Au Maître Brasseur La Maitresse

Formerly brewed at AMB - Maître Brasseur
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Laval, Canada

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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341mL brown glass twist-top bottle. No date. Acquired from a recent trip to Super Marché Rahman in Montreal. Appearance: Before I even poured it, I could tell there was going to be lots of hop-haze and junk. Up ended it, all in the glass. Yum, vitamins. Very thing off-white head. Downright translucent, cloudy, whatever you want to say. Tawny/amber brown. Nose: Sweet hop candy with notes of caramelized whiskey (ever have Jack Daniel’s rock candy?). There’s also some barnyard funk in the background, like manure, not horse-blanket. Palate: Medium bodied and spicy dry and prickly hop bitterness! Aggressively hoppy, but not in the usual way. No citrus. Lots of caramel and tobacco and old wood and some dank outdoor. Sip, swish, repeat. Long finish. Notes: I’m thinking a great food beer with some funky cheese and some fresh rye bread. A truly unique interpretation of the style and boldly different from American IPAs. It’s all in the unique hop profile. Well done. (And yes, it’s like a barleywine. I’d pin it towards Old Guardian...)

I guess they have changed this recipe a bit. New green label and now says 9.5% ABV. Pours a hazy apricot-amber colour with a huge off-white head that is creamy, has great retention and creates layered wavy lacing lines. Lots of tiny-tiny particles are seen through the brew. Definitely, the hop is present in the scent, but not the one I like (that seems bitter and dry) but the one that does not make my world flourish (that is more on the sweet and floral side). Kind of watery mouthfeel and alcohol is very well-hidden. Nothing too crazy in the taste. A little hop and notes of burnt malt in the aftertaste. Little hints of caramel malt as well. Nothing too bitter here. Just not a fan of the particular hop they use in this one.

Bottle. Pours a hazy dark orange amber with a golden thin head. Aroma of lychee, caramel, pine. Very sweet malty entry, with sticky tropical fruit and resinous hops rounding out the palate. Finish is very bitter, with a little harsh alcohol. Not the best balance, but drinkable.

UPDATED: FEB 21, 2011 pours orange-copper with decent white head, good retention. malts, tons of caramel malts, butter and toffee, some fruits. sharp and floral bitterness. little bit unbalanced. very piney, intensely.

Orange-blonde with a very thin white head. Faint fruity nose with not much hops in there. Medium to full body, sweet, with a peachy bitterness, not overly bitter, alcohol is well hidden altough you feel it after a couple of sips. Medium aftertaste of fuity hops. Nice 2IPA, but a little too sweet for my taste.

Bottle from Secret Santa 2009. Nose is grapefruit and orange, slightly sweet and light grassy hops. Flavor matches, with slightly more pronounced bitterness, but leans on the sweet side with some breadiness. I’d like to try this fresh, I think this one had a lot of potential, but was just barely on the long-bearded side. Thanks, Santa.

Hazy, well carbonated dark orange-amber with a thick lasting head. Citrus and marmelade aroma. Hops seem to increase with each sip. Strong orange and lemon complete with peel or zest mixed with 60/40 with woody notes. Alcohol is present but is strongest in the finish.

Aroma is all hop all the time. It’s amazing. The taste again is all hop. But it isn’t a bitter hop taste, it’s nice and smooth and mixed with honey and even a little citrus. This is a very, very nice beer that I am happy that I purchased a 6 instead of a single.

Very dark orange pour, darker that you would expect in a DIPA. Very nice aroma of sweet citrucy hops and some juicy honey notes. Wow lots of hops inhere this smells outstanding. So far this great ok now the flavor is where it falls off. The flavor is very sweet and bordering cloying. The hops are there but they are muddled in honey and a sweet syrupiness. The flavor is pretty messy and all over the place it’s too sweet and lacks crispness. The main flaw though is the finish. There is no bitter finish it doesn’t grab you in the throat. It just finishes with more of the hoppy syrup. A great effortif they clean it up i can be outstanding.

Deep glowing amber coloured body with a copper tint and a nice-sized fast-dying tan head. Aroma of fresh hops, grass, wheat a bunch of yeast and some clean sugars. Medium to Full-bodied; Strong hoppy flavour up front with grass and hay also noticeable. Aftertaste shows some yeast, sugar, toffee all left completely bittered from the hops. Overall, this is a nice beer - more of a lighter Imperial IPA, but still showing a lot of the hop bitterness - great! I’d recommend this to others and I’d like to try others from this brewery as well. I sampled this 341 mL bottle purchased at Depanneur Peluso (Bonisoir) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on 09-April-2009, sampled on 01-May-2009 on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.