BFM Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien 2006

Bottle opened Christmas 2008.

Bottle gushes on opening, emitting a strong sour-with-oak aroma. It pours a cloudy brown with a foamy tan head. Rich, full flavors, dark fruits under a dominant sour ale body, oak, chocolate-covered cherry (those old liquour-filled ones that used to be such a delight at Christmas), raspberry and peat. I am extremely impressed; this is a truly great sour ale, deeply complex. Not sweet but not cuttingly dry on the front side, but beautifully dry (without being lemon-juice acidic) on the close. Alcohol is hidden like nobodys business. I would have called it at 7-8%. I am sorry that I will probably never get another pass at it.

<i>Courtesy of Philippe &#40;Bov&#41;, 2 years old</i>
Brown color; the head quickly reduces to few floating islands. It´s a classic BFM: good body, caramel flavor, and the typical sourness, that gives a fruity touch too. The aroma develops some light cigar too, leather, chocolate. The flavor is very dynamic. Some chocolate also in the final. The alcohol perfectly complements this solid brew. Very good.

750 mL bottle. Pours rusty brown with big fizzy beige head. The aroma is plum, cranberry, some oak and vanilla, a little bit of semi-sweet chocolate, and distant decomposing wood sourness. The flavor is tart and oaky with lots of dry red wine notes. It gets richer toward the finish with some bitter chocolate and dark fruit. There is alcohol and toasted oak in the aftertaste. Dry and pleasing.

Bottle. Pours tawny with an average, frothy, light brown head, mostly lasting with good lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (cookie, caramel, straw), light hops (herbs), average yeast (horse blanket, barnyard) with notes of apricot, grape, and plum. Full bodied, alcoholic texture, lively carbonation, and a bitter finish. Average duration, moderate sweetness, acidity, and bitterness.

Blended October 2007 #00276 Big sediment in a deep reddish brown with a nice few fingers of quickly collapsing tan head. Aroma is oaky sourness, some sour cherry and a wincing tartness. Very light body with an acidic profile. Very dry and some alcohol slips through in the end.

Courtesy of JSturm

Bottle: The aroma consists of caramel, sour dark fruits, vinous notes, and alcohol. It pours a hazy orangish-brown with a small beige head. The flavor starts with caramel, sour fruits, and vanilla. The finish is lightly oaky with some noticeable alcohol. Light-medium bodied with soft carbonation.

750mL Bottle courtesy of lithy. Thanks Justin! (I cut and pasted the thank you from TURDFERGUSON, but it’s true!) It’s funny how the 2005 version is listed as a Belgian Strong Ale, and it also sour. The label says Swiss Ale de Garde. It’s definitely sour, I like this categorization. Pours with with a big head, even though cold, and fades quickly to a tiny small bubble ring around the edge of the glass. First smell is of sour cherries, a bit Brettish. Lots of oak, approaching a wine-like oakiness, I wouldn’t doubt used red wine barrels for the aging. Aroma is really wonderful. Dark red-amber color. Taste is really dry and a bit of sour. Nice sipping beer. Kind of reminds me of Red Poppy. Kind of an apple skin bitterness, probably tannins from the red wine. Alcohol is very well hidden, probably because of the mild sourness, but still has medium drinkability. A hint of age is showing in the beer, but doesn’t detract from the beer. I would actually expect more aging might do it some good to mellow and the blend the flavors some more. As an experiment, I watered down the beer with 40% lime Perrier with wonderful results. I find I don’t finish strong beers, because of low drinkability, so if I cut them with sparking water, especially lime sparking water, drinkability improves greatly. In this particular case, a little sweetness from Sprite would also be a wonderful mix.

Bottle courtesy of lithy. Thanks Justin! Pours a hazy orange/red with a small off-white lace. Nose is oak, leather, cherries, light vinegar. Flavor is more vinous and tannic, more tart cherry, oak, alcohol.