Charlevoix Vache Folle Amarillo Double IPA

Brewed by Microbrasserie Charlevoix / Le Saint Pub
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Baie-St-Paul, Canada

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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Bottle: Poured a light copper color ale with a quiet large foamy head with good retention and some perfect lacing. Aroma of citrus and grapefruit hops is dominant and quite enjoyable. Taste is a nice mix between some strong flavour of grapefruit and citrus hops with light bitter notes and a medium sweet caramel malt base. Body is about average with good carbonation and no apparent alcohol. Very well done though I have tasted West Coast beer where the Amarillo hops comes out even more which I was kind of hoping here.

UPDATED: MAR 20, 2010 500 ml bottle, 4,99$, from a mysterious store (beg-mail me to know where). The best of this most interesting Double IPA concept serie (in bottle, at least). The aroma is "much too reserved" but the taste is probably the closest I had in Quebec to those delightful American DIPA hop-bomb (Bells Hopslam is probably THE reference for me). Quite powerful hop presence, citrusy, resinous and with discreet notes of tropical fruits (mango, pineapple). Bitterness is a little harsh, even with the medium-body caramel-malty base, making this beer a real Crazy Cow, almost out of control and memorably striking. The way I like those extreme beers...

My Bottom Line:
Resinous and earthy hops develop plenty of bitterness, balanced out throughout by lean caramel malt and alcohol warmth.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A beautiful head of foam laces atop the translucent pale amber.
-The hoppy aroma is not nearly as aromatic as your typical American Double IPA.
-The long wooden resins found post-taste are almost bark-like.
-The big but soft bubbles and calculated dextrins make for a very drinkable Double IPA.
-On a Québécois scale, this is a very good Double IPA. On a world scale, this is still good, but rather run-of-the-mill.

Bottle.

UPDATED: MAR 13, 2010 Bottle from Jovi. Clear golden with a huge dense foamy off-white head with great retention and beautiful lacing. Aroma is amazing citrusy hops with candies, caramel, malt, peach and just a hint of alcohol. Flavor is citrus, peaches, sweet malt, alcohol and a bitter finish. Very fruity. Medium to full body with a creamy mouthfeel. Wonderful double IPA!

Sampled on tap at Vices et Versa. Pours a cloudy orange color with a medium white head. Superb flavor of fruity, resinous and spicy hops with toasted malt. The flavor is amazing, very fruity (oranges) with a spicy character, it feels like my mouth is full of the Amarillo hops flavor, also, there’s a solid malt presence that provides balance. This Amarillo joy ride finishes with bitterness. The body has a medium thickness with a liquorous texture and gentle carbonation. Superb.

On tap at Vices & Versa. The color is orange with an off white head. It has a good bitter taste to it, with some fruitiness and spiciness also added.It is a good I.P.A. but not their best.

Tap at Saint-Bock. Clear golden copper body with a small off-white head. Somewhat oily body. Alcohol is very much present in this one. You can feel it in the mouth but even more so in the after-taste. Long warming/burning sensation in the throat. Loses a few points because of that. The malt profile has this single-malt kind of character to it. Added to the strong alcohol presence, it feels like a hard-liquor was added to the beer. Fruity and caramel flavours take the backseat here. The saving grace are the hops. Large amount of resinous foresty hops with a flavour of pine-tree and tree bark. Assertive bitterness, that thing is as bitter as bitter as an assembly of former Enron employees. Good but I much prefer Charlevoix’s previous IIPA (Simcoe Double IPA).

Bu à Vices et Versa, en fut (12 oz). Selon le propriétaire, c’est une nouvelle versoin. Couleur thé foncée, petit collet peu blanc avec une bonne dentelle. Légé arome d’houblon caramelisé au beurre, légé amèreturme. Très bon goût d’houblon riche avec des d’épices sucrées.