BFM La Dragonne

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

Serve in Lager glass, Tumbler

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   add pic

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.

750ml bottle. Served warm. It is something that would be good after a day on a mountain, but in the situation I was in it was a bit much. Super gingrbready with an underlying of kraueter liquor.

750mL thanks to Travlr. What a strange, but memorable experience. Meant to be drunk warm, we put this in coffee mugs and put them in the microwave for 30 seconds (yes, I did microwave a beer). The bottle gives you better instructions to warm the beer, but involves an elaborate kitchen setup we did not have at the time.

Room Temp: Nose is mild red wine barrel funk, mulled red wine, honey mint. Taste is very sugary, cloyingly sweet, thick honey palate. Abrasively sweet. Ick. Pour is flat...looks like coffee in the mug.

Heated: Nose is much more aromatic with big mulled wine character, cinnamon stick, German spiced wine (Glühwein), candied orange peel. Taste brings out a lot of orange peel, spicy tamarind, mild soy, plums/raisin dark fruits. Actually enjoyed this as I sat with it for 20 minutes or so. It grows on you I think. Really fun to experience regardless.

If i really loved drinking warm Jaegermeister, I would have loved this beer. Unfortunately, not too many people do, and I certainly don’t. Way too much anise/licorice overtone that may be accentuated by a lot of alcohol, it’s hard to differentiate the two. It’s a great one time taster, but I couldnt recommend more than an ounce at a time.

Appearance: murky browns with no head. Looks flat and swirls with no head – nothing.
Nose: ginger, cinnamon, and raisins. Gingerbread cookies. Singular but good. Winter spiced. Tickle of heat in the back. Dried brownie crust. Hot burnt gingerbread cookies in the back.
Palate: sweet and silky mouthfeel. Brown sugars, ginger, cinnamon. Melted apples with brown sugar. Stewed spiced peaches and apples.
Final Thoughts: the brewery recommends that one savors La Dragonne warmed like a grog and after having savored the whole package at cellar temperature, I must agree. I’m always on the lookout for a good glogg and now that I’ve found one, I need another bottle.

Bottle 750ml. @ PBF 2011

[ Fridge / Room temperatured ]. Clear dark brown colour with virtually none head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, heavy spicy, cinnamon, cardamom. Flavour is heavy sweet and bitter with a long duration, spicy spicy, sweet malt, sweet chocolate. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is flat. [20110702]
4-2-4-3-8

Bottle 750ml. @ PBF 2011

[ Heated aprox 75C temperatur ]. Clear dark brown colour with virtually none head. Aroma is moderate malty, roasted, caramel, spicy, cinnamon, cardamom. Flavour is moderate sweet and light to moderate bitter with a average duration, dark malt, caramel, chocolate, spicy notes. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is flat. [20110702]
6-2-6-3-13

Bottled (fridge/roomtemperatured.)tt Deep ambery brown colour, small off-white head. Aroma is cinnamon, cardamom, some sweet maltyness as well. Flavour is almonds, cinnamon, cardamom and some sweet notes. 6 4 6 3 12.

Same bottle at approx 70-75c warm. Quite much brown to pitch black colour, no head. Aroma is sweet malts, mild spices and some fruityness. Flavour is spices, alcohol, some glue as well as mild liquorice (in a bad way). Not that pleasant when being warms, loses all the "touches" in it.

Bottled 750ml (PBF)
Served cold. Dark opaque black color, no head. Cardamon, cinnemon and cherry in the nose. Ryeish, unpleasant cherryish-cardamon spicey flavor. ==> Warmed up: Nose is gone. Sweetish, ryeish, chocolaty, roasted flavor. Interesting. Couldn’t finish the bottle alone :)

Das gewürzige Bier kommt gänzlich ohne Kohlensäure daher. Während das Bier kalt noch ziemlich wässrig wirkt, zeigt die Erwärmung den gewünschten Effekt, das Bier wirkt voller und runder. Doch auch hier wirken die Gewürzaromen zum Teil künstlich und können nicht überzeugen. Künstlich ist so auch der Abgang, gewürzig aber nicht übermäßig aromatisch, deutlich anch Zimt. Geht so. /7/7/6/8/7

From notes: I heated this up as per the instructions to the recommended 120 degrees. Pours a dark chocolate brown, almost black color with a thin chestnut brown ring. Slightly roasted aroma with lots of spice, alcohol and dark berries. Hints of pepper, clove and anise as well as some plum, raisin and grape. Full bodied, thick and syrupy with a very prominent spice character along with hints of dark berries and astringent alcohol. There is some subtle citrus complimenting the dark fruit notes. Hints of currant, plum and raisin as well as a very prominent anise flavor that overpowers the rest of the beer. Although the beer is only 7.5%, the alcohol presence is strong and off putting. I’m not sure what this beer tastes like cold but heating it up seems more like a novelty than anything else. It tastes mostly like an alcoholic herbal tea. I was intrigued by the idea but it didn’t really work.

Bottle shared by Tmoney99. Pours dark brown in color with no head. The aroma is a unique blend of spices, fairly sweet, this is in line with what I think of as a winter warmer. The flavor starts with some roasted malt before being overtaken by the spice blend. This reminds me of a spiced cider without all of the sweetness. There is an earthy quality to go with the spices. Medium bodied interesting beer.