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| A selection of local micro-brewed Christmas Beers. |
One thing that Pauline and I like are dark winter beers...
and the Christmas beers always seem to fit the bill...
often superb with fruit cake, they can be enjoyed sitting in front of a nice open fire...
or, if your agent deliberately ignores the fire on your design....
in front of the television...
with the "open log fire" DVD running...
[choice of real log fire sound.... or Classical musak!].
With food at mealtimes, they readily accompany...
roast meat, be it winged or hooved....
especially game...
also sausage... be that with mash...
or dried and sliced with a strong mustard and some wholemeal bread.
Normally spicy, they also withstand "mulling"....
if you pop half a pint in the microwave for 10 seconds...
or 20 on low power...
much easier.. and nicer than sticking a poker in the beer...
it warms it up enough to release more of the spice notes.
In the UK, Daleside Morroco [5.5%ABV] fits the bill for a mulled winter brew....
although it is not a Christmas brew as such.
Bieres de Noël have, however, a strong tradition on the continent...
Pelforth in France....
and both Leffe and Grimbergen in Belgium...
are readily available commercial varieties.
But you need to be ready to grab them when seen, as they are "limited editions"...
and therefore only on the shelves for a short while.
Not "real ale in a bottle", these will keep for only a couple of years at most...
and certainly will not mature in the bottle.
Even rarer are the offerings from the micros...
our local micros are no exceptions...
Brasserie de l'Aurore used to offer Tourone de Noël [6.5% ABV]...
but this year the name has changed to La Tourangelle de Noël [6.5% ABV].
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| 2012 on the left... this years on the right. |
Simply Market in Liguel stocks these Cormery (37) beers...
and has the Christmas offering on the shelf at the moment.
Our Tourist Office in le Grand Pressigny also sells the Aurore beers...
very convenient!!
Brasserie Pigeonelle at Céré la ronde (37) offers Pigeonoël [x% ABV]...
difficult to find this one, try LeClerc at Loches.
Finally, a little further afield...
is the offering from the Brasserie de Bellefois [Neuville de Poitou (86)]...
simply named Bière de Noël [5.6% ABV]....
available from SuperU in La Roche Posay.
All these brews are on the yeast, mature in the bottle and will keep happily for a few years...
so shove some in a cool, dark place for comparison with the next offering.
If there is a "winter" brew of any sort from the Brasserie Sancerroise [Sancerre (18)]...
we haven't come across it! [And I cannot find mention on their site, either.]
We've also found in the Biocoop two other Christmas ales....
the Brasserie "La Goule" [Foussignac (16)]... Bière de Noël [6% ABV] and...
from Brasserie du Val de Sèvre [Pamproux (79)]... La Belette de Noël [8% ABV]...
the latter in a style unusual for France...
a Rauchbier... a German-style smokey beer using both torrified and smoked barley malts...
that is going to be a nice contrast...
and will most certainly suit a meal of cold meats and sausage!!
With a strong mustard... and grainy bread!
Both of these are also quite close by....
being from the Poitou region.
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| La Belette is a Weasel |
We will be posting on each of the beers as we try them.
Not yet having sourced the Leffe and Pelforth offerings for this year,
we are starting with the Grimbergen "Brassin de Noël" [6.5% ABV]...
rich looking, with a good head as I poured this out into an old late 30s "Pelforth 43" glass.
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| Almost as poured... I very nearly forgot to take a picture! But only a few sips gone... |
Pelforth 43 was a Scotch Ale
[ie: a Heavy or 90/-... rich, brown and well flavoured]
[ie: a Heavy or 90/-... rich, brown and well flavoured]
All the dark beers benefit from the use of a goblet style glass...
the warmth of your hand holding the bowl helps release the "notes".
I poured at the temperature of our cellier [pantry]...
currently 15°Centigrade...
to be honest, that was a bit cold!!
The beer improved as I held it,
Pauline found the same with hers...
served in a Carlsberg "Imperial Stout" glass I spotted at a vide grenier.
[Carlsberg "Imperial Stout" [8.6% ABV]... if you can find it]
There were no serving temperatures mentioned on the bottle...
however, it said 8°Centigrade on the cardboard pack!
But all dark ales are NOT destined to be served from the fridge!!
Way too cold... these are room temperature beers.
Most notable to me were cinnamon and burnt toffee on the nose...
and blackberries, nutmeg and ginger and caramel in the mouth...
with a none too punchy, hoppy head.
Definitely a "sipping" beer, the flavours lingered on the tongue for a long time.
Complex, these flavours came at different times... and the head kept very well...
I let it warm up in the room for about an hour after pouring, taking a sip every so often...
large traces of the head stayed right to the end.
Likely "mulling" candidate...
Altogether, very tasty!!
First time of trying...
probably buy a pack next year, too!
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Links to the local microbreweries...
Brasserie de l'Aurore
Brasserie Pigeonelle
Brasserie de Bellefois
Brasserie Artisinale "La Goule"
Brasserie du Val de Sèvre
Brasserie Sancerroise
Please note:
LIDL do a Christmas Beer...
this is the Watneys of the style...
not worth the effort lifting the pack!!
3 comments:
Sound great, I have not had such a beer for some years now perhaps I will try one over Noel!! If you want any good UK brew bringing back let me now I can stick a case in for you. No problem.
Thanks for the useful local overview.
Tim particularly liked this post being a fan of dark beers. I wouldn't buy the goule as I don't like the picture on the front! Very superficial, I know...
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