La Délinquante - Brasserie Des Vignes

BMoldy

New York

3.88/5  rDev -1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Tasted on 11/1/11. From notes:

Simon tells me this one is a little sour. And it's made with coffee and cocoa. Interesting.

A: Rather dark brown. Decent off-white head that fades within a minute. Good lacing for what I was expecting.

S: Smells a little sour, with herbal and floral (hop?) notes. Some roasted malts way in the back, as well as the slightest coffee twang. Not sure what to think about this.

T: Sour in an Oud Bruin kind of way, but with more of a malt presence. On the sweet side, but nothing about this beer is overwhelming. A bit of a spicy bitterness asserts itself in the middle, but hardly challenges the dominant tartness. Ends just like it tastes, with no dry finish.

M: Medium bodied, but full of flavor. A touch creamy. Rodenbach-like minimal carbonation, perhaps less.

O: I'm not sure what the cocoa and coffee do here, but I think I like it anyway. They must somehow contribute to the sourness, I would imagine. Glad Simon gave me the heads up, otherwise I would have been wondering what the hell was drinking. Kind of all over the place, though, and I'm really on the fence as to how I feel about that. In the end though, it's a nice cheap (for France) and relatively delicious sour fix, so I'll give it the benefit of a doubt. Very flavorful and easy to drink.

Serving type: bottle

11-04-2011 17:37:07 | More by BMoldy

rapidsequence

Virginia

3.68/5  rDev -6.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

11.2 oz bottle bought at Cave a Bulles from Simon. He called it a sour brown beer. Bottle says its made with eau, malts, houblons, levure, cacao, cafe-- thats water, malts, hops, yeast, chocolate, and coffee. Hmmmm...

Appearance: Initially pours with lots of head, but it fades quickly. Sheets of lace with each sip, but it doesnt last either. The beer itself is a nearly clear amber.

Smell: Sour dark fruit. Yep, sour fruit, thats it.

Taste: This is tart and sour without quite puckering from start to finish. The taste is much better than the smell in that some slightly caramel maltiness comes through in the middle and a little chocolate and roast on the finish. A really strange but tasty beer.

Mouthfeel: Carbonated on the high side. As tart as it is, it doesn't end too dry.

Drinkability: Interesting, different, good but not great. This is definitely not a BSDA.

Serving type: bottle

11-30-2010 03:34:52 | More by rapidsequence

pixieskid

France

4.22/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Reviewed@ tasting 11/5.

Medium full bodied, creamy mouth-feel, frothy carbonation.
Nice malt presence upfront, solid caramel notes.
Notes of strong green apple throughout with a nice overtone of piney resign.
Finishing with a lingering note of caramel.
Overall; solid flavors, interesting depth.

Serving type: bottle

11-10-2010 11:52:46 | More by pixieskid

NCBeernut

North Carolina

3.83/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pretty crazy looking label. Chase scene with some cops chasing a bandit hauling away a barrel of beer and an angry looking cow jumping out of the way. Recommended to me by the famous Simon. Poured into a Bell de Loing tulip, leaving the sediment in the bottle.

Even with a careful sediment-free pour, it poured a hazy reddish brown. As with most French and Belgian beers, it did have a nice head on it. I'm writing this review the next morning and I can't remember exactly what the smell was like, but I remember the flavor was nice and sour with some acidity and fruitiness. Actually, it tasted exactly like a black Warhead, if any remembers eating those when they were a kid. According to Simon and the bottle it is brewed with cafe and cacao...I get a little hint of the cacao but zero cafe. A really interesting beer that works well with the sourness. FYI, this is not in the BDSA family. I'm not well versed on my sours but I would definitely put it in one of those categories...maybe flanders brown? Definitely lighter in body than I was expecting. Very drinkable, though the alcohol is noticable. The best of the French beers I have had so far. Thanks Simon.

Serving type: bottle

05-02-2010 08:46:13 | More by NCBeernut

csais75

France

4/5  rDev +2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Actually the name of the beer is "La Delinquante" ;-)
It is a tasty product but "La Brasserie des Vignes" produces better stuff like "La Clandestine" or "La Libertine".
This one has a coffe nose and an acidic taste.

Serving type: bottle

03-10-2010 15:20:31 | More by csais75

RblWthACoz

Pennsylvania

3.93/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Oh man. Some serious love to Simon at La Cave à Bulles in Paris, France for this beer. (Have you seen my review of the place yet?) I had wanted to try anything from this brewery and lo and behold, the man hooked me up without me even saying anything about it.

Label on the front is awesome! A cartoon of some guy in a car stealing a barrel of beer with police in full pursuit and an angry cow jumping out of the way. The upper corner reads: "Inspirée par les services de police," which translates to "Inspired by the Police Force."

Pours a clear amber hued brown with a quite thick and frothy crème head in my La Chouffe tulip glass.

Very interesting nose. Spiced, yes. Smokey? Slightly.

Wow. What an unusual flavor. I swear I remember Simon saying this was a coffee beer? Actually, I won't swear to it. As my memory sucks and that was back in March. What this tastes like is a rauchbier of sorts. Reminiscent of Adam by Hair of the Dog (though definitely not as intense) with touches of Flanders tones that remind me of Duchesse de Bourgogne (I wonder if that is intentional? Is this supposed to be a sour beer? Seems like some of their others are sour-ish as well). Overall the general character leans on the Belgian side of things.

Feel has a fairly high amount of carbonation to it and the liquid is thick enough and decently bodied.

The verdict is that this one is quite unique and fairly unusual. Certainly not an everyday, but something to try and ponder and share with fellow beer lovers who are willing to take the time to think over its nuances.

Once again, thank you so much Simon for this beer. I really wish I had seen more from Vignes on my trip to Paris as I would have been happy to buy one of each to try. And after trying this beer, I am only more interested in trying the rest of their line. If anyone has any Libertine to trade me, let me know and we can work something out.

Serving type: bottle

06-06-2009 20:42:13 | More by RblWthACoz