BFM La Dragonne

Brewed by BFM (Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes)
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Saignelégier, Switzerland

Serve in Lager glass, Tumbler

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Sour thin raw milk aroma dominated with a brush of citrus oil and eucalyptus. Dark as coffee. Honey sweetness is punished with overages of spice. Turns out this is exactly my kind of thing, enjoyed a 750ml without incident. This can replace coffee in my cup any day.

A fascinating this. Like glüwein but drinkable. Intense combination of alpine spices and berries. We could not find a microweave oven as the label mentions so we used a standard microwave. Eight tasters loved it.

75cl bottle at 7%. This is a difficult review. I was very intrigued by what the label was asking us to do. They refer to it as a beer that one must drink very warm, and it is recommended as an after ski beer under the windy conditions of the bise wind in Switzerland. We drank this bottle after a day spent in alpage in the Fribourg Canton at 1500m under rain and small wind, which really got us chilled and ready for something warm. As soon as we opened the bottle, we noticed the light smell of Kraut (herbs used in many German style liquor or Swiss mountain liquors of the alpage) that emanated out of the bottle. We warmed the bottle to the required t° of 55-60 celsius. The kitchen started to fill with a nice herbal scent. Then came the pour, everyone loved the beer. It pours a blackish warm liquid that is very reminescent of what we call "vin chaud" or "warm wine" typical of winter season. No head, and a very original taste of mountain herbs and spices as wel as cinnamon. It quickly warms the body up. The beer gained in flavor after we put it in the water to a higher temperature. It was sugary, sweet and honey. I realy do not udnerstand some of the poor ratings, but again, some might never have had the chance of living in the Swiss mountain regions and udnerstand the concept of their warm herbal/spicy drinks that is so rightly explained on the bottle. Everyone who tried this beer loved it. It deserves its high rating for the style, and how BFM managed to capture the spirit of Swiss alpage-mountain and pack it in a bottle. This is a beer that we drank at the hot temperature, and that in no case would have gained such rating had it been cold or not served according to the label.

A really good, interesting beer. It is good at room temperature and mulled. Either way, there is abundant spice. Some pumpkin, cinnamon, raison, and loads of black licquorice. No carbonation on this beer. Black, with malt flavor as well but I taste no hops.

A dark red beer with no head. The aroma is sweet spicy combined with the notes of Danish Christmas cookies known as "brunkager". The flavor is of cloves and "brunkager".

750 ml served @ 120 degrees. Rich fig and raison with molasses and honey one the nose with a rich malty aroma. Pours a chocolate brown amber with no head. Wow, warm i get raison bread, fruit cake, dark berries, black cherry, with rich candied dark fruits, dates. Not bad. A new experience served warm!

Dark brown hue, with no head, served at recommended temperature, yeasty, toasted, roasted malt nose, with a very nice spicy aroma of nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, gingerbread, anise, with a wet oaky, raisiny accent and a kind of sambuca liquorish note, follows through on a full-bodied palate with a yeasty, fruity, spicy character of gingerbread, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove spiciness, with a hint of dark chocolate, with a black cherryish anise accent, leading towards a warmtrh, spicy, fruity winey, faint bitterness finish.

Cellar Reduction Night, Oct 20, 2007. First sampled cold. Brown color with no head. Strong aroma of cloves, allspice, wintergreen and pumpkin. The taste just screams pumpkin pie spices. We did heat this up, and it seemed to kill all the taste. I wouldn’t hold that against the beer though.

Bottle 750ml, one glass is mulled and the other room temp: Shockingly nearly pitch black with no head nor lace but plenty of oily and syrupy legs. The nose is pure holiday spiced liquor with cinnamom, clove, ginger, nutmeg, apple, plum, deep caramel and golden molasses, with grapey overtones. The taste is indeed sticky sweet but as in the case of most Cordials (aka post dinner treats) this really hits the spot with it unabashed in your face sweetness and spices. Heavy sugars and fruit with a moderate alcoholic tone, truly a wonderful sipping brew. YES, THIS REALLY MUST BE MULLED to get the full experiance. My rating is based on the warmed glass. The room temp glass would be a 3.1 to 3.3 at best.

Bottle from Rivers Bend. Served warm. Poured dark ruby color with a minimal white head that mostly diminished with virtually no lacing. Moderate to heavy toasted malt and complex spice aroma. Medium to full body with a smooth texture and flat carbonation. Medium to heavy spicy sweet flavor with a medium to heavy spice sweet finish of moderate to long duration. Good drinkable winter brew that blended well with warm hard cider.