I agree almost completely with this review by Fermented Opinion about the beer... it is almost wine-like in its complexity, but has a really delicious dried fruit-spice sweetness, with a roasty malt backbone, that makes it super enjoyable to sip slowly. As he says, a great winter beer. The smoothness is exceptional, especially considering the beer is double strength at 10.5% ABV.
The ratebeer score is closer to how I feel than the Beer Advocate score is, but keep in mind this definitely speaks to my palate.
I think I paid $6.00 for a 12oz bottle, which is pricey but worth spending if you love this type of beer like I do. One thing I still don't know - why it's named Rigor Mortis... I didn't feel like a dead stiff after drinking it or anything...
Damn French-Canadians, putting French names on delicious beers then making me realize I'll have to go all the way to North America to get them. As opposed to, say, my corner beer store.
ReplyDeleteDo the French make any delicious beers? Is micro brewing a thing there? Or is it completely suffocated by the wine culture?
ReplyDeleteAlso what's France's take on French Canadians, anyway? Friends, looked down upon, or frenemies?
So, when I see a beer that color and ABV, I expect it to be a little sour, like a Scottish Ale. Was there any sourness at all? If not, I may try it. Would you compare it to the porter or brown to which you linked? Give me a starting point to which I can compare and establish expectations.
ReplyDeleteIt is not sour, it's sweet and malty and smooth. I can see where you're coming from though.
ReplyDeleteHm... as far as a starting point, it actually reminds me in a lot of ways of both the St Bernardus Christmas Ale or the Gouden Carolus Cuvee van de Keizer blue. It is very belgian in its rich flavors and full body, but despite its double-digit ABV it is smooth and sweet. I would emphasize it's not as super sweet as the Gouden Carolus, and not as spicy as the St Bernardus, but has a sweet-spicy warmth lacking sourness which is similar to both.
Does that clarify anything, or is it just more confusing?
My post on the FrogPubs' brews is still floating out there in Limbo, but there isn't a huge brewery culture in France, no. Blame wine, but I love the vino as well.
ReplyDeleteIt's a weird thing between France and Fake France (aka Quebec). On the one hand, their accent is so incomprehensible that Quebecois shows here require subtitles (true story). On the other hand, the Quebecois (much easier to write, and harder to pronounce, than French-Canadian) are sooooo much more militant about being French, and especially speaking French. They refuse to incorporate words like "shopping" or "camping" into the lexicon, while both are commonly used in Real French. The French word for store is "magasin", so in Quebec, you don't "Faire du shopping", you "Aller magasiner". It's totally ridiculous, in my opinion, but since no other Francophone part of the world has swallowed the Quebecois Quool-Aid, I suppose it's harmless enough.
Long story short, I think the Real French find the Fake French kind of quaint. Personally, the Frenchman in me chuckles at their silliness, but the American in me happily imbibes their delicious brews.
Can you describe in a little more detail what makes the Quebecois (amazing word) accent incomprehensible? Help me complete this SAT word comparison: the Quebecois accent is to French what the _____ accent is to English.
ReplyDeleteThe equivalent of a southern drawl? A Boston twang? English from England accent? Or, if you know really obscure UK accents, have you ever heard a Glaswegian accent (another awesome word), is it that incomprehensible?
When we went up to Glasgow at the tail end of our Scotland trip, we made people repeat themselves to us an average of three times per statement. It is basically another language.
Let's go with Quebecois is to French as Glaswegian is to English.
ReplyDeleteTrue or False, now: It would be better if Glaswegian accents came from Glaswege rather than Glasgow.
It's hard to say what makes it so incomprehensible because, duh, it's incomprehensible. For one, it's very guttural, which never helps matters, and there is a twang to most words - you'll find it in some French dialects in the Hexagone (nickname for France, bonus points if you knew that already), but nowhere as strong as in Quebec.
I forget, is it Glasgow or Edinburgh (or both) where they throw "like" at the end of the sentence rather than in the middle, American style?
My American accent in French has softened enough to where people ask first if I'm Quebecois, which I consider an improvement over asking if I'm American. I take it as a compliment, like.
Hexagone: a shape with 6 sides which is what modern day France resembles on a map.
ReplyDeleteWhat do I win with my bonus points MP?