The Latest Batch of New Brew Reviews: Fürstenberg Pilsner, Raftman, La Chouffe, and Winter Beard

I've had four new (new to me, anyway) beers recently: Fürstenberg Premium Pilsener, Unibroue's Raftman, Brasserie d'Achouffe's La Chouffe, and Muskoka Winter Beard Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout.  Here come some brief thoughts on each.

I am not a huge lager fan, generally, but I do sometimes love a good, dry, pilsener, though not often on a January evening, so maybe I would provide a different review come summer, but Fürstenberg Premium Pilsener (4.8% ABV) pours a very light straw colour with a thick, porous, rocky head with fair retention and slight lacing.  Aromas are of grain and grass and not great, though are certainly style-appropriate, though it admittedly tastes a bit better than the aromas and is sufficiently drying, but a touch watery and 'light-lagerish' on the tongue.  Better than American lagers, but not the best pilsener ever.  In general, I think the Czechs tend to make these better!  Grade: C+

Unibroue's Raftman (5.5% ABV) is quite unique in that it is brewed with whiskey malt and is somewhat in a style of its own.  Style-wise, it is described by the brewer as "Peat-smoked whisky malt ale," though beeradvocate considers it a Belgian Pale Ale, and I'd consider that assessment fair considering its style elements.  Upon pouring, I immediately notice the noisy, bubbling, fizzy head that diminishes as quickly as it comes.  Though this head is inviting, there is no real retention or lacing to speak of.  The body is a deep, hazy copper in colour with a thinly particulate, bottle-conditioned cloudiness - that lends credence to the Belgian style categorization.  Aromawise, this Belgian influence continues as it is remarkably yeasty, mostly of bread, but with hints of spices, sweet malty fruits, and just a faint semblance of smoked peat.  It tastes sweet up front, but not cloying, with a smoky sort of drying that apparently comes from the whiskey malt.  It is fairly full-bodied with thin, but substantive carbonation that makes for a tingly mouthfeel.  It is very pleasantly drying, almost like a perrier (though tasting much different obviously) in its finish and is quite well balanced and thirst quenching, but it isn't as remarkable as I expected, even if there is nothing wrong with it at all!  I suppose, for me, I'd find the uniqueness of the whiskey malt characteristics to go better with a Scotch Ale rather than a Belgian influenced one.  Part of what makes Unibroue (somewhat) unique is their tendency to mix things up, and though this does so - and does so well - it simply didn't feel like 'what it could have been' or perhaps was in my anticipation.  Worth drinking, but for me, not by the case!  Grade: B


La Chouffe is a highly respected Belgian Strong Pale Ale, yet the green glass bottle set me off initially (since it is less effective than brown, if better than clear, at preventing light infiltration).  Coming in at 8% ABV and from a 750ml bottle, this packs a punch and I'm glad I had company to share it with!  It pours a nice frothy white head with good retention and solid lacing.  The body is an almost luminescent amber with quite visible, highly particulate cloudiness.  Aromas are of bananas, cloves, and nutmeg, with yeasty primacy, while the taste is somewhat similar if a touch less malty than expected.  Though good, the aroma tops the flavor, which is a bit muted, though appropriately dry (and perhaps slightly drier than some other examples of its style).  As mentioned, it lacks any strong malt presence, though the yeasty spiciness is readily apparent to eye, nose, and tongue.  Feel-wise, it is very light bodied and a bit crisp - perhaps a touch outside of style norms   A decent example of the style, but not one to write home about if you ask me.  I much prefer Delerium Tremens, and slightly so Duvel, though I think this is better than Affligem Blond, so it's somewhere around average for a very well-respected style - which is to say, it's pleasurable and, for me, its balancing dryness was its finest quality if not its characteristic primacy.  Grade: B


