Unibroue Éphémère Cassis

Brewed by Unibroue (Sapporo)
Style: Fruit Beer
Chambly, Canada

An unclear red beer with a disappearing white head. The aroma is extremely sweet with strong notes of black currant, the flavor is totally carbonized with notes of black currant - just too much for me.

(Bottle 75 cl) Slightly hazy reddish amber with a creamy, white head. Very fresh aroma of black currant. Rather light body, dry, lightly tart fruit. Discreet and downplayed fruitiness - exactly how a fruit beer is supposed to be. Quite refreshing. Thanks to Degarth for sharing. 030406

Name: Ephemere - Black Current
Date: 06/08/2006
Mode: Bottle
Source: Wild Wing Cafe, Marietta

amber, big fine white head, sweet fruity aroma, great balanced fruit flavor, light bitterness

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 5/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.2/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **+/4

This is the first time I’ve had an Éphémère from the tap, rather than the bottle. Cloudy dark amber colour with subtle purple hints. Sweet black currant aroma with light yeast undertones. Effervescent, but the prickly carbonation from the tap seems to work better than the fizzier type sometimes found in the bottled Unibroue product. This carbo cuts through the sugar and fruit notes, making them less cloying than, say, the apple or peach Éphémères. The blackcurrant is the main focus, backed up by pale malt and hedgey hop notes. Refreshing and balanced. While some Unibroues like Maudite don’t seem to do well on tap, this one really has. In part this is due to the fact that it’s intended as a refresher, so the pricklier but finer artificial carbonation is more suited than fizzier natural carbo. Also, the dominance of the Unibroue yeast seems muted here when compared with the bottled Éphémère products. That helps as well, given that this is a session refresher. In short, a well-balanced fruit beer, and I look forward to seeing the other beers in this series on tap, as from this example they seem more suited to that than they do to bottle-conditioning.

Cloudy orange color; nice perlage. The blackcurrant aroma is very nice, real. The taste is just ok, a fair beer, very dry, with some blackcurrant notes. Quite balanced.

Opaque golden with medium white head. Aroma is blackberry, malty, light sweet -- very pleasant, not too fruity. Taste has even less blackberry, so little that it goes too far. Light body.

750mL corked bottle: Appearance is sublime. Gorgeous murky yellow robe with a ruby tone, very carbonated. The head is huge and white, frothy and most rocky with long-lasting fine thin lacing. Aroma is big, fruity, yeasty. The taste is wheat, cassis, raspberries, oranges, all about fruits and berries. Medium to full bodied, creamy. Crispy tartness (if that exists) loads the mouth. Slightly astringent finish around the gums. I'd have to take it side by side with the apple one, but I believe this is my favorite of the Ephemere line.

Bottle... Hazy, deep amber ale with a midsized, creamy, pinkish/purple head. Great retention. Everything about this beer is subtle. The fruity, yeasty aroma hints of red grapes and apricot. The tart, perfectly balanced flavor provides whispers of berries and lemon. Light-bodied and dry with fizzy carbonation. Crisp, dry, fruity finish. Refreshing.