BFM Cuvée du 7ème

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

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

From Immy’s Tasting. Just noticed, my first Swiss beer! One more country down. Hazy medium amber, little head, murky. Light caramel mixed with medicinal cherry on the aroma. Flavor was a bit of dust, light caramel, and some spice, perhaps cardamon pod. Never would have pegged this as an IPA, the hops wer purely medicinal in nature, providing virtually no aromatics. But this wasn’t a bad Belgian ale.

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.

Bottle. Sour, sweet, fruity and malty aroma with a hint of rag. Rather cloudy orange colour, lots of small floaties. The flavour is sour, but nicely so. The sourness is fruity and yoghurty. The aftertaste reminds me of iron tablets, but I do not suppose vitamins have been added.

Bottled (2004). Nutty brown, decent still tan head. Fruity (apricot, plums) with a Brettanomyces-yeast aroma. Sour, loads of dried, sweet prunes here. Fruity and sweet - I like it!

Bottle from Super Saver. I never in a million years would have pegged this as an IPA. The pour spurts its frothy load into the tulip glass with a turbid deep coppery/ruby edged tumescent appearance. The aromas are of an oaky dry tart element, with some peaty malts, spicy florals, and funky grains. The flavor is caramel malty but on the dry side, with mid-palate dry floral spicy notes and some hopcitrus and a good deal of peaty earthiness. Not bad, but a little too dry for my tastes.

Bottle shared by bgburdman: Copper in color with a rocky off white head. Aroma, fruity, some yeast, and some caramel notes. Flavor, spicy notes, caramel, some heat, and some fruits as well. Some slight woody notes, interesting.

Courtesy of the one and only Gillard. It pours hazy copper with orange hues and loose thin off white head. The aroma is a bit musty with malts, spicy hops, dark berry fruitiness and smooth sweet sweetness. The taste is a bit bright with a mix of berry sweetness and tartness as well as caramel candy. The finish fades away with the aid of modest berry tartness.

750 from the Good Beer Store, Chapel Hill, purchased at a discount during their going out of biz sale. So, yeah, IPA? I don’t think so, even with the lively floral hops. It’s really a fairly emphatic Belgian blond to my taste, with some farmhouse ale qualities and less of a dry finish. Some citrus, some buttery qualities, and very pleasant overall. But glad I didn’t pay full price, all the same.