Boquébière Hildegard Rouge des Cantons

Brewed by Boquébière
Style: Sour Red/Brown
Sherbrooke, Canada

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

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750 ml. À l’œil : Une fine couche de mousse se dépose sur un liquide brun rougeâtre embrouillé par de nombreux sédiments. Au nez : malt caramel, petits fruits rouges et agrumes qui apportent à la fois des notes douces et des notes aigres, effluves boisés, parfums de la barrique, bon bouquet rustique de la levure. Le goût : présence indéniable du fût de chêne, levure bien présente, bons microbes, léger souffle de vin rouge, fruits goûteux et aigres, indéniable douceur. Impression en bouche : le corps est moyen-mince. Le pétillement est juste, capable de bien diffuser les saveurs. La texture est bien agréable : finement huileuse. La finale est à l’image de la dégustation : un heureux mélange de levure et de fruits rouges. Appréciation : liquide estimable mais légèrement dispendieux.

Pours a muddied brown with red highlights, forms a nice lofty light tan head. Picking up a bit of caramelized malts in the nose, enveloped with woody and sharp acidic grape notes. Nice tartness up front in the flavor, very reminiscent of some lambics I’ve tried, finishes through with a lingering and refreshing sourness along with light oaky aromatics. Feels quite thin bodied on the palate, although a strong and borderline prickly carbonation gives it a boost. Not overly blown away by it, but it is unique and quite drinkable, and serves as an interesting example of a beer/wine hybrid.

My Bottom Line:
Brettanomyces galore brands this Flanders-style Red Ale, while red wine fruitiness and pleasant dryness add further enjoyment.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A crown of foam garnishes the cloudy dull red.
-The aroma is evocative, while the flavor profile tends to be more linear (lots of brettanomyces).
-The finish is dry with a few green angles (Frontenac malt?).
-This is surely one of the best integrations of Québécois malt I’ve ever tasted.
-The wild yeast character is dusty at times.
-This is expensive, but it is very well done and showcases a style that is rarely seen in these parts. Can’t wait to drink the next batches!
-Tartness is present, but the wild yeast character is more important. This is not sour or acidic. Therefore, I would say this is very drinkable for the style.
-If yeast wasn’t as present in the bottle, the flavor profile would be more elegant and the color more appealing. A little filtration or fining might push this to world-class level...

Bottle.

Bottle enjoyed at Mondiale 2011. Flanders Red style, amber clour and lacey. Well malted. Winey aromas. Sour, mildly acidic, and a great drinker and so tasty, a complex reminder of great flanders/wild/funky beers of the past.

Bottle, savoured on June 13 2011; eye: brown with caramel hue, hazy, average effervescence, tiny sheet of creamy corn head, slight lacing; nose: oak, sourness, horse, light red fruit; mouth: oak, sourness, malt vinegar, light horse, light cherry, slight spices, slight caramel, refreshing, slight grapefruit, finale in oak-horse with slight presence of red fruit, medium body, good carbonation, mildly sour and acidic, lighty sweet, lightly oily and slightly vinous texture; overall: fine FRANÇAIS Bouteille, savourée le 13 juin 2011; œil : brune avec des reflets caramel, trouble, effervescence moyenne, petite couverture de mousse crème de maïs très légère dentelle; nez : chêne, aigreur, cheval, léger fruit rouge; bouche : chêne, aigreur, vinaigre de malt, léger cheval, léger cerise, très léger épices, très léger caramel, rafraîchissante, très léger pamplemousse, finale en chêne-cheval avec très légère présence de fruit rouge, corps moyen, bonne carbonatation, moyennement aigre et acidulée, légèrement sucrée, texture légèrement huileuse et très légèrement vineuse; en résumé : bien

The bottle greeted me with a gusher, but I opened it right when I was back from the store, so that may be my fault and if you read this, watch out. A considerable and rather dense off-white foam covers the actively carbonated opaque, kinda muddy orangey amber. Appealingly fruity nose with the characteristic wild dusty cobweb notes. The lactic undertones are accompanied by a complementary citric acidity that I enjoy, akin to blood oranges, a fruit I adore. Its fruit profil is not limited to this either, venturing into berries territory. Its acidity remains diplomatic, never agressive and with its malt base, I can see it supporting a bit of extra age. The red wine did tranfer some of its character, but it seems to be a fruit-forward, simplistic one that unfortunately brought few tannins over. At 7%, it is sweeter, juicier than your average Flanders red, but I assume time will take care of some of that although carbonation may grow excessive on parallel. As it is, its bubbliness dries out the palate without feeling excessive nor cutting the red wine character and therefore remains balanced. Not terribly complex, but still young and quite drinkable. I had already enjoyed the Sauvage a lot from Boquebiere and I like the evolution to the Hildegard, a less earthy and more vinous interpretation that is rather unique in Quebec. If the price tag were not 14.49 a bottle, I’d buy it frequently and certainly use it all the time to convert wine lovers on the beer bandwagon.