vache Folle. I could be wrong about that. Like I said, no notes. I do remember it was even sweeter then I had expected, and was simultaneously not as full bodied. I distinctly remember thinking it might have been the best beer I had ever had…….
So many thanks to Matt, not just for the brews and hospitality, but also for supplying the photos you were looking at in this post. He was much more efficient in posting his experiences of the day, you can check them out here.
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