3 Monts Amber Ale On Lees - Brasserie De Saint-Sylvestre

Pahn

New York

3.35/5  rDev -17.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

750ml bottle into Duvel tulip. No bottled on date. Fairly nerve-wracking to open considering the depth of the cork.

Appearance: Careful pour down the side of the glass yields a two inch, pillowy off-white head that dissipates slowly without leaving any lacing. Pours a clear golden amber, with lots of bubbly carbonation rising from the bottom. Spotty lacing.

Smell: From the bottle: White wine and pepper. Then zesty, citrusy witbier. Then prune and plum esters as from a quad. Then skunky macro malt. Then big sugary raisin. This beer is winning points before it even makes it to the glass!

In the glass, i get sugar, apple, and some bready malt. Some odd funky notes pop up now and then, and the aroma gets breadier. Very interesting.

Taste: First sip follows the nose but less complex; sugary with apple notes... tastes like a mild Belgian golden ale with an apple juice-like finish. Some harsh but not unpleasant alcohol cuts through the middle and finish in subsequent sips. There's a faint earthy, banana note.

The taste quickly develops an irritating tartness without much flavor to back it up. There's very little hop flavor, but a decent bite up front. At times tastes like bitter fruit... like learning that you're eating a part of the fruit that you're neither supposed to nor want to. No funk at all. The flavor is confusingly distinct from the aroma, which is a shame. There's a somewhat stale flavor, like a warm American macro.

Deeper into the bottle, both the flavor and aroma kind of settle into a sugary, earthy breadiness. It's not very interesting, but it's an improvement on some of what was going on earlier. This is a confusing beer.

Mouthfeel: Just about medium-bodied. Occasional chalkiness. Usually juicy. Not bad.

Drinkability: I guess I don't understand this beer. It changes quite a bit, but the different notes it's offering are often unpleasant, and (with the exception of some of the aroma) rarely interesting and never anything I haven't gotten before somewhere else (done better). I don't really know why I would buy this again, which is another way of saying that I'm not going to buy this again.

As I said before, this beer is confusing, but for all the wrong reasons. The flavor just doesn't make any sense... it's not like it's exotic, or "challenging". It's not challenging; I've tasted apple juice before. I've had loads of sugary, bready beer before. But the notes that pop up just don't amount to anything even resembling a harmony. The flavor isn't terrible, but as a whole the beer is less than the sum of its parts (and its parts aren't particularly interesting in the first place).

The experience of drinking this beer was: inhale some amazingly diverse and good aromas, get flavor that goes from bland to bad to okay, settle into an unremarkable, somewhat too sugary but decent beer. High to lower, to lower, to blah. Not what I want from a moderately expensive bottle of beer.

Serving type: bottle

05-18-2010 01:36:59 | More by Pahn

DaftCaskBC

British Columbia (Canada)

4.25/5  rDev +5.2%

05-18-2013 04:38:56 | More by DaftCaskBC

AdamP

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev -7.2%

05-11-2013 00:35:56 | More by AdamP

Whatup14

Quebec (Canada)

3.75/5  rDev -7.2%

04-17-2013 15:03:11 | More by Whatup14

nzerbe

New York

4/5  rDev -1%

03-09-2013 19:05:51 | More by nzerbe

JuliusCaesar

New Hampshire

4/5  rDev -1%

03-04-2013 01:36:21 | More by JuliusCaesar

Kloug

Quebec (Canada)

5/5  rDev +23.8%

02-07-2013 00:43:11 | More by Kloug

tastymug

Ohio

3/5  rDev -25.7%

02-04-2013 01:24:02 | More by tastymug

spycow

Illinois

4/5  rDev -1%

01-30-2013 05:59:52 | More by spycow

andylipp

Massachusetts

4.25/5  rDev +5.2%

01-19-2013 01:22:57 | More by andylipp

NYR_Rob

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev -7.2%

01-12-2013 04:11:10 | More by NYR_Rob

flagmantho

Washington

4.38/5  rDev +8.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured from 750mL corked bottle into a tulip. My bottle indicates 8.3% ABV rather than the above-noted 9%.

Appearance: medium amber-orange hue with a crystal-clear body and a very light effervescence. Head is two thick fingers of frothy ivory foam leaving a nice lace as it dissipates. Attractive.

