La Choulette Ambrée - Brasserie La Choulette

GilGarp

Colorado

4.22/5  rDev +6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A 750mL green glass bottle, corked and caged, dated 19-06-09.

Opened in celebration of finishing the semester - yea!

Served cool and poured into my St. Bernardus Watou glass, the Ambrée has a hazy copper color with an inch of head and good retention.

Aroma is complex - spicy, funky, and a little winey. The latter is not what I'd describe as oxidation but more like dark fruits and red grapes.

Flavor is quite nice - a little like a doppelbock that's lighter in color and body. There is the similar caramel-sweet base with nice spice notes and a bit of toasty grains. The flavors have good depth and complexity but it's not overwhelming. Light fruit flavors like apple, cherry, and grape, help to balance out the spice.

Mouthfeel is medium-light in body with just the right amount of carbonation. Alcohol is present but fairly well-hidden given this beer's strength.

Overall really nice, not what I was expecting (Biere de Garde was more of a Saison in my head) but still very enjoyable.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2010 23:21:50 | More by GilGarp

paterlodie

Belgium

4.13/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

BB 14-03-08. Nice and due to good feed by the prearling bubble well lasting light beige head and anberbrown beer. Nose is fruity apricot and strawberry, bretty and wheatmalty with nice phenolic hoptouch. Good taste though missing bitterness IMO and bit yeasty hangbitter. But next to that bretty, tasty, bit of sourness and overall tasty. Well carbonated and easy drinkable brew.

Serving type: bottle

10-21-2006 15:15:11 | More by paterlodie

BDTyre

British Columbia (Canada)

4.18/5  rDev +5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Mmmm....my first saison (although some call it a biere du garde). This beer pours a beautiful slightly cloudy caramel colour. The head is dense, thick and white, almost like whip cream.

I can detect the scent of malts, spice and caramel. A very soft, pleasant scent that doesn't overwhelm: everything is well balanced, and no one flavour dominates.

Taste wise, the malts are a bit stronger, but there is the flavour of caramel, raisins and spice. Though this is a "summer" beer, the flavour is suited to winter as well.

I feel this is a little thick and syrupy going done, and the high ABV does limit drinkability. Nonetheless, this is an excellent beer and I will be buying it again.

Serving type: bottle

11-22-2005 06:06:47 | More by BDTyre

BeerBelcher

Ohio

3.63/5  rDev -8.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

I really enjoyed this beer. It is decisively sour, with a kriek-like quality I found very endearing. While I would not call this a sessionable beer, I would highly recommend it.

It poured a hazy amber with 5mm of head. It exhibited a cherry fruity-sourness in its bouquet. It didn't have a dry-sourness (like a Berliner Weisse would), rather it had this sweet-sour dichotomy going on that certain fruits provide that makes you pucker. Tart would be the best word I suppose. Not very drinkable/sessionable, but I still enjoyed it.

Serving type: bottle

06-06-2007 17:44:48 | More by BeerBelcher

mdagnew

United Kingdom (Northern Ireland)

4.35/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

750ml bottle bought from The Vineyard, Belfast...

Poured a golden copper / rusty orange colour... Slightly off white head poured quite big and fades to a nice layer...

Aroma - Biscuity malt, toffee, nutty, grassy, banana hints, burnt orange notes, slight pepperiness...

Taste – Spicy maltiness, slight sweetness, caramel, nice light bitterness, some aniseed hints underneath...

Feel - Pretty smooth, slightly oily. Medium body. Very drinkable...

Overall - An excellent beer, very drinkable. Recommended !!

Serving type: bottle

01-23-2006 15:50:47 | More by mdagnew

rajendra82

Georgia

4.05/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

The packaging consisted of a green 750 ml bottle, with a champagne style cork, and a wire cage. When the cork was pulled, a satisfying pop revealed that the yeast had been nicely active in the bottle. Poured into a 16 oz wine goblet, the body was clear amber red with moderate carbonation, and could be easily mistaken for a wine. The aroma was also somewhat wine like, with notes of cherry and oak and very little if any hops. The taste was smooth and refreshing. The body was very dry and woody with an astringent tartness, but almost no sourness. Fruits like cherries, red grapes, and pears were also abundant. Floral hops showed up in the middle of the peppery finish. Mouthfeel was surprisingly full. This Bière de Garde tasted much maltier than my previous experiences with beers from the related style Saison, and exhibited fewer funky flavors. Overall this was quite an enjoyable beer, which will most definitely turn me into trying more of its brethren.

Serving type: bottle

04-17-2005 03:11:31 | More by rajendra82

tai4ji2x

Massachusetts

3.13/5  rDev -21.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

750ml green bottle. label has notches for dates, but none are marked off. instead, there is a printing of "18.06.08". it SEEMS this is a "best by" date, since that's what it is on the sans culottes bottle...

poured into tulip.

clear gemstone amber with copper tint. nice head gradually fades to wispy layer. great lacing.

aromas of fruity apple and caramel, almost candy-like. malt is indeed quite caramelized. whiff of grass and earthiness and trace of farmhouse character, plus phenols and maybe spice.

flavor is very malty sweet, mixing with apple-like esters and sharp phenols, with the sweetness approaching a cloying quality. gentle grassy hop gives a mild bitterness, but the spicy phenols come back and blend with that cloying sweetness, lingering into the finish as well.

not too thin, decently smooth, but slightly watery. lively carbonation, but not enough to completely wash away that sweet, phenolic, cloying character.

Serving type: bottle

02-05-2009 05:58:44 | More by tai4ji2x

bonkers

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I poured from a 750 ml bottle into a tulip glass. The beer is rum brown with a fluffy white head. The head recedes quickly, leaving some lacing on the sides. The aroma is earthy and sweet. It is sweet on the tongue, with taste of caramel and alcohol. The beer is medium bodied with above average carbonation. The beer is smooth and easily drinkable. This is my first Biere de Garde so I do not have any thing to compare it to, but I do like this beer.

Serving type: bottle

01-02-2009 20:09:13 | More by bonkers

kimcgolf

Georgia

3.65/5  rDev -8.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured to a flat reddish-orange with very little head and virtually no lacing or effervescence. Appearance was more of a cherry-apple cider than a beer, and the aroma was a pleasant mix of spices and fruit (mostly apples and grapes).

This beer was interesting in that the mouthfeel, flavor and finish were all what I would imagine the result to be if you mixed a Lambic and a Flemish Sour together. At various sips and times, I detected fruity, sweet, sour, spicy and a hint of the 8% alcohol. Different, but not bad at all.

Serving type: bottle

07-08-2007 13:50:09 | More by kimcgolf

putnam

Michigan

4.5/5  rDev +13.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Fans exclusively of tootsie roll-flavored malt-bombs and continuously hopped beer extractions should avoid the beers of La Choulette.

Caramel amber colored with a large, liquid and airy mass of cream-colored foam. The aromas are complicated. Sour butterfat, stones, flowers, fenugreek and mustard can be discerned atop a mass of mashed, boiled grain aromas. On the palate it is thin enough to be refreshing. The flavors are willowy and include an array of lavender, sage, white grapes, apples, tangy ginger cakes and carob. The finish is quite grainy. Altogether, this is the most stand-alone of this producer's beers, though with food it would undoubtedly be a champion.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... A beer for travelers.

$6 for a 750ml in MI (that's cheep!).

Serving type: bottle

01-25-2005 19:35:44 | More by putnam

bruachan

Rhode Island

4.3/5  rDev +8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

it's a brownish amber with ruby highlights. lacing is minimal

it's got a spicy aroma: cinnamon and ginger. rum raisin as well

more raisin flavors with molasses to boot. it's highly carbonated and dry. there are some soft nutty flavors on the backside (and i can smell it, too). this aspect even makes me think of Rochefort

the whole time i can't help but but wonder if this is really a BdG. nice brew, though

Serving type: bottle

11-22-2006 02:47:20 | More by bruachan

barleywinebrewer

New Hampshire

3.53/5  rDev -11.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

picked this up to try out of curiosity. it pours a nice amber orange color with a nice offwhite head. this one didn't work for me as well as some other biere de gardes I've had as this was more of a marmalade and caramel effect than what I expected. Bottle notes its from 4-25-07.

Serving type: bottle

08-12-2008 02:30:47 | More by barleywinebrewer

beergeek279

Pennsylvania

4.53/5  rDev +13.8%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Served in the 750 mL bottle into a chalice. The color was amber, with a wispy head. The smell was a very strong apple sweetness that wafted out from the bottle. The taste was apple sweet with a strong yeastiness and a slight warming alcohol. Mouthfeel was nicely carbonated. As for drinkability, could have quite a few of these!

Thank you to Hart at the Sharp Edge for the recommendation. A really nice biere de garde, with a good apple sweetness that fits quite nicely. Quite good, and despite the cost, this is one that I'd have again.

Serving type: bottle

03-08-2004 01:03:56 | More by beergeek279

geexploitation

Indiana

4.08/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Pours a deep amber color, bordering on brown, with some bright highlights. The smallish head leaves a bit of lace on the glass. The aroma is low on esters and skews toward the malt side, with plenty of bready, almost German malts and a dusty tobacco note. On the palate, big carbonation and smooth, sweet maltiness alongside some dextrins. There's a bit of orangey fruitiness evident on the edges. Good acidity toward the end. The finish is long and a tad sweet, while the mouthfeel is full and malty overall, with a bit of hop acids at the end and plenty of soft carbonation throughout. Overall, this is a tasty biere de garde, skewed toward the malty side, without much of the herbal/earthy notes often found in beers of the style. Still, it's a rich-yet-light, interesting beer that would probably be great with food and cheese, so still a definite thumbs up.

Serving type: bottle

03-15-2008 04:32:26 | More by geexploitation

crookedhalo

Pennsylvania

4.1/5  rDev +3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

My buddy calls this beer the "French Defender". Pours a orangy amber color with a thick, soft beige head. Big malty aroma with hints of fruit and mustiness. A bit fruity (concord grape) in the taste, with an ambery, biscuity and nutty malt profile. Yeasty with a honeyed sweetness as well. Finishes a bit dry and smooth. Recommended if you like the biere de garde style. Alcohol is noticable, but surely not overwhelming.

Serving type: bottle

01-14-2004 23:07:33 | More by crookedhalo

nomad

Kansas

4.3/5  rDev +8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

A true amber ale, it is solid red with a thin, soft, and velvety head leaving fingers of lace in the glass. Smells of caramel, earthy hops, and musty cork. Opens to a plush pils backdrop with faint apple/pear esters floating around.

Taste asserts first a caramel and roast tandem that is complex and rough without overbearing on the pallette. Slides dry and tickling toward a hoppy finish of earthy herbal flavor. Quite rustic with burly toast, caramel, and hop scruff intertwining, though a a fascinating apple-like ester presents itself to lend just a note of sweetness. The medium-low mouthfeel is lager smooth with a perfect amount of carbonation for support and palette cleansing.

Always a strong choice for an amber biere de garde that I oft skip over in favor of Jenlain. Very earthy beer in many respects.

Serving type: bottle

11-26-2005 21:34:45 | More by nomad

rallison

California

4.33/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a cloudy brown/amber with a 1/2 finger white head that mostly dies. Smells of apple cider and some caramel.

Taste is quite interesting. Caramel malt. Apples. Anise. Some tartness. Interesting, and nice balance. Quite an interesting amber - never had anything quite like it. Very nice.

Mouthfeel is good on this. Somewhat rich with a nice bite at the end. Drinkability is very good.

Recommended. A unique, tasty brew. Just how I like them.

Serving type: bottle

09-14-2007 07:50:33 | More by rallison

inebrius

Michigan

4.75/5  rDev +19.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

A snort is earth, either a particular traumatic adolescent shove into the dirt or an exploration of vegetable garden biology the initial contact is of soil. Soil and natural syrup, nut oil and bark, charged floating honey, the sweat of voluntary labor and expectation haunt this brew.

Serving type: bottle

08-28-2005 03:52:56 | More by inebrius

aquatonex

New York

3.55/5  rDev -10.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours darkish copper, not much light coming through. Short head, dissipated, leaves a very thing ring and slight swirl of lace. Not that carbonated. Slightly sweet and nutty nose, a bit of malts as well. Taste is also sweet up front, a little caramel-y and nutty, some dates or some other dried fruitiness. Its strength is noticeable enough to make it enjoyable. It's a bit thin going down, lighter as it should be.

Serving type: bottle

12-23-2008 03:12:02 | More by aquatonex

PartyBear

United Kingdom (England)

3.35/5  rDev -15.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: Deep burgundy colour, with a rapidly fading tan head, and heavy fine carbonation. 3.5

Aroma: The initial aromas are a strange hybrid between winey grapes, and ripe wheat. There are hints of sourdough in there, with a mild citric lemon. Lots of spices, and clear notes of aniseed. 3

Taste: Lots of savoury wheats, grains, with a strange taste of plain salted crisps, very weird. There is a noticeable alcoholic taste that pushes through after this, with a bready sweetness, pepperiness, and some vanilla. The aftertaste is bittersweet, and slightly clingy. 3.5

Mouthfeel: Heavy and oily in the palete. The carbonation is quite lively, maybe too much. 3

Drinkability: Some very strange flavours in this one, quite unique. Probably couldn't manage more than one. Well worth a try. 3.5

Serving type: bottle

10-08-2009 14:33:43 | More by PartyBear

Biscuit033

Pennsylvania

4.18/5  rDev +5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

750ml C&C

A: Clear copper/amber with a two finger head the settles quickly but leaves nice lacing.

S: Malt, flowers, earth, and some metallic notes.

T: A lot of malt character and flavor sans the sweetness, bready, floral, and slightly roasty.

M: Very crisp and dry.

D: This will make a good pair with some goat cheese and honey. Goes down with ease despite the 8% ABV.

Serving type: bottle

07-19-2008 00:41:45 | More by Biscuit033

pinotboy007

Virginia

3.88/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Purchased at Arrowine, Arlington, VA; had never seen it before.

A - Burnt copper/amber/dark iced tea color with a khaki-colored head that settles to a shoulder with modest lacing.

S - Malt, dates, cinnamon.

T/M - Complex malt, dates, peat, cinnamon, tea and caramel. Beautifully silky and creamy without being too dense.

D - A food friendly ale worth grabbing if you see it. Very nice stuff.

Serving type: bottle

09-27-2008 19:41:31 | More by pinotboy007

eberkman

Massachusetts

3.9/5  rDev -2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a corked wine-style bottle.

Poured a reddish-orange with a big ecru-colored head. Somewhat cloudy with flecks of yeast floating throughout.

Smelled primarily fruity with apples and cherries. Taste was tart and dry -- tangy, sour fruits with a somewhat bitter finish. Carbonated, crisp somewhat thin mouthfeel. Enjoyable as something to sip with a light meal on a warm evening. A little fruity and sour for my general tastes, but a decent choice overall. Definitely interesting and complex.

Serving type: bottle

07-17-2007 20:05:08 | More by eberkman

Graham5161986

British Columbia (Canada)

3.85/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A: Pours a dark red with fizzy head that reduces quickly to a bubbly film that leaves very little lace. Clear with tons of carbonation bubbles

S: smells of ripe cherries and sugar plumbs dominate. Very sweet, sugary scent

T: very sweet with an incredibly caramely finish and sour alcohol bite

M: creamy, chewy texture with tingly carbonation and a strong but smooth finish

D: This one is a bit too sweet for my liking, but I think it does a pretty good job of fitting in with the style. Despite its high ABV, it was highly drinkable. I certainly recommend it as it is an interesting taste experience from France.

Serving type: bottle

11-07-2007 07:26:05 | More by Graham5161986

Shovelbum

Massachusetts

4.83/5  rDev +21.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

A beautiful thick and creamy off-white head over a glowing red-amber body. Spectacular. Cascading sheets of lace and a thin head holds on as the volume is lowered. Caramel malt aromas with cork, hay and floral notes. Nice malt profile upfront in the mouth. Deep Caramel malts lead the charge, some touches of chocolate and nuts round out a wonderfully balanced sweetness. A bit of oak, spices, fruit and hops in the background. A touch of crispness, but otherwise very smooth mouthfeel.

I’m currently reading Markowski’s Farmhouse Ales, which is a wonderful study of the biere de garde and saison styles (like the bottle label, he lists this as a biere de garde). While his descriptions are great, tasting is believing. This particular example combines a healthy dose of malts with complex aromas and flavors, and does it all without being overbearing. Zen-like subtly and balance.

Serving type: bottle

11-17-2005 00:45:21 | More by Shovelbum