12 Beers of
Christmas!
Schoune Biere de Noel needs more exposure, says Ashley Cotter-Cairns.
Schoune Biere de Noel review
Submitted
by Ashley
Cotter-Cairns
Our
12 Beers of Christmas
series began with an English beer and continues with one that's very
British in quality. In fact, this bitter red could convincingly pass
for a nice Yorkshire bitter, were there not two feet of freezing
Canadian snow outside
waiting for me to shovel it.
So what can I tell you about this Christmas-themed beer? Schoune, (in)famous for such amusing 'beers' as Reb'Ale, as well as some very tasty offerings like Maple ale and Quebec White beer, is a brewer best described as 'hit and miss'. One beer will be delicious, the next a travesty.
This is not an attack on Schoune, because many brewers around the world suffer from this kind of inconsistency.
Biere de Noel definitely falls into the "hit" category.
While it's not going to radically alter the course of beer history or catapult Schoune to the forefront of Canadian brewing, it certainly deserves to be available all year round, though obviously a bit of an image change would be necessary.
Schoune Biere de Noel pours very deep reddish amber, with a lovely frothy "Santa's beard" of foam that lasts throughout, leaving a nice wintry lace behind on the glass.
It smells just as you'd expect a Christmas ale
to: fruity, with spices present, almost like a Christmas scented candle
(in an understated and definitely a good way!).
Take a pull and you will be quite surprised, especially if the idea of spiced beer has you reaching for the slop bucket.
While there is a hint of cinnamon, cloves, black pepper and other spices, the overwhelming bitterness will take over and dominate your mouth.
In fact, this is quite like a British bitter. Why they would put this out as a Christmas ale and not go for a year-round market, I'm not sure, but it's worth checking out if you can find it before the holiday season comes to an end and this beer is consigned to the history books for another year.
I'll give it Six Geese a-Laying on the 12 Beers of Christmas index. Cheers and happy holidays!
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