I picked this up while visiting Le Trou du Diable's gift shop in Shawinigan a month and a half back with mon awesome ami Alex. I managed to spend close to $200 on swag and this because well.. this might be the only time I'm ever at Trou du Diable so why not?
I had a hard time deciding on what beer I should pick up at the brewery's gift shop but being someone who tends to buy beers thanks to their label, this one really popped out at me.. a blender floating in space?! That's a beer I couldn't not buy!
Ze Blène is a blend of barrel aged sour beers dry hopped with Hull Melon and Hallertau Blanc. This process results in a cloudy beer with Lambic aromas which evoke flavours of melon, strawberry and eucalyptus. Its palate, sour and lemony, inflames the taster’s ardour.
This batch of Ze Blène is their seventh version of the beer.
Codename: Messager Stellaire
Colour: Amber
Acidity: Moderate
Yeasts: SaccharoC-SaccharoF-BrettB-BrettL-BrettC-LactoB-LactoD-PedioD
Wood: Sauterne - Cabernet Sauvignon
Barrels: CS001-2G / CS002-2G / SA080-1G
Production: 1220L
Ingredients: Water, malted barley, wheat, rye, corn, hops, yeast
Bottled on July 27, 2017
6.2% ABV
Appearance: The label simply rocks, I'm just picturing this blender that's travelling through space looking for beers to blend together. I put the cap gently back on the bottle and it seems like there's a good amount of carbonation in the bottle itself as every 3-5 seconds I'll hear a light "pop" sound with the cap rattle a bit. As for the beer itself, it pours a cloudy ruby red.. near raspberry in appearance. There's a light to moderate amount of carbonation in the body, as well as a very light amount of yellowish-beige head on top.. which is near minimal after a few minutes into the review.
Aroma: Sour! I get notes of straw, a barnyard funkiness to it, a bit of a pucker-worthy amount of sourness but also a nice amount of sweetness to it as well as it has a bit of a sweet cherry or strawberry fruitiness to it, a bit of lemon and a nice amount of bubble gum to it to give it a bit of a Belgian Saison-like presence to it.
Taste: Straw, a good deal of straw, followed by a bit of barnyard funk. The nice fruitiness makes an appearance, giving off a nice sour cherry presence with a moderate amount of sweet strawberry like presence to it.. almost reminds me just a bit of the Strawberry Crush I won at my sister's social a few months back. Ze Blène is quite dry to the point that it almost rips out all the saliva I have.. but after a while it returns even when I'm taking a sip of this beer. There's a light amount of woodiness to it as well as a hint of a Carbernet Sauvignon wine to it. As the beer warms up, the sourness of the beer isn't at all irritating me in any sense.. in fact, I'm just finding something about this beer that's making me want more of this after each and every sip. Lastly, there's also a very subtle hint of pepper/spiciness once it warms up.
Overall Thoughts: I expected this to be some sort of funky barrel aged sour the second I bought it but part of me was hoping it would be a Milkshake IPA for some strange reason. Ze Blène VII isn't overly in-your-face when it comes to sourness nor does the barnyard funkiness smell or tooooo close to my memories of working on the farm so that's good as well. It has a nice funkiness to it but also gives off a welcoming sweetness of strawberry and cherries that I really want to experience again and again, and again and again. Do I seriously have to go back to Shawinigan to pick up another bottle of this? Dammit TDD.. I work part time on a retail salary.. I can't!
https://troududiable.com/bieres/ze-blene-vii-brassin-special/?lang=en
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