BFM Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien 2006

Formerly brewed at BFM (Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes)
Style: Sour Ale
Saignelégier, Switzerland

Deep amber with vanishing head. Strong bret nose, vinyl, wood, the acidic which appear to be the distinguishing mark of this brewery, fruity.

Extreme Beer Fest 2/15/08: Yum! Very sweet and fruity. Tasted of apples, tangerines, pears. It had a lambic-like quality to it. I thought it would be classified as a Belgian ale and was surprised to find out that it actually is a sour ale. An enjoyable beer.
Rating: 8/4/8/4/15 = 3.9

Update 5/12/08: Bottle. Pours a dark, cloudy brown with a white head (I remembered it being a light color, but apparently not...). Aroma of sour fruits and sweetness. Flavor is super sweet with some oak/wood notes. I don’t get any alcohol per se but this is sweet sweet sweet and has a very heavy mouthfeel. It is ok for the first few sips, but then it gets too sweet and it took me forever to finish.
New rating: 8/4/6/3/13= 3.4

EBF V NOTB. Aroma of fruit ranging from bananas to cherries. The fruit remains present in the flavor joined by funk with good levels of tartness and sourness, but I felt at times an annoying sweetness too. Very spritzy and playful on the tongue, shocked to learn this is 11%. Re-rate from a bottle, largely the same impressions, but a somewhat suspect mix of that sweetness and mild earthiness dropped aroma from 8 to 7.

Beer pours with little carbonation. Smells great, a mix of sour, spice, and funky oak. Tastes amazing. A lot like red wine , with dried cherry, mustard tang, and rich woodiness all balanced perfectly. Actually worth the cash .

Bottle at iowaherkeye’s tasting. 2006 vintage. Thanks for sharing Joey. Poured a hazy reddish-brown color. Aroma was of sour fruits (apple, cherry) and yeasty bread dough. It was fairly acidic on the tongue, peaking at about 5 out of 10, and carbonation was ample. Subdued black pepper accented the more dominant earthy brown leaves/wood, tart apple, and cherry. There was also an occasional hint of wet dog. Decent overall.

Thanks for sharing, iowaherkeye. The body is amber with a yellowish khaki head. The aroma was strongly vineous with caramel and molasses behind that character. The taste was fairly tart with orange juice concentrate without the water added. There was a definite metallic finish. This was a little musty and highly carbonated, but made for a strange package, over all.

Murky red/amber color with a beige head, left a ring around the glass. I get some sour and oak notes, but not too much else, maybe some dark fruits. Lightly acidic, metallic, oak, and a touch of some sour cherry or other fruits in the taste; wasn’t impressed. Lighter than medium body with a dry finish, light carbonation. Don’t know that I’d have this one again, it didn’t seem like an off bottle, just not very good.

Bottled, for a mere $22. Yikes. Interesting and complex aroma, celery and sour patch kids, coffee rinds and some vodka. Alcohol is more apparent than in the 2005, which apparently was 16%, though I don’t buy that. Flavor is fresh sour red grapes through and through, a clean lemon zest flavor and subtle spices make themselves known. Goes down easy, and the alcohol nose isn’t felt in the flavor. Some nice funky farmhouse flavors in there and a very belgian feel to the beer. Very well done.