BFM Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien Grand Cru 2009 (Vin Jaune Barrel)

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

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Bottle from Secret Santa, thanks! Dark amber color, no head. Vinous, oaky aroma with hints of yoghurt, lemon and vanilla. Malty, slightly sour oaky flavor with vanilla, sherry, lemon, salt and cognac. Amazing complexity, moderate sourness. Absolutely brilliant!

Bottle, VJ2 barrel, thanks to bu11zeye, ruby brown pour with a vinous, balsamic aroma, flavor is sweet dirty cherry, berries, malt vinegar, grape peel, my favorite of the three

Bottle shared with Austin and Terry at Trappeze. Hazi deep golden amber, very slight carbonation. Aroma of summer fruit, white wine, caramel. Taste is vanilla, butterscotch, funky caramel. Very nice.

3750ml Bottle 2009 vintage VJ2. Pours out amber/orange with a ring of a head. Aroma was cherries, barnyard, lemon zest, oak, and some light grape. Taste was as the aroma with a good anount of oak and barnyard.

2009 vintage VJ2 bottle thanks to bu11zeye. Pours with a hazed copper body and no head. The aroma is packed with alcohol, fruity and a bit earthy. Very vinous. Flavors are vinous with hints of suntan lotion, cidery with alcohol. Somewhat smooth considering the ABV. No bubbles, a bit thin.

Bottle shared with others. Pours a hazy deep ruby amber with no head whatsoever. Aroma has a good amount of dry wine with sour fruits and a bit of backing sweet grains and funk. Flavor begins with sour fruits and a good amount of funk with acid and sweet grains.

(375ml bottle marked VJ2 brewed 2009 thanks to bu11zeye) clear medium orange and honey color, still with no carbonation. Nose of moss, cranberry, wet barrel and cherry. Taste of wet barrel, tart tangerine, currant, cranberry, still with no carbonation. Nice wet barrel/tart finish.

Bottle at Mumsig Miniprovning, Göteborg. Hazy orange beer with yeast, small offwhite head. Sourish fruity aroma, grapes, sour, rubber, horse blanket. Sourish fruity flavor, citrus, grapefruit, spicy, sour, leather notes, grapes, some hop notes, vinous, some rubber.

VJ2, 2009 Bottling; Sampled December 2011
Pours mostly flat, though it manages to scare up a ring of large bubbled, amber tinged froth that hugs the sides of my Lost Abbey Teku glass. The beer is a concentrated red / amber color that shows a clear, bright amber hue when held up to the light. The aroma smells vinous, oak like and with a port or sherry like note up front that is backed by an aged, toasty maltiness towards the finish. There is a definite, though not heavy, tartness to this beer that accentuates a white wine grape like note. Fruit notes of tart raisins, sour pear / apple and some sort of distinct, but not quite placeable, musky melon like note adds some complexity and balance to the other notes. There is a toasted character here in the nose that is a product of the oak, but also from some residual malt character; the oak also contributes a spiciness to the nose that is a mix of sharp oak, white pepper and this is perhaps joined by a touch of phenolic spicy character.

Still feeling as it hits the mouth, this makes it seem light, despite it coating the palate fairly well. The finish has an oxidized, not quite cardboard like note to it as well as a spicy, lightly astringent oak character, a touch of tartness and a dry, vinous fruit character; this last reminds me of raisins (though without any sweetness), a touch of tart berry notes, a hint of oxidized apple and some red pear flavors. There is an oak presence throughout the flavor profile; a light astringency is noticed from beginning to end, there is a definite wood / oak flavor here as well and perhaps a touch of toasted oak notes, this last suggests at some toasted character from the malt.

This is much nicer than the flat BA Santa’s that I had before this; the difference (since they both are flat and barrel aged) is that this beer is balanced, no one thing (especially the barrel) is so dominant that it gets harsh or annoying. It probably helps that this beer was flat on purpose and was designed around that.

2009 bottle courtesy of bu11zeye. Clear amber color/ no head. Vanilla, cherry, mild barnyard aromas. Sweet tart flavors of vanilla, cherry, lemon, wet wood bug, earthy barnyard--good--.