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Lambic Digest #0982
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Subject: Lambic Digest #982 (November 15, 1996)
Lambic Digest #982 Fri 15 November 1996
Forum on Lambic Beers (and other Belgian beer styles)
Mike Sharp, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
Quebec beers (Paddy Ashdown for President)
Unibroue Beers (Stephen Beaumont)
Re: Unibroue beers (Spencer W Thomas)
BURP (PRSeitz)
Re: Quebec Beers (EDM)
Re: Unibroue Beers (Espourteille, Francois)
Liefman's/Unibroue (Volker)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 1996 08:14:43 -0500
From: ambroser at apollo.dml.georgetown.edu (Paddy Ashdown for President)
Subject: Quebec beers
Speaking of Quebec beers, a short story. I met Peter McAuslan and Ellen
Bounsall at a beer tasting in Sept. '93. They brew St. Ambroise and Griffon
Ales. This was the only Quebec beer available in the D.C. area.
I visited Montreal in '94 and brought back unknown beers Brasal, Unibrou,
Le Cheval Blanc, Boreale, more St. Ambroise, and some imports. In '95 I
noticed two brands of Brasal available here. I returned to Montreal in '95
and heard that Unibrou would begin importing to the states. I also heard
word at the small brewpub called Le Chevel Blanc on Ontario Street that they
were expanding to a warehouse and would be importing to the U.S. also.
Unibrou began importing into the U.S. Dec '95/Jan '96. I believe they have
facilities/distributing in Florida now, called Unibrou USA. This summer, I
noticed two beers from Le Cheval Blanc are being imported into the U.S.
Titanic, like a tripel, 7-9% ABV, and Loch Ness, a Scotish Ale.
These are worth a look. Very good. They also make some other beers too, if you
are in Montreal, look in the SAQ stores (their version of ABC). The only two
I can remember off hand are Tord Vis, a maple beer, and Coupe de Grissou, the
style escapes me.
All that is left is Boreale. This is a very popular beer in almost every
restaurant in Montreal. I especially like the Boreale Rousse (very malty and
tasty red ale) but they also make Blonde, Noire, and Forte.
I did not return to Montreal in '96 (I decided to drive cross country instead,
a total of 8,375 miles) but will return in '97. Does anyone know about the
"last unknown beer in Montreal, Quebec" Boreale and if it will be coming to
the U.S.?
Bob Ambrose
Georgetown University
Washington DC
ambroser at apollo.dml.georgetown.edu
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 1996 09:17:40 -0500
From: Stephen Beaumont <beaumont at netcom.ca>
Subject: Unibroue Beers
Yes, Unibroue (Unibrew in the States) is an impressive brewery. The Blanche de Chambly was their
first beer, made with the recipe assistance of Riva and reportedly the technical assistance of
Pierre Celis (there is some dispute over this latter assertion, which was originally told to me
by brewery owner Andre Dion). Riva did have a 10% stake in the brewery, but have since been
bought out by Quebecois singing legend Robert Charlebois. (Charlebois is the French-speaking
world's equivellant of, say, a Tom Jones or a younger and poppier Tony Bennett.)
Their other beers include: Maudite (trans. "Damned"), an excellent spiced ale that I would place
slightly outside of what would typically be considered a dubbel; La Fin du Monde ("The End of the
World"), a sweet and fruity strong (9% ABV) golden ale; Raftman (no trans.), a peated-malt ale
that, as Joshua Oakes recently wrote to me, "puts the boots to Adelscott;" La Gaillarde (loose
trans. "Jolly Fellow"), a 5% ABV golden ale with Belgian-style character -- sort of a weaker
version of La Fin; L'eau Benite ("Holy Water"), a tripel which I confess that I have only had
once and so decline to comment upon; and Quelque Chose ("Something), a tremendously flavourful
and complicated strong (8% ABV) and spiced cherry ale that is meant to be served hot like a
mulled wine or cider.
I have no trouble suggesting that any of the above beers are worth picking up should you come
across them and, in the case of Maudite and Quelque Chose, are even worth searching out.
Unibroue is just one of many great breweries located in the Montreal region. One of the most
recent to impress has been Brasserie Seigneuriale, a one-year-old Belgian-influenced brewer
located just outside of Montreal proper. Their flagship beer, simply called Seigneuriale, is a
7.5% ABV ale which I have described as a uniquely Quebecois take on a Belgian abbey-style ale.
For more pertinant info, please see the story I wrote on "Les Bieres de Montreal" in my on-line
column, Stephen Beaumont's World of Beer, found at http://worldofbeer.com
- -----------------------------------------------
Stephen Beaumont
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
beaumont at netcom.ca http://worldofbeer.com
"Forbid Goose Ode!" (Think about it!)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 1996 10:20:05 -0500
From: Spencer W Thomas <spencer at engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Unibroue beers
The "Holy Water" (Eau Benefite?) beer showed up in the stores here.
It's subtitled "Triple". I found it good, but on the sweet side. I
much prefer the Fin du Monde for balance. As I remarked during a
tasting once, "It's dangerously drinkable!"
