Charlevoix Vache Folle Imperial Milk Stout

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

Serve in Snifter

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Pitch black poor with a thin light brown head. Aromas of milk chocolate, alcohol, a hint of creamy coffee, cocoa... Very lightt alomost non-existant carbonation. Alot closer to an actualy creamy moca coffee. Nicely sweetened with a non agressive bitterness compared to other impy’s. Very light bodied for a 9% stout. Long lasting bitterness, but the sweet stays for a LONG time... you can barely feel the alcohol on the palate... It feels almost like a lighlty sweetened prune juice...

I drank this so fast that i forgot to write down notes till it was finished as im a fool. Both aroma and taste: really nice darker milk chocolate, hitting the sweet side of balanced but drinkable to a silly level and there is no alcohol in this beer.

Sample at April 2007 Brewnosers meeting. Pitch black with a thick creamy and frothy tan head. Milk and dark chocolate, fruity, coffee, and roasty aroma. Roasty, milk chocolate, orange, coffee, and brown sugar flavours. Full bodied, chewy but smooth. More goodness from Charlevoix.

Bouteille. Arome malté choco et torréfié on sent aussi l’acidité et le houblon. Couleur opaque noire et mousse bien compact et dense. Goût torréfié et houblonné, sucré. Finale en alcool et amertume. Bonne effervescence moyen-faible. Rondeur moyenne.

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry & GregClow -- courtesy of HogTownHarry. Pours dark brown with an average size diminishing light-brown head. Pretty sweet aroma of lightly roasted malt, lactose and fruity along with some cocoa and hops. Flaovur of roasted malt, hops and alcohol -- hops mostly come through in the finish. Alcohol’s present but for the most part it’s fairly well hidden. Body’s a touch thin but not too bad. Pretty good Impy Stout.

Considering the style, Scores ranging from 1 to 5, 5 being the most intense
Appearance:
Body:   Clear(1)->Murky(5) : 3     Light Brown(1)->Pitch Black(5) : 4     Still(1)->Sparkling(5) : 3
Head:   None(1)->Large(5) : 4   Off-White(1)->Dark Brown(5) : 2   Lasting: 3   Lacing : 3   Nitro : XX
Aroma:
Intensity : 2  
Yeast : 2   Bread : 2   Apple : XX   Tropical Fruits : XX   Ink : XX   Tar : XX   Olives : XX   DMS : XX
Malt : 4   Biscuity : 3   Burnt Toast : XX   Caramel : XX   Nuts : XX   Pumpernickel : XX   Cereals : 3   Coffee : XX   Dark Chocolate : 3   Vanilla : 2   Grapes : XX   Blackberries : XX   Cherries : XX
Hops : 2   Noble(1)->American(5) : 2   Leafy : XX   Floral : XX   Lemon/Lime : XX   Grapefruit : XX Orange : XX   Herbal : XX   Pine/Spruce/Resin : XX
Notes :   Earth : 2   Wood : XX   Mint : XX   Smoke : XX   Soy : XX   Bourbon : XX   Anise : 2
Flavor:
Initial Flavor : Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 3   Finish Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 4   Sourness : XX   Lactic : 3   Bitterness : 2   Complex : 2   Length : 2
Palate:
Light(1)->Full(5) : 4   Flat(1)->Fizzy(5) : XX   Clean : XX   Sharp : XX   Watery : XX   Oily : 4   Chalk : XX   Astringent : XX   Alcohol : 1   Mineral : XX   Oxidation : XX   Metallic : XX

Comments: Full bodied sweet stout, getting straight where it aims I assume, but lactose doesn’t seem to cut it for me. I can’t appreciate how its sweetness cuts into the malty complexity to undermine whatever roastiness there is. On the other hand, its alcohol remains expertly controlled and the beer in general is all in softness.

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry & blankboy - courtesy of HogTownHarry. Jet black with a nice dark tan head. Aroma of malted milk and cocoa. Soft mouthfeel. Nice flavour, roasty and bitter, notes of coffee and toasted malt. Doesn’t seem like a 9%er.

Bottle (500ml). Shared with blankboy and GregClow, my bottle via trade with Viper666. Poured opaque black - just black - average frothy brown head. Sweet floral hop aroma, backed by surprisingly light roast malt and chocolate, odd juiced celery sweetness. Taste is almost burnt malt, licorice, herbal hops - bitter finish. Slightly thin body, silky and slick, mild acidity, not much carbonation, a bit of alcohol presence in the moderately long finish - pretty good nonetheless.

Bottle: Poured a deep black color stout with a nice dark brown foamy head with pretty good retention and lacing. Aroma of medium roasted malt with a nice touch of lactose. Taste of roasted chocolate malt is pretty dry with no noticeable hops. I’m not sure if my mouth was playing trick with me but I could really distinguish lactose in there. Interesting take on a style that I don’t have access to very often.

Bouteille de demi litre. Noir pure, petit collet beige avec peu de dentelle. Arome de chocolat mi-noir un peu de cassonade. Goût de malte roti et chocolaté avec un soupson de fruit, le 9% est très bien cacher.