Abbaye De Saint Bon-Chien Grand Cru (Aged In Rhum Barrels) - BFM Brasserie Des Franches-Montagnes

Patrickbrusil

Massachusetts

2.63/5  rDev -26.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Zero carbonation. Not a hint. Reminded me of a mild apple cider vinegar.

Can't believe I paid $25 bucks.

I suppose the flavor profile would be ok if it had bubbles. The sour component is present. However, this failed in my mind.

If given a different batch option I might be tempted again but I'm a freak.

Serving type: bottle

10-21-2011 02:21:13 | More by Patrickbrusil

womencantsail

California

3.4/5  rDev -5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Thanks again, Bobby.

A: The beer pours a flat, opaque, amber color with almost no head.

S: Smells a bit funky and tart, some definite red wine vinegar with a bit of green apple and cherries. Some oak and vanilla with a definite rum aroma. Maybe a little bit boozy.

T: Vanilla and spicy oak with lots of rhum flavor. There's maybe a little bit of chocolate and tannins to it. Quite a bit of booze, maybe some light vinegar sourness, green apple, and lemon zest.

M: Medium bodied with almost no carbonation.

O: Way too boozy with the barrel dominating, and it doesn't really work out this way.

Serving type: bottle

09-17-2011 04:35:57 | More by womencantsail

stakem

Pennsylvania

3.43/5  rDev -4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Thanks to Smoked for sharing this with me. Poured into a cervoise, this brew appears copper in color. When held to the light, it looks more of a clear ruby through the body with orange through the edges. A rough pour yields a few large bubbles that fade quickly. Som faint spotty lace sticks to the glass.

The smell of this brew is sour with cherry quality. Oak is present imparting a bit of caramel sweetness and lots of vanilla. As the brew warms up, more cherry comes out mixed with solvent, burning alcohol that makes the nose change to something that is quite medicinal smelling.

The taste is fusel with alcohol with a very bold display of solvent character. A bit of aceytone comes out tasting of nail polish remover. Herbal at times with a very warming kick. Cherry makes itself known at times with some earthy notes before the onset of more burning alcohol. As the brew comes up to temperature it gets to be a chore to finish.

This is a medium bodied brew with almost no carbonation. The 11% abv is not hidden in this offering at all. The lack of carbonation really doesn't help any. There is an unrecognizable spirited accent to the booze quality of this brew making it solvent. It isn't "bad" but hardly compares to some other offerings I've had from this brewery. More carbonation would have gone a long way perhaps some aging and colder serving temperature would make this experience more enjoyable. Regardless, I am thankful for the opportunity to try it. Thanks again Dan.

Serving type: bottle

09-13-2011 18:51:52 | More by stakem

julian

Washington

2.58/5  rDev -27.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

A: No “hiss” or “pop” when I cracked the cap off. Color is dark orange/brown almost like maple syrup. There was also quite a bit of visible sediment in the bottle during the pour. No lacing 3

S: Smell is slightly sour, tart brown sugar like sweetness and a bit of funk with some wooded musk. 3

T&M: This is almost like drinking wine. It’s flat and boozy. The sourness is mostly out weighed by the high amount of malt and sugar. What little tartness there is, is of a sweet fermented fruit variety. Unfortunately, this is just not that good. Perhaps some age would help it but I doubt it. The lack of carbonation is also not helping it. 2.5 / 2.0

O: No carbonation, average aroma, appearance is OK and the taste is just too sweet for what it’s trying to do. It’s also pretty high in ABV so it drinks more like a flat barleywine or straight up wine. Would not drink again. It’s not terrible, just not for me. 2.5

Serving type: bottle

08-29-2011 16:53:20 | More by julian

TurdFurgison

Ohio

3.08/5  rDev -14%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

I got to try this courtesy of normyk (thanks Rob!), side-by-side with 2006 & 2009 un-treated versions of Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien (those courtesy of both Rob and Brad).

This poured nearly still, dark brown color with no head. There's a lot going on in the aroma, but unfortunately for me the rum and barrel seem to take away the funk. Boozy smelling, with some plums/raisins and oak.

