BFM Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien 2007

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottled@omhper-post-SBWF-1st-weekend tasting. Amber colour, small head. Aroma is very sour berries, some wood, mild spices and some acidic notes. Flavour is caramel, sourwood, some earthyness, mild spices and yeast. Quite dry finish. Bigtime sourness in the finish.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottle from SL, was sorry to have realized how long I’ve let this sit on the shelf, as ASBC annual series has become a real winner for me. The pour was full dark burgundy in color, modest head initially, weak lacing. The aroma was strongly vinous and brety, some oak underneath, cherry andd dark berry-like notes. The flavor followed, bret, oak, vinous, sweet/tart cherries, spices, faint funk. The mouthfeel is carbonated enough to stir the senses, finishes squeeky clean and smooth. Hard to believe ASBC pulls these 11pct concoctions off so delicately. When is the 2008 hitting the shelves?

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottle: Poured a deep reddish color ale with a large foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of sour notes with some oak and light tart cherries is very sublime and very pleasant. Taste is also a nice mix between some tart notes with very subtle cherry notes from the oak and a vinous finish which is very pleasant. Body is about average with good carbonation and alcohol is really not apparent. Very well done overall and a bit more tartness would have made this an incredible beer.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Sampled July 2009
A vigorous pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces a three-finger thick, amber tinged, tan colored head. The beer is a muddied amber color that, when held up to the light, shows an almost brilliantly clear, amber hue that is brightened by deep orange notes. The aroma has a light tartness to it up front and also has lots of spicy, woody oak notes. The tartness couples with a jam-like plum character and red wine like berry notes. This also has a nice tannic wine spiciness to it, a touch of chlorine flavor, and also a certain toastiness that seem boosted by both malt character and oak; this toastiness seems to get an aromatic boost as the beer warms up. In the end though, the aroma seems to just dissapate, with no real staying power.

The beer tastes lightly tart up front, as it rolls across the tongue it picks up a biting tannic note and then more tartness as it moves to the finish. This is definitely light bodied for its alcohol level, but does have a certain viscous fullness to it. Woody oak flavors combine with the fruitiness to contribute a character that is quite similar to the berry character that is found in a rich red wine. Flavors of tamarind, dry prune and fermented raisin are all found here and are all more tart leaning than sweet in character. The oak plays a big role here with lots of spiciness and warming character, this also has a tannic mouthfeel and body that keeps this from being any where near watery in texture; in fact the oak really makes the texture of this beer. There is just a touch of sweetness to this dry beer that is more noticeable as a balancing effect for the more dominant tartness and spicy oak notes (i.e. it is not really noticed as a sweet taste).

This is a very well integrated beer and despite the big oak influence this ends up fairly well balanced if you drink it at 60ºF / 16ºC plus. The oak was certainly a bit strong at first, but this really warms into a well melded beer that balances the oak, the rich fruit character and a solid level of tartness quite well. The mix of flavors in this beer also seem to make this pair quite well with food quite well. The expressive aroma that was so noticeable at first did seem to disappear pretty quickly; I am not sure where it went, but the aroma is much reduced after the first few minutes and it hasn’t regained it over the couple of hours it takes to work my way through this beer.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Wow thanks eagle. Poured a dark redish color with okay head and not much lacing. Aroma was lots of brety and vinous, some dark fruits cherry mostly in there. Flavor was much the same, with some oak and spices in there. Wow eagle told me alcohol % very well hidden. Solid beer again love this series.