BFM Cuvée Alex le Rouge

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

Pours dark dark brown with thin tan head. The aroma is pretty mild in strength but has loads going on here. I get muted dark fruity esters, earthiness on multiple levels, sugar notes and other lighter tones I can’t discern. The taste feels thin to start and then picks up red wine fruitiness and red wine tannins, earthiness, dark chocolate, more fruity tannins and spices. It finishes pretty darn dry with a lingering alcohol sense, some earthiness and chocolate.

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

330 ml stubby swingtop bottle, batch 2012. ABV is 10.276% (!). Very brown colour, nearly black (= fairly pale for an imperial stout), huge beige head. Roasty aroma, roast malts, roast pepper, coffee, hints of vanilla and chocolate. Smooth and fairly sweet flavour, plenty of chocolate / cocoa, mild sweetened coffee, hints of molasses, medium bitter hops in the finish. Quite enjoyable.

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

Bit bizarre, very complex, my first Switzerland beer. malty, dark chocolate, maybe a touch of licorice, nuts. I can pick up the vanilla just slightly if I let it sit on my tongue, but I get something congac-like in there too. Bit syrupy but not too bad, I thought It was a barleywine when I opened and smelled. I can get the tea in the mouthfeel for sure, and it does lend a not-quite-beer like complexity to the whole thing. Black pepper definitely makes its prick known when the beer got warmer. Enjoyed, unique, will seek out more from BFM, but not necessarily this brew.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

This pours a very dark brown with a brown head. The aroma is roasted malt, nuts, vanilla, and there are tart hints as well. The flavour is dominated by the alcohol, although there are sweet fruit tones and tart tones as well. I'm certainly not digging this!

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

Bottled (thanks Bov!). Deep brown colour, mediumsized beigeish brown head. Aroma is caramel malts, sourness, wooden burnt notes as well as some slight coffeeishness. Flavour is roasted malts, alcohol, some spices and herbs. Quite complex, but a bit too burnt and sticky sweet for my taste.

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

Sampled on 5/29/2009. This imperial stout pours an eclipse black color from a 330ml flip top bottle. Large to medium sized white foamy head, with nice lacing and good retention. The aroma is tea, chocolate. A medium bodied Imperial Stout. The malts are chocolate and roasty. The hops are earthy. A big sour funky flavor at the start, gives way to some roasty chocolate with some vanilla flavors. But the funk kind of dominates this beer. I am not sure that they are supposed to taste like this. There is some black pepper at the finish. There are also some definite tea flavors as well. Very complex flavors, there is an awful lot going on here, just not sure how much of it is supposed to be here. But I kind of like it! Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly tart.

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

sampled on 5/29/09. 330ml swing-top bottle with mitch. pours a pitch black color. medium head. aroma is roasty, chocolate. taste is a funky tartness, roasty, chocolate, tea, vanilla, pepper. its pretty good like this, i just dont know if its supposed to be in here. i dont pick up any funkiness in the aroma, but its there in the taste. body is medium. mouthfeel is smooth. aftertaste is a little tart.

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

I thought this had more potential, and was somewhat let down for an IMPY. The dollar off at Whole Foods got me to try this, as I don't think I woulda paid over $6. Pretty much average for an imperial stout, but finding so many from the states why pay extra for anything less than a premium import? Was not super-mud thick and had some brown to the appearance vs. dark black. Maybe the pepper and tea wasn't working for me, as I prefer the more coffee/oatmeal/nutty flavors in my stouts. Still, was interesting to try and can't really complain except anything but the price.

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

a very tasty brew, differently accented .. . smooth, no abv really detected .. . pretty complex.. . good finish .. . a proper swiss army knife!! .. . Your act is about as fresh as a Foghat concert.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 6

Pours with a creamy, dense, initially two-finger thick, somewhat browned, dark tan colored head. The beer is quite black colored though it does show flashes of clear, dark chocolate brown when held up directly to the light. The aroma is an interesting mix of chocolate a perceived tartness, smoked almond aromatics (a mix of salt, smoke and toasted nut notes), earthy city roast coffee, a definite spicy wood-like note, a slight must note, as well as a distinct, toasted nutty character that seems to finish things out. After a bit some soft fruit notes of plums left too long under the broiler become noticeable as well. This has an interesting, very complex, yet hard to describe aroma.

Quite dry tasting and actually fairly light, especially considering the strength of the beer. My suspicions of the sour aromatic notes are confirmed towards the finish as this has a definite lactic character to it. There is a slightly smoky, salt-leaning almost peat like note here that mixes with the tartness to remind me a bit of the ocean. While tart it is only lightly so, the beer is very dry with no real sweetness noticeable at all. A very earthy leaning, slightly smoky seeming . The finish also has a faint vanilla note that adds just a hint of perceived sweetness that also makes me noticed a prune-like flavor and some tart plum flavors as this beer warms up. I am not sure what the tea adds to this beer, but I wonder if it influences the smoky notes, the woody character, some tobacco notes, and a certain leafy-like sort of tea quality that becomes a touch more noticeable as I work my way through this beer. This has a nice roast finish to it, though this definitely competes with the tartness to be noticed.

This is quite easy drinking for an Imperial Stout of this strength. The only thing that keeps me from drinking this faster is that it has some really interesting, unique flavors that are quite subtle. This beer is defined by the balance the many competing, yet intertwining components achieve in the glass. This beer has got to be drastically different than when it was first bottled, but it has certainly developed into an interesting departure from the traditional Imperial Stout. My biggest complaint is that it is perhaps more complex than it is good tasting; it almost seems like a better intellectual exercise than a truly tasty beer.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