The taste is again nice but nevertheless a let-down, no funk left in this beer. Just rum, barrel, dark fruits, maybe some cough syrup too. Pretty flat too, I guess that's somewhat appropriate for the style?

The final verdict from the vertical: The 2006 was sublime, my favorite by a mile. Next was the 2009 which was very good but definitely a level beneath the 2006, and finally this Rhum version was clearly the bottom tier. Not horrible, just not worth the very high coin it demands in stores.

Serving type: bottle

08-14-2011 20:11:47 | More by TurdFurgison

Urbancaver

Ohio

3.58/5  rDev 0%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Thanks normyk for this one

Pours a clear reddish orange. No real head to speak. Smells tart and sour. Maybe a touch of oak. Tastes astringent and weird off flavours. Harsh. Bitter, overall pretty rough compared to the base beer. The moth feel is thick but no real carbonation. Not nearly as enjoyable as other brews

Serving type: bottle

08-13-2011 18:40:50 | More by Urbancaver

jlindros

Massachusetts

4.18/5  rDev +16.8%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Thanks to Chris Lively for breaking this out.

Pours no head with a maple brown color.

Nose is light tart sour malts, rum, toasted oak and vanilla, sweet candy, bit of malt vinegar and touch of fruit.

Taste has dark malts, light sweet sour malts, light tart fruit, hint of malt vinegar, light tart acidic, some light oak and vanilla, some rum barrel taste with woody barrel and light sweet rummy taste, light reddish fruit, great fruits, and a light buttery oak.

Mouth is lighter bodied but no carbonation.

Overall its a good beer, its fairly old and lacking carbonation, but great tart fruits and nice darker malts, despite that I'm not a huge rum fan it has some nice buttery rum and barrel flavors. Not sure on the date but it was a fairly old dusty bottle.

Serving type: bottle

07-22-2011 22:17:32 | More by jlindros

jampics2

Ohio

3.7/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

375ml bottle at Lizardville, split with my wife. 2010 Grand Cru, aged in Rum barrels. $20.

The beer looks decent enough in the glass. It's nearly flat and a bit murky, as the brownish plum liquid swirls around the glass I'm reminded of prune juice. No worries, a quick vigorous swirl reawakens a few bubbles and makes this look good enough to drink.

The smell is complex and very pleasant, but lacks the expression I would like to see. Some barrel notes, mainly booze and oak, combine with a lacto sharpness, herbs and dark fruit. I get notes of fig, tart apple skin, cherry and some rum. Not the best beer ever but certainly not the worst.

The taste is very nice, but still falls short of the best examples of either sour beers or Bière de Garde that I've had. There's a good enough base beer here, with trademark herbs, oak and non-acetic sour lacto coming through. Some cherry and dark fruit fade into oak, a touch of vanilla, rum and some heat. The beer is sophisticated and very interesting, but the treatment doesn't showcase either the beer or the rum well enough for me.

The medium bodied beer has mild carbonation that makes it a bit lifeless. Overall, I liked the flavors here but think there are better beers for $20.

Serving type: bottle

06-14-2011 14:55:12 | More by jampics2

aasher

Indiana

3.48/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

This beer pours full bodied and very cloudy deep apricot. It poured smoothly without any bubbles or any head to speak of. The aromas are of sweet and sour dark fruits, light raisin, dehydrated apricots, perhaps light apple/Calvados, with a sour light alcohol finish. The flavors consist of funky apricots, light dark fruits, a moderate amount of alcohol, lightly sour apples, perhaps some light candied sugar. I don't actually get any rum barrel at all, which is odd. It was quite difficult to pick out the nuances of the flavors presented. It just didn't feature defined balance. There also isn't much of an aftertaste. In the middle of drinking this, we tried rum from Belize and it had the same type of aftertaste, mild vanilla and candied sugar. So that kind of put it in perspective. It has a very watery mouthfeel. Despite the thick looking pour it drinks very watery and is too easy to drink, and not in a good way. Overall this is an interesting brew but not close to being worth the $23.99 per 375ml bottle.

Serving type: bottle

06-09-2011 01:29:57 | More by aasher