À L'abri de la tempête Terre Ferme IPA Rustique (2015)

Ah, time to pull a beer out of the hoard. I haven't been building my hoard as much as I used to, mainly because I have no use for aging beer anymore, I thought it would end up being great for bottle shares or for doing verticals but I never did either so what's the use letting beer collect dust anyways? Today I'm checking out À L'abri de la tempête's Terre Ferme Rustic IPA. I bought this beer in Montreal back in January 2016 at Dépanneur Peluso, so this beer probably has seen better days. For some reason I thought that this beer was a Scotch Ale or a Barley Wine, so I didn't think about drinking it sooner.. well, it's an IPA so it definitely won't taste the same as the brewery intended. So today I'm going to tell you how this beer has changed in the 4.5 years since it was bottled (Bottled October 18, 2015).

From the label: IPA bien charpentée, reflétant le territoire rustique et bucolique des Îles de la Madeleine. Note de sapin, résine, houblon, herbe, citron.

Well made IPA, reflecting the rustic and pasturic territory of Les Îles de la Madeleine. Notes of fir, resin, hops, grass, lemon. 6.2% ABV.

Appearance: Murky copper-brown body with a lot of head to it, very thick cookie dough yellowish hue to it, frothy and leaves behind a liberal amount of lacing on the glass as the head diminishes a bit.

Aroma: Certainly has an aged IPA aroma to it, smells much more like a Barley Wine than an IPA now, which is something I've noticed in some kinds of IPAs when they're accidentally aged.. oops! Heavy caramel/toffee aroma to it, a bit of a booziness, hint of wood, pine and lemon. Pretty pungent.

Taste: Woody, very sweet with notes of caramel, bit of a booziness to it, hint of pine, lemon, hint of cardboard, slight earthiness to it. Quite sweet, the mouthfeel is pretty dry, while the aftertaste is a bit woody. At times it reminds me a bit of a Barley Wine but not as sweet, but then the hops come out in a not so pleasant form to give it a "yeah, this isn't fresh" vibe to it.

Overall Thoughts: Definitely a bit boozy to it but also nowhere near its prime. I need to read beer labels more when I put them in my hoard, but the words "IPA Rustique" are pretty tiny so there's that. Woody, lots of caramel, hint of pine, cardboard, definitely oxidized but not horrible.. but not great either, way to go Cody!

https://alabridelatempete.com/pages/les-classiques