The Bruery 3 French Hens

Formerly brewed at The Bruery
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Placentia, California USA

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Bottle aging gracefully in my closet and served in my trusted big arse Tripel Karmeliet tulip: Russet brown with some amber highlights, small fading head and not much lace despite the etching on the glassware. The nose picks up lush aromatic malts, tobacco and leathery esters, some plum and raisin likely from Special B malts. A very slight sour cherry background and some oaky notes. Hints of ginger and pepper as well. I like this aroma.

The taste starts with rich fruit character, sweet golden raisins and tart cherries interweave over the layers of caramelized and roasty malts. Continuous earthy undertones and moderate boozy forcefulness. Very slight spice, woody and minerally presence on the finish. The mouth feel is oily and a bit under-developed, seems a tad flat and add a alcohol presence and it missed the mark of great Abt/Quad. Overall, age seemed to help this brew but all the cellaring can not bring added mouth feel nor improve the appearance. Still a touch hot but with a bit of oxidization and barrel sourness peeking in, I would not recommend aging this much more.

A - Pours a cloudy brown-ruby color with a finger of frothy khaki colored head. The head fades down fairly slowly leaving behind some nice lace. S - Aroma is full of sweet dark fruits with some raisin and date, with candi syrup, oak, cherry, Belgian yeast, some spices, and a bit of booze. T - Starts off with some rich dark fruit flavor with some raisin, cherry, and date, some Belgian candi syrup, and a bit of spice. Through the middle, some oak comes through with some more Belgian yeast flavor and spices with a bit more residual sugar. The finish is a mix of dark fruits, oak, vanilla, Belgian yeast, spices, and some booze. M - Full bodied with moderate carbonation. Feels smooth with a warming and sweet finish. D - Very drinkable. Nice barrel aged BSDA. The base beer is big enough that it hold up really nicely and the end result is nicely balanced.

On tap at Brouwer’s Big Wood. Pours a solid black with a tiny head. Aroma of Belgian yeast, candied sugar, hay, cereal, and bread. Flavour of all of the above. Nice. Light flavours despite appearance.

Bottle, 75cl. Almost clear, amber to brown in color and topped by a dense, finger-thick beige head. Dried fruits and a herbal touch in the aroma. Quite sweet on the palate, with dried fruits and some alcohol. Full-bodied and pleasantly carbonated. Dried fruits in the finish, as well as some sugar and a touch of herbs. Overall, a nice one, but too sweet I think. 110826

Poured a reddish brown color, medium head. The label says ages for 9 years. Hmm mine is aged 90 minutes since in bought it. Aroma is spice, raisin, herbs, pretty sweet, lite bitter, slight sour. Medium body, creamy texture. Soft carbonation. Taste of dark fruits and begium yeast and candy, but something is off about it. Slight sour tones. Apple maybe. I don’t get any oak whatsoever. Overly sweet.

Bottle. Cheers Suprchunk. Deep brown color with a moderate, active off-white head. The nose is quite sugary, spicy, plenty of wood and toffee. The taste is a bit suprising - metallic shock followed by heavy sweet toffee flavors. Yeast. More wood. Sticky texture. Overall, unbalanced and not particularly impressive.

Dark toffee colored pour. Slight off-white head. Minimal lacing. Big malty aroma. Smells like a barley wine. Syrupy. Malty flavor. Too sweet. Was expecting a good beer but was disappointed. Way too sweet and cloying.

Bottle shared at Olympen
Dark brown, big tanned head. Smells of malts, raisins, alcohol and blueberries. Full bodied, taste has tons of sweetness, also very delicate and good malt flavors. Very oily feel. Some bitter finish. Totally a very nice beer

From notes. First reviewed 12/3/2010. Poured from a 750 mL bottle into a pint glass. 3 French Hens pours a soft walnut brown color, opaque in the middle but somewhat transparent around the dges. A bubbly tan head forms with a good pour, staying around for a bit and leaving a few touches of lacing. Caramel malt, dark fruit - figs, dates, and raisins, and an herbal hop presence complete the nose. The flavor starts out really sweet, almost cloyingly so, with dark fruit - mostly the same fig,date, and raisin that was there in the aroma, almost with a caramel sweetness. It turns actually citrusy and tart, which I would not have expected. A dash of spice and herbal hops at the end provide for an interesting finish. Oily and sticky at the same time. Lemony mouth pucker. One serving is enough, although I liked the unique flavor. Maybe some time on it would help out?

Bottle. Dark brown colour with a beige head. Aroma is licorice, fruit, spices, malt. Flavour is licorice, fruit, alcohol, berries, spices, malt. Full body. Nice beer.