United Nations of Beer

Imperiale au Ble de Noel

by Ashley Cotter-Cairns
(UNOB HQ)

Imperiale au Ble de Noel (8% ABV)
Au Maitre Brasseuer, QC, Canada
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(Imperial Christmas Wheat Ale in English). A strange winter seasonal, but one which I find delicious, against all my better instincts!

Pours cloudy-ish brown-amber. Head dissipates rapidly, but some lace remains behind on the glass. Continues below

The smell... Sort of like treacle laced with aniseed twist hard candy, undeniably spiced and Christmassy-tasting. Borderline cough syrup or lozenge, but in a good way!

A wonderfully balanced beer, plenty of alcohol warmth after the swallow, but not too present in the mouth. Initially sweetish-sour, immediate kick of bitterness at the first swallow, very very strongly wheat-yeastish aftertaste and laced with CLOVES. There! I said it. Not my first choice of a beer flavour, but it works in this package very well.

Sweet aftertaste that lingers, mingling with the clove and cinnamon, like the taste you get when you've just finished a cough sweet.

This certainly won't be to everybody's taste, but I am really enjoying this bottle. Au Maitre Brasseur is a brave brewery and I always appreciate the extra effort they put into their beers, even the 'boring' regular releases.