BFM Cuvée du 7ème

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

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

Opened when lightly chilled. The bottle exploded with carbonation and lots of escaping foam. Dry aroma of herbal hops, but it is quite nice. Dark brown color and lots of carbonation and a tall brown head. Some sweetness, but lots of herbal hops. Dry flavor and dry finish. Very expensive at $16.

2006 Bottle #276 (Which I guess everyone in the U.S. has?!?):
Super large tan head pops open immediately unop taking the top off. The head stays on the beer nicely and helps accentuate the deep amber coloured body with strong orange highlights. Aroma of yeast, bread, lemons, wheat, coriander seed and a bit of hops. Medium-bodied; Spicey and grassy hops in the taste up front - pretty nice and bittering. Complex finish - very carbonated with a good wheat backbone. Aftertaste shows good complexity, the bittering hops definitely show through without harsh aftertastes. Overall, a good beer (a crazy stretch for a Swiss IPA), but great to try! I sampled this 75 cL bottle purchased from Sam’s Liquor in Chicago, Illinois on 25-January-2008.

750 from Holiday Wine Cellar Shared with my girlfriend Cyn. Seems weird to have an aged ipa, but oh well. Nose is muted and somewhat hoppy. Taste is sweet and spiced. If this an IPA, I’m drinking this in outer space while sitting on the rings of saturn.

2006 vintage. Strange brew here. Pours a cloudy, ruddy golden-honey color. A massive, frothy, tan colored head just spews from this thing, taking its sweet time to settle down to a drinkable level. Eventually, the nose emerges to reveal a funky concoction of sweet honey, dry grassy hops, caramel, citrus, and musty, earthy yeast notes. Right off the bat, you know this isn’t your standard IPA or Biere de Garde, but rather an interesting hybrid of the two. Flavors continue down the long, strange path. Honey really plays a big role, lending its signature natural sweetness. The hop character is dry, grassy, musty and spicy. Fruity notes include oranges and nectarines. Medium-full, round mouthfeel. More of a slow sipper for me. Finishes pretty clean, with a bit of the earthy yeast lingering. Very interesting, and fairly enjoyable brew.

750ml bottle, 2007 vintage i believe, thanks to i think devon, this was an ipa? pours hazy amber with huge foamy head. nose is peppery, yeasty, esters. herbal hop flavor, a bit grassy and spicy. somewhat sweet malt bill with dry finish. way carbonated. odd beer.

2006 bottle. Took a long, long time for the gushing to finally stop. It was like the energizer bunny in that it kept gushing, and gushing and gushing. Huge frothy, foamy and fizzy off-white head that was mostly lasting, minimal carbonation, virtually no lacing, murky, and an orange brown hue. Nose was hoppy, sweet, clove, spicy, tart, fruity, caramel, and citrus. Flavor was sweet, tart, sour, hoppy, fruity, spicy, lightly acidic, light caramel taste, and somewhat bitter. Mouthfeel was thin. Light-medium body. The aroma was better than the flavor IMO which was a disappointment even though this is not one of my favorite beer styles.

Bottle @ Dan’s house. Cloudy orange appearance with an off white head that disappears quickly. Dull, citrusy, white wine, dental floss nose. Mildly tart, sour, cherry, citrusy, dull hoppy flavor with some weird plastic fruit notes.

Thoroughly over carbonated, the beer starts to foam up as soon as I pop the cap, this active bottle is definitely sitting in the sink where it can foam at its leisure. I am able to get maybe two-fingers of beer in my glass with the rest being foam, including a good two-fingers above the rim of my glass. The head is a light tan color and sits on top of a reddish-pink tinged, copper colored brew that is almost brilliantly clear. The aroma is quite interesting, a mix of damp, earthy / musty notes, ripe fruit and malt. Amped up notes of red apple, plums, candied tropical fruit are offset by a mix of malt and funky notes. The malt leans toward toasted grain, crushed malt and biscuit notes while the funky notes provide an overripe fruitiness and a touch of musty funk.

Lightly sweet, but it finishes with a sharp, substantial bitterness as well as a bit of musty funkiness. The beer is quite light bodied, almost surprisingly given the perceived sweetness, though I think a lot of the sweetness is accentuated by the amped up fruit character of this brew. The fruit notes lean towards a mix of strawberries, rip melons, berries, plum and blood oranges. The fruitiness seems a bit over-ripe, which is really where the funkiness comes in to play, but there is a light, musty, damp earthiness here that contributes lightly to the flavor profile. The malt character has all but dissapeared from the flavor, probably reduced by whatever bug has dried this out.

What a strange beer, the mix of hop focus (which has clearly mellowed with age) and weird fruity funkiness (was this even intended) can be a bit confusing at times. I admit though that the two don’t really get in the way of each other. While this may not be the exact vision of the brewer (though maybe it is), it is certainly an interesting, engaging and tasty brew. In the end this is definitely a hop dominated brew, especially since the malt character has been reduced so much by the "wild" bug, but I like the light funky influence.