United Nations of Beer

Schoune Ambree beer

by Ashley Cotter-Cairns
(UNOB HQ)

Schoune Ambree beer (5.5% ABV)
Brasseurs Schoune, QC, Canada

This little bottle was among the couple of dozen misfits that didn't get reviewed during our Quebec Beer Tasting night back in early February. We went a bit berserk and bought way too many different brews to try. I still haven't got around to writing up all those reviews!

Schoune Ambree beer is a clear, fizzy amber 5.5% ABV red. I didn't have many expectations for it, mainly because Schoune's beers are all very different and liable to swing wildly between the sublime and the ridiculous.

I can report that La Ambree, to use its full name, falls somewhere between the two camps. You won't flush it down the loo in disgust, but I'd be surprised if you bothered to look this one up more than once.

There's a fairly strong wheat smell from the open bottle and this translates into a typical Quebec fruity citrus-style aroma in the glass, with a darker, treacly promise in the nose when you take a deep sniff.

However, all hopes of a rich and varied texture fade when you take a sip and the excessive carbonation does its best to repel your tastebuds.

The initial burst of flavour, when it finally breaks through the snap, crackle and popping on your tongue, is bitter and thin. A saving grace is ready in the aftertaste of Schoune Ambree, though: the bitter twang gives way to a more subtle, slightly sweeter, melting flow of flavour, something like a watered-down IPA or a weak bitter.

A minute or so later, you'll be getting a bitter return, again IPAish. Nothing special, but not horrid either. Five minutes later and it's back to sweetness again.

I was left feeling "Blah" about this beer. Schoune Ambree beer is immediately forgetable. It's fizzy, initially bitter, lacking complexity and about the only interesting thing about it (including the label) is the bitter-sweet-bitter-sweet again thing going on.

Drink it if there's no other choice, but don't make a special effort to chat up this redhead and get her back to yours for some after-hours one-on-one time. You'll be left with a tent in your trousers: La Ambree is a prick tease.