=Spencer Thomas in Ann Arbor, MI (spencer at umich.edu)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 1996 10:26:15 -0500
From: PRSeitz at aol.com
Subject: BURP
<< I remember reading in some of the club literature put out by BURP that
spicing was OK in Belgian Strong Ales. Now I know that BURP is not the be
all and end all of knowledge and wisdom about Belgian Ales. Most certainly,
>>
Heresy!! Have this man shot at once! :-)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 1996 12:05:09 -0400 (AST)
From: edm at fox.nstn.ns.ca (EDM)
Subject: Re: Quebec Beers
>
The Quebec Brewer Unibroue is owned by Quebecois interests, to my
knowledge. One owner is Robert Charlebois, a well known francophone folk
singer.
The Belgian connection is the brewer. Gino Vauntigihiem (I probably have
it spelled wrong) who was formerly at Riva. If you do a side by side with
Blanche de Chambly and Riva Blanche, you "might" notice some similarities.
Michael Jackson did.
The brewery is cool. They do a lot of things we all only dream about.
They bottle in two sizes, the normel 351 ml bottle and a 750 champagne
type, with cork and wire. The smaller bottle are at 2.5 volumes of CO2 and
the larger at 3.5 (Gino wants it that way)
Here are their beers (more than previoulsy reported on here) by order of
their release to the public. I have been fortunate to be able to visit the
brewery and taste two of there prior to their release.
Blanche de Chambly - classic witr, coriander, orangepeel, something else
(white pepper?, cumin?)
La Maudite (the damned) 8% abv, close to McChouffe, very popular in
Montreal among the students and, oddly, winos.
La Fin du Monde (the end of the world) 9% abv, close to Duvel (??) a very
unique beer, triple fermented (ferment with same yeast as Chambly, but
rapid cool, drop out yeast at about 5% abv, repitech to about 8.5% abv,
then cool etc., repitch at bottling with fresh yeast, three weeks in warm
room (they have a veritable warehouse at about 80 F, with the odd popping
sound), and ship at 9% abv. Very smooth, not noticably as alcoholic as lab
instruments tell you. Sneaks up on one.
Raftman a 5% abv light ale made with part peated malt. Grows on you.
La Gaillard (not sure of translation) a mediaval beer recipe, spices,
herbs, reportedly no hops, cloudy great on a summer's day.
L'Eau Benite (Holy Water) a strong ale in thebottle, but lighter when not
fermeted in bottle and on tap. Has a picture of a devil sitting in a stone
chalice of holy water slowly metamorphizing into an angel (crooked halo
etc.) "An angel on tap, a devil in the bottle"
The name escapes me now - mental block - but they also do a Christmas
special, a still, sour, cherry beer of 7% abv, served warm. Has a speed
limit sign on black foil wrap label, only in 750 ml bottles for Xmas.
Speed limit sign says Max 70, Min 30. This is the temperature it is meant
to be served at. A fantastic experience. I took one bottle to New Orleans
last year. Some Lambic D members tried it, I think Scott Bickham and Jim
Liddil.
Jeff Pinhey in Halifax
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 96 10:19:37 EST
From: fespourteille at mmt.com (Espourteille, Francois)
Subject: Re: Unibroue Beers
"On the topic of Unibroue beers Mark Bridges states:"
The line-up includes a wit (Blanche de Chambly, 5%), a dubbel (Maudite,
8%), and a tripel (La Fin du Monde, 9%). These are brewed with a
distinctive yeast strain and are bottle conditioned, sold in six-packs as
well as the corked 750ml version. Nice examples of the styles.
There is also another beer that I have only found in Quebec thus far
called "Gaillardes" (loosely translated as strong women), which is in
the same mold. Bottle conditioned, with a strong yeast signature and
between the Fin du Monde and Maudite in color. The flavor is
relatively mild, but it's far from a light beer (6-7%). I'm not sure
how I would classify it, but it's just as good as the others. Most of
these are now available in the NE, although it was a good excuse for a
trip north. While beer selection in Montreal's state liquor stores is
limited, they often get beers not available in the US (Westmalle,
Biere de Mars from St. Sylvestre, and many others). Plus there is a
Belgian restaurant in Montreal with a decent, but not great, beer
selection.
Cheers,
Francois.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 1996 23:22:49 -0500 (EST)
From: Volker <ebbelw01 at clark.net>
Subject: Liefman's/Unibroue
Regarding the query re: old Liefman's - I have had some fairly old
Liefman's that was A-OK and some that was decidedly not. my main point,
however, is that it will be more interesting than what you can get
commercially now (forget if it's Interbrew or Riva that "mass-produces" it
now).
Unibroue does have a nice array of beer already discussed here. I should
like to add two more varieties, one "La Gaillarde" Belgian pale (4-5% abv)
and one called "Eau Benite'" (is this the "holy water' mentioned here
before?) that I just nabbed in DC which is labelled as a tripel (7.7%
abv).
It's fruitier than the Fin Du Monde, and I wonder if the Fin Du Monde is
supposed to be more of a Duvel clone...regardless, if you see these beers
in an area where the distributors know how to store beers, buy them! You
won't be disappointed...
Cheers,
Volker
The Brewer's Art
Baltimore, MD
ebbelw01 at clark.net (private)
malthops at abs.net (bidnis)
------------------------------
End of Lambic Digest
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