Malmgård Ceci n’est pas une Belge

Brewed by Malmgårdin Panimo - Malmgard Brewery
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Malmgård, Finland

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Sweet and Belgian inspired but without the complexity of some of the Belgian masters. Nevertheless a very tasty and successful finnish beer with Belgian yeast

Dark bronze colour. Hazy. Small creamy head. Smell of grain. Aroma of alcohol, tar and smoke. Very sweet. Fruity.

Bottle sampled at the brewery. The correct name is ’Ceci n’est pas un Belge’ or ’This is not a Belgian’, which a kind of clue. Made in Finland using an American yeast, no spice and a more typically Finnish than Belgian hop recipe. It is not designed to be a small-spice-good-big-spice-better North American also ran. It is more sophisticated than that, standing out from a generally interesting range.

50 cl bottle @ Gastropub Nordic, BBE 12,06.2013
Aroma is fruity and sugary with a feeling of belgian yeast. Flavour is sugary with belgian yeast. Feels like a sweet candy - also a feeling of an aged belgian ale.Nice.

50cl bottle. Pours cloudy, copper color. Aroma is fruity and spicy, quite yeasty. Flavour is slightly sweet, with hints of raisin and plums. Alcohol well hidden, still quite warm finish, bit sour also. Really liked this one.

Bottle @ Helmi Grilli, Helsinki. Pours a hazy auburn with a large, yellowish brown head. Aroma is dried fruits, spiciness, yeast. Tried to pour without the yeast, but apparently the bottle had been disturbed before it was brought to us. Taste is fruit esthery, spicy, peppery, yeasty, quite sweet with caramel. Palate is somewhat carbonated and full. Pretty alright though maybe a bit too sweet and underwhelming.

50 cl bottle @ Gastropub Nordic, Tampere. BBE 12.06.2013.
Pours cloudy amber color with small head. Aroma of ripe fruits, sweetish caramel malts, mild toffee and some mild sour belgian yeast.
5435

UPDATED: OCT 27, 2009 (Bottled) Much better and more tasty in bottle. Sourish Belgian Strong Ale meets Sahti. Reminds me of Nørrebro Old Odense Ale. Good stuff! (Draught@Sadonkorjuu, Porvoo, was 7-4-6-4-13=3.4) Hazy amber with a small, firm head. Slightly sour aroma with cardamom spiciness and some yeast. Flavor is smooth-n-yeasty with mellow fruitiness and mild spices - quite Leffe-like. Smooth, medium-bodied, soft-carbonated. A nice and clean Leffe clone, but lacking in complexity.

Sample @ HBF 2010. Originally rated on 10.4.2010. Decent belgian styled ale with notes of fruits, spices and malts.

Bottle@Home, label says 8.0% ABV. Very sweet and very malty. More like a Barley Wine than anything Belgian. But heck, the label says ’this is not a Belgian’ :-) Other flavours are cinnamon, some fruits and soft hops.