Finally, I come to Muskoka's Winter Beard, a Chocolate and Cranberry-infused Stout (or borderline Imperial Stout at 8% ABV).  I had heard very good things about this beer and love the brewery, so I really wanted to love it (especially with my public imperial stout addiction) and though I did like it, it didn't quite meet the hype for me.  To grant some fairness to this excellent Ontario brewery, I owe it another tasting when I haven't had a St. Ambroise Russian Imperial Stout earlier in the same night, since everything ranks lower after tasting heaven (and since my rating coherence diminishes after an evening of strong beers!).  Anyway, the Winter Beard pours a very dark brown with a thin mocha head with moderate retention and negligible lace.  On the nose, I get coffee and bittersweet cranberries alongside dark fruit, raisins, and figs.  Flavourwise, it is very sweet up front with the infused chocolate being rather obvious, though the hops provides a fairly drying finish - but not enough to call it balanced.  That is, it is sweet and, as a kind of dessert beer so it should be, but it doesn't seem sweet enough to be so unbalanced to me as it is sweet in the (so-infused) bittersweet chocolate kind of way.  That is, I think I'd have enjoyed it more if it was either more balanced (in standard stout terms) or if it had embraced this imbalance with excess sweetness (for dessert) or excessive bitterness as an imperial stout would, but it seemed insufficiently imbalanced if that makes sense?  On the tongue it is fairly full-bodied and sticky, yet simultaneously prickly.  I found it to ultimately be good, but not great, as an imperial stout, and also good, but not great, as a dessert stout.  Certainly something I'd try again, and probably once every Christmas... who knows, it might have been over-hyped for me.  Grade: B-

Lava: An Icelandic Smoked Imperial Stout

I have had two smoked beers before this one and I was not much of a fan of either - not because I don't like smoked things, in fact I love them, but because they seem to me to have over-smoked the hell out of the beers so that you can taste nothing else.  I mean, they usually have way more smoke than an imperial IPA has hops.  They're like ghost peppers to someone who says, "I like my food to have a little kick every now and then."

Yet, of these two overpowering smoked beers I'd had before, neither was an imperial stout.  So of my cellared options, what made me reach for this extreme option tonight?  I wanted the imperial stout boldness, excessive smokiness be damned!

Thus, I grabbed a Lava, a smoked Russian Imperial Stout, brewed by Ölvisholt Brugghús - a craft brewery situated on an old dairy farm in Iceland within view of an active volcano for whom this beer is both inspired and named.  (As they say on their website, "The active volcano Hekla is visible from the brewhouse door and occasionally, eruptions are visible from the Ölvisholt farm. The bottle label resembles the view from the brewhouse door when an eruption occurs.")


Lava pours a fairly thick jet black with a fair mocha head, with moderate retention and good lace.  The aroma is primarily of deeply roasted chocolate malt, with hints of coffee and smoke alongside an ever-so-faint trace of earthy hops.  Flavourwise, it begins with a grainy mealtimes of remarkably dark, dark chocolate followed by a slight smokiness and moderate earthy hoppiness that keeps it quite dry.  It is fairly full bodied and warming on the tongue as the 9.4% alcohol (by volume) can truly be tasted!  Unlike most smoked beers that overwhelm you, however, the smoke here is much less overt, which is nice, though it is present for both the nose and tongue.  However, much as this appealed to me, I'd say this is an otherwise unremarkable - but good - imperial stout.  That is, it is good for its unique capacity to fill a niche by intentionally intensifying the natural smokiness of a RIS and good insofar as it does that in a smooth and balanced way, but isn't something I'd long for quite like the top RISs.  It is, thus, good but not remarkable, yet simultaneously worth trying for those into smokiness, extreme beers, Russian Imperial Stouts, or who just want something different.  For me, however, it grades well, but not extraordinarily at a Grade: B


Yes, by the way, this beer is available in pint bottles at the LCBO so, if interested, grab one/some while you can!


Okay, I posted this while on my first few sips and am now editing it as I get towards the end of the glass since the coffee notes, cereal hints, and chocolate tastes come more to the fore (in the way a chocolate with alcohol might on your second bite) and I am enjoying it more and more with each sip.  Hence this addition.  Let's call it a B+ for now - though I have one more in the cellar and may reevaluate down the road!

Another Imperial Stout and a Classic Spiced Witbier

Two beers to offer a few thoughts on: Grand River Brewing's Russian Gun Imperial Stout and Dieu du Ciel's highly praised spiced witbier Rosée d'Hibiscus.


First, Grand River's take on the imperial stout style.  As is to be expected, this beer pours a thick, deep, dark brown with a nice light brown head, though the body is perhaps slightly less thick than anticipated.  Its head is only moderately thick with fair retention at best, but excellent lace that rings the glass throughout.  Aromas of coffee, chocolate, and deep, smoky, roasted malts meet the nose.  Flavor-wise, it is similar, with a coffee bitterness that is extended by a long, dry, hoppy finish.  Medium-bodied (and here, perhaps lighter than anticipated) and slightly tingly on the tongue, but warming while slightly astringent.  A nice beer and, while not the best imperial stout on the planet, it is assuredly enjoyable enough. Grade: B+


Dieu du Ciel beers are often worth their high praise and it was with both anticipation and trepidation that I embarked on the consumption of their Rosée d'Hibiscus that had been waiting for me!

And why was I so ambivalent?  Well, it is from a great brewery, is highly praised, is considered to both exemplify the style and expand it by being bottle-conditioned, adding spices, and an aromatic flavouring of hibiscus flowers that make it unique... yet, I do not really enjoy witbiers.

So, from this place of ambivalence, I can offer the following:

This is one remarkable witbier!  The body is a very odd, almost glowing pink/orange in colour, while cloudy with thin particulate matter (unfiltered wheat and bottle-conditioned yeast).  It pours a fizzy, auditory white head with moderate retention and negligible lacing that allows for requisite aromas of bananas, spices, and just a hint of the hibiscus esters.  The flavor is balanced, mostly like a standard wit and not overpowered with hibiscus, spices, or the bottled yeast that makes this beer unique.  It is, appropriately, quite fizzy on the tongue and pleasurable enough to consume.  Nice for a witbier, but for me it is just that... A witbier.  That said, it is the best of the style (and the only of its unique variation on the style) that I have ever had, so if you like witbiers, this is clearly an A+, though for me, it is more like a B- not because it's bad but because, as good as it is, I'd probably prefer a mediocre ale of about 16 different styles before I'd order another witbier.  Glad I had one, now back to my usual tastes!

Southern Tier Beer Makes for a Fine Northern Dessert

On a recent excursion to Premiere Gourmet in Buffalo, I had the opportunity to pick up a Creme Brûlée Stout from Southern Tier (which is one of my favorite breweries).

Though it makes for a nice dessert (as my forthcoming review will make clear) at 9.6% ABV in a 650 ml bottle, it is (much like dessert) not something my diet nor parenting allows to be a one sitting swill! Well, today, with visitors, I found the opportune time to have this as a shared lunchtime dessert (though actually consumed simultaneously with lunch!) and my thoughts follow.

This beer pours like a standard stout, with a rich creamy off-white/beige head that dissipates a bit quickly with a medium lace trail.  It is not overly carbonated (in appearance or mouthfeel) but is perhaps smoothed out in texture as much as in taste by the lactic acid adjunct.

The sweet aromas this beer exudes are quite compelling.  Strong scents of vanilla so smooth and creamy as to remind you of a rich vanilla ice cream are supported by substantial notes of caramel (another malted adjunct) and what almost seems to be a butterscotch.  This beer quite literally smells like a gourmet ice cream!  Unfortunately, the sweetness masks the graininess of the malts such that the cone smell is unfortunately absent!

The taste is slightly less sweet than the aroma, bringing out a bit more of the grainy, malty, chewy goodness of the stout style tempered by two kinds of bittering hops, but these notes are much more subtle in comparison to the vanilla-caramel-mocha-coffee tastes that (though less flavourful than aromatic) still dominate this beer dessert.  It has a nice creamy-thick and almost chewy mouthfeel with little discernible carbonation that hides its alcohol quite well beneath the luxurious richness.

This beer deserves a few ratings.  Having never had another milk stout, I am limited in comparisons there, but as a stout it is a B, though as a dessert it is clearly an A+.  One complaint however... why serve it in such large bottles?  I guess it is bottled to share, like a cake, but as I often have a single beer alone, why can't I just have a slice?