Smell: lightly fruity malt aroma with a pear character and a hint of apple, although not cidery at all. A very subtle hint of spicy/phenolic character is also present, but it serves merely to liven up the aromatic palate. Light, but quite nice indeed.

Taste: malty with a bit of a grainy component, but quite balanced. The pear and apple qualities are still present, and there's a little bit of a hint of toastiness as well. Finish has a hint of bitterness which is well balanced. I find that I'm really loving this beer. Wonderful!

Mouthfeel: medium bodied with a well-integrated carbonation. You'd never think of it, based on the lack of apparent effervescence, but this is a very well carbonated and highly creamy concoction. Love it!

Overall: I bought this beer on a whim, knowing nothing at all about it. I am so glad I found it -- this is a delicious treat from start to finish.

Serving type: bottle

12-18-2012 19:15:12 | More by flagmantho

stereosforgeeks

Virginia

4/5  rDev -1%

12-17-2012 17:35:50 | More by stereosforgeeks

Stizz19

3.5/5  rDev -13.4%

12-17-2012 06:33:12 | More by Stizz19

KalanM

British Columbia (Canada)

4.25/5  rDev +5.2%

11-29-2012 08:39:23 | More by KalanM

superspak

Michigan

4.33/5  rDev +7.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

750 ml bottle into tulip glass, 11 20 printed on the back label (best before date?). Pours lightly cloudy golden orange color with a nice 3 finger fluffy white head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice foamy lacing clings around the glass. Aromas of big pear, grape, citrus zest, pepper, clove, herbal, floral, earth, grass, hay, light funk, bread, and yeast spiciness. Damn nice aromas with good balance, strength, and complexity. Taste of pear, apple, citrus zest, pepper, clove, herbal, floral, grass, hay, earth, bread, light funk, light honey, and yeast spiciness. Lingering notes of light fruits, pepper, clove, hay, grass, herbal, floral, earth and yeast spices on the finish for a good bit. Fantastic flavor balance and complexity; nice spicy/malt flavor balance; zero cloying flavors on the finish. Medium-high carbonation and medium bodied; with a lightly slick and very crisp mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is extremely well hidden with zero warming noticed after the finish. Overall this is a fantastic Biere De Garde! Great flavor balance and complexity; very smooth to sip on for 8.3%. This is extremely crisp and delicious stuff.

Serving type: bottle

11-20-2012 05:33:11 | More by superspak

Geiseman

Illinois

5/5  rDev +23.8%

10-06-2012 18:22:48 | More by Geiseman

Apathetiq

Massachusetts

5/5  rDev +23.8%

09-10-2012 21:06:33 | More by Apathetiq

t0rin0

California

4.25/5  rDev +5.2%

08-31-2012 13:05:02 | More by t0rin0

4ster

Quebec (Canada)

4/5  rDev -1%

08-18-2012 17:50:44 | More by 4ster

pin

Australia

3/5  rDev -25.7%

08-15-2012 02:55:36 | More by pin

mmarv74

4/5  rDev -1%

07-04-2012 21:47:43 | More by mmarv74

oberon

North Carolina

3.6/5  rDev -10.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured into my Ommegang chalice a dull medium golden with a nicely formed white one finger crown that held well atop.Aromas are lightly spiced with a big dose of pilsner malt,a bit of drunken fruit as well.Flavors are again lightly spiced with the pilsner malt being the backbone of the flavors,a bit of drunken fruit lingers.Not overly complex but it's food friendlyo the hilt.I liked the "basic" 3 Monts a little better I think.
8.3% ABV. per bottle label.

Serving type: bottle

06-28-2012 21:27:21 | More by oberon

draheim

Washington

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

750mL (code 11 20) into a Hennepin glass. Pours a clear honey amber w/ a thick fluffy white head that leaves big sticky clumps of lace on the glass. Not nearly the same carbonation level as the regular 3 Monts.

Aroma is a combination of wet hay, spices and fruits. Similar to a saison. Yeast leads the way.

Taste is spicy, fruity malt and Belgian yeast. Apples and pears, with a mild bitterness.

Mouthfeel is medium-bodied with a clean dry finish.

Overall a really nice smooth Bière de Garde. Aside from less carbonation, not vastly different from the golden ale version.

Serving type: bottle

06-16-2012 00:17:27 | More by draheim

chickenm

British Columbia (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev -13.4%

06-09-2012 01:35:11 | More by chickenm