Les Trois Mousquetaires Porter Baltique (Grande Cuvée 2011) 17/24

Les Trois Mousquetaires Porter Baltique (Grande Cuvée 2011) 17/24 by Cody La BiÚre
Day 17! Tonight's selection is Porter Baltique Grande Cuvée 2011 by the great Québec microbrasserie Les Trois Mousquetaires Microbrasseurs from Brossard, Québec. With it being a chilly evening, the 10% ABV will surely warm me up tonight!

Appearance: Pours a very dark-as-night blackness, with a subtle hint of a light brown head.

Aroma: A pungently sweet alcohol aroma, a bit of a sweet oatmeal stout-like aroma. Roasty malts, lots of dark chocolate and coffee.

Taste: Starts off as a bitter/roasted coffee taste with dark chocolate, alcohol taste, and leaves a coffee aftertaste. It's incredibly sweet from the dark chocolate, reminiscent of an oatmeal stout in ways, very coffee like and wow, really packs a punch to the palate. A smidge of toffee sweetness, this stout has a lot of things going for it.. which is understandable as this was rated at the World Beer Awards in 2010 as the World's Best Baltic Porter!. Really appreciate the incredibly sweet profile this beer has, contrasting against how incredibly bitter the beer is at the exacccct same time (from the roasted malts and coffee notes).

Overall Thoughts: Easily one of the better porters I've had in a while. Loved the extreme sweetness, the notes that remind me of a good oatmeal stout, and the fact that it's 10% (and the fact I'm anxious as hell right now.. it helps calm the nerves ever so slightly). Les Trois Mousquetaires' Porter Baltique would be amazing for a reduction sauce over pork or chicken.

Bottle date: 01/07/2011

This extra-strong black lager has an aroma of chocolate and alcohol. Luxuriously round, its flavours span from those of a mochaccino, to nuts and toffee with a hint of cherry wood smoked malt. A mild bitterness wraps up every sip.

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1 comment:

Dan said...

Nice review. When this was out in Ontario a bunch of people were going on about it being infected on Bartowel. I think they just couldn't take this big beer. Great stuff!