Du Lac Saint-Jean Gros Mollet 10

Brewed by Microbrasserie du Lac Saint-Jean
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Saint-Gédéon, Canada

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Bouteille de 500 ml partagée lors d’une mini dégustation Ratebeer Montréal chez MartinT. Arôme: Odeur de diachilon avec uine pointe d’alcool. Apparence: La couleur est brune légèrement voilée. Présence d’un mince col mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Léger goût fruité avec une pointe d’épices et d’alcool. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement huileuse. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Légère présence d’épices en arrière goût. (Rating #2666)

Hmm, this 10% bottle-conditioned ale already seems to show oxidation traces which is unexpected to say the least, but then again, the bottle shows no date, so how can one know its age. Active effervescence bubbles up into a beige head that is gone as quickly as it has appeared. On the nose, yeast esters provide a strong fruitiness, paired with sherry-like notes that approach cardboard. Residual sugars aplenty add a candied notion to their strongly fruity ester profile which leans strongly toward pears. Frankly, there is not much to counterbalance the sugars in here. While the alcohol is relatively well contained for a 10% brew, it adds a further sweetness of its own. The bubbliness could last a little longer to tame the sweet/alcoholic profile, but it does not really. Banana bread toastiness make up most of the structure, but it is certainly not spectacularly filling, actually lean to medium bodied for a strong Belgian inspired ale. The timid hoppiness reminds of old tea leaves and is quickly dominated by malt sweetness. I’d be curious to try a fresher bottle, but at this stage, I have a strong preference for its lighter cousin.

Deep brown ale wih a good collar. Subtile empyreumatic aroma. Strong alcohol taste. A great winter warmer.

1.5L bottle. Wow I didn’t expect much from this christmas gift. Aroma is in between a american barleywine and a belgian strong dark ale. Resinous hops, caramel, pears, christmas spices and belgian yeast. Taste is a little more on the sweet side with candied fruits, candy cane but still balanced with resinous hops and dates. Velvety and full palate, but kinda sticky. Above my expectations.

Sampled at Winter Warmer Montreal 2011. Dark amber with no head. Aroma is very fruity with berries, alcohol and fruit cake. Flavor is alcohol, brown sugar, caramel, toasted malt, dark fruits, herbal and floral notes and a sweet finish. Medium to full body with a sticky mouthfeel.

Aroma of licorice and belgian candy sweetness. Has a nice dark body and minimal head. Flavour is sweet syrupy malts, like some of the lower calibre strong Belgian beers. Medium finish It’s an okay strong beer though, and the alcohol is well hidden.

In short: A problematic sweet Belgian strong amber ale
How: Bottle 500ml. 2008 serigraph label at home. 2009 paper label at a tasting. (backlog ratings)
The look: 2008 bottle has dark red body topped by a small beige head. 2009 bottle is light brown body topped by a small beige head
In long: For this one I will not describe the flavours in details since the two bottles I had were quite different. The common points are a high sugary sweetness level, fusel esters, no hops presence, very toasted malts, surprisingly slim body for a 10% brew. The 2009 bottle was way more fruity and the 2008 more caramel. But what the two bottles had in common was “problems”. Different problems yet equally unpleasant. One had strong leather/fur presence and the one had strong plastic notes. In both cases the problems did not overwhelmed the beer but they were serious enough to prevent it from being enjoyable. I paid $10 for a 500ml bottle of this crap. This is a very small brewery that operates on a shoestring budget. I’m sure they’d have better results if they operated on a malt and hops budget. Shoestrings just don’t make very good beer.

Bouteille 500ml. De couleur brune-rouge foncée et claire. Nez malté de caramel sucré aux notes rôties, de sucre brun, moyen de levures fruitées (figues, traces de prunes) et d’alcool, léger de pain de fruits confits avec des notes d’épices, de houblon herbeux et des traces de chocolat noir. Moyennement ronde en bouche avec un pétillement moyen ainsi qu’une texture moyennement crémeuse et huileuse. Gout de levures fruitées (figues, notes de prunes et de cerises) accompagné d’un léger gout épicé (poivre très doux, traces de coriandre) et de traces de tabac lors de l’entrée en bouche auquel se rajoute un goût de caramel, de malt légèrement rôti avec des traces de chocolat. Parallèlement, un léger goût d’alcool aux notes réchauffantes est présent jusqu’en fin de gorgée, ainsi qu’une légère amertume de houblon herbeux . Post-goût moyen, moyen-léger amer d’alcool doux, léger de rôti et de houblon herbeux avec un goût fruité (figues) et des traces de chocolat.

Green bottle, 500 ml, purchased at Le Grand Duc on December 27 2009, savoured on March 23 2010; eye: auburn, clear, good effervescence, voluminous beige head that turns into a sheet, no lacing; nose: malt, caramel, candied fruits, light tobacco, spices, alcohol, fig; mouth: malt, caramel, candied fruits, light tobacco, spices, alcohol, fig, alcohol warmth, finale in malt with alcohol warmth, medium-full body, good carbonation, mildly sweet, alcoholic textures; overall: fine FRANÇAIS Bouteille verte, 500 ml, achetée chez Le Grand Duc le 27 décembre 2009, savourée le 23 mars 2010; œil : auburn, claire, bonne effervescence, mousse beige abondante qui se transforme en un petite couverture de mousse, pas de dentelle; nez : malt, caramel, fruits confits, léger tabac, épices, alcool, figue; bouche : malt, caramel, fruits confits, léger tabac, épices, alcool, figue, chaleur d’alcool, finale en malt avec chaleur d’alcool, corps moyen-corsé, bonne carbonatation, moyennement sucrée, texture alcoolique; en résumé : bien

A reddish brown ale with a thin moka head. In aroma, a sweet herbal malt with spiced noted, phenolics, tracles, not bad. In mout, a light candy sugar with some notes of coriander, oil, treacle, warming alcohol, very smooth. This came in a serigraphied 500 ml bottle, from 2008. Tasted Dec. 19 2009.

09.12.31 Brown bottle Ruby almost brown and opaque. Aroma caramel licorice. Med to full in body. Alcool, caramel, raisin it’s rich and thick. It’s not too yeasty. It’s suprisingly smooth. Finish is sweet and medium long. Can exactly remember the taste of the other version but I Like this one better.