Wednesday, June 28, 2006

La Bière Du Démon


After two days of 100+ degree weather I need something to cool off. And speaking of hot…Anglia was nice enough to bring me a beer from her trip to Italy, but told me it was German. Turns out it’s really French. She is also the one that brought me the Blue Ice Beer that was, well, an experience I won’t soon forget.

Stats:
Brewery – Les Brasseurs de Gayant in Douai, France
Style – Belgian Strong Pale Ale (not one of the recognized BJCP styles)
ABV – 12%
Serving Type – 33 cl bottle

“Beer of the Demon” is reputed to be the “strongest blond beer in the world” according to the brewery’s website. At 12% I wasn’t able to find anything stronger until the beers got darker, so I guess it’s true. This beer uses “special yeast” and ferments for about 2 weeks before being lagered for a month.

Other than finding out the brewery opened in 1919, I wasn’t able to find out much about the brewery, other than they are independently owned and all their press releases are in French. You would think that a company that has been around for nearly a century would have more information about it. I guess it’s part of that old word play-it-close-to-the-chest mentality that breweries have after being around for awhile.

Glass – “Beer” Pint Glass

Aroma – There is definitely alcohol in this beer. I can pickup almost vodka like grain alcohol and sweet malt aroma. The alcohol pretty much covered up any hop aroma.

Appearance – The beer pours with a very small white crown that dissipates very quickly. The color is a very pale yellow that reminds me of a Pabst. It is mostly clear, but there is some sediment that got kicked up in the glass.

Flavor – In the front it is very sweet like syrup. In the back it is alcoholic. In the aftertaste I get that hot alcohol burning sensation that you get when you’re drinking strait alcohol. It’s not as strong as a whisky, but may be similar to vodka. Unfortunately it has been years since I’ve had a shot of vodka so I may be remembering things differently. I also can’t pick out anything resembling hops.

Mouthfeel – Very light, almost like there is nothing in my mouth. However if I had to pick a sensation I guess it would be syrupy. Could be that it’s just evaporating, or because I’m just chugging it down so I can get it out of there as quickly as possible. There was little to no carbonation.

Final Thoughts – Think vodka with corn syrup. I’m not even sure this can be called a beer. It seems more of a light grain alcohol. Maybe I should have used a shot glass instead of a pint glass. It’s not as bad as the last one Anglia brought me, but it did renew my love of well crafted beers. Hey, if she keeps getting better I might actually be able to finish the next one. Seriously though, your thoughtfulness is very much appreciated. After all, it’s not Anglia’s fault the French can’t make good beer.

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