Le Merle
North Coast Brewing Co.

RB transfer

 

 

From the bottle image I recognize it, but don't remember too much about the beer itself. I gave it a good rating so must have been quite good.

Golden color. Big, white head. Aroma of fruits, spices, dough, and caramel. Balanced taste with moderate sweetness and notes of spices and fruits. Dry finish with rather strong bitterness.

12 oz bottle into a tulip glass.
L: SRM 4 pours a yeasty light amber gold with a creamy 1/4" white head, steady lush carbo, very good head retention, a trace of sediment, medium-light scattered lacing.
S: Traditional Belgian beer spices, lightly fruