Cambridge LAmour du Jour (2007 - )

Brewed by Cambridge Brewing Company
Style: Traditional Ale
Cambridge, Massachusetts USA

Clear golden pour with a thin white head. Aroma of flowers, honey and yeast. Flavor of yeast, honey and flowers. The body is light with a creamy texture and soft carbonation. Not bad, but it fails to captivate my interest.

(BCTC, draft) Small white head with lightly hazed straw body. Aroma is medium sweet, flower, some lemon, light honey. Taste is medium sweet, some yeast, honey, light pepper. Creamy light-medium body.

Draft @ BCTC. Pours golden yellow with a thin white head. Nose has a lot of spices. Too much, in fact. Flavor is equally spicey and lightly sweet and citrusy. Like Eric, I couldn’t really handle all the spice.

[Draft @ the brewpub] Poured a hazy golden color with a small, white head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of citrus, coriander, ginger, a bit of chamomile, really spicy, with some toast, perfume, and maybe toffee. Taste was sweeter, honey, toffee, toasted dough, with more ginger, and chamomile in the finish. A few too many spices for me.

Draught sample at the brewpub. Pours amber and hazy with a nice pillowy head. Smells of light citrus, a bit like a blonde ale, lots of herbal hints, heather. Tastes herbal and very citrussy. This is an excellent brew!

Golden and cloudy. Even with no hops it has a nice head. A little toasty on the nose with lots of crazy spices - pepper, flowers, sage, orange. Complex and unconventional - reminds me of Saison Athene. Crazy floral, spicy notes. Soft body. Great malty sweetness and nutmeggy finish. Fresh and spicy, could be a good morning beer or a dessert beer.

On draft at brewpub. Pours a cloudy, pale yellow with very little, white head. The aroma is bready and also spicy and herbal. It is hard to pinpoint the aroma, but I like it. Then I looked at the description - lavender, jasmine, yarrow, and tea leaves. That would explain the alluring and complex herbal aromas I guess. The flavor follows the nose, with some bready, cracker tasting malts along with that dose of interesting spices. The finish is dry with some subtle citrus - perhaps from hops, perhaps from the orange peel (probably from both). The mouthfeel is well-carbonated and medium-full in body. Overall, this was a very pleasant and interesting beer. I was surprised at how drinkable it was and how well the flavors blended after reading how they added everything but the kitchen sink... A very nice beer.

8 ounce glass at American Flatbread in Burlington, VT (May 2008), cask. Pours a pale very clear gold with a bit of quick-dying head, plenty of lacing in the glass.....excitingly fragrant and fresh herbal-gassy nose, hints of lemongrass and rosemary, slightly sharp....herbal-sweet balance in the boy is expertly done, sharp mineralic-grassy notes contrast beautiful with light sweet malts, earthy and faintly salty character growing as it warms....very dry, woody finish. I think this was actually described as an "English" pale ale on the menu and indeed it seems no less Anglo than Belgian -- it’s full of character and not really to any style; but to my taste anyway, it’s quite brilliant no matter what you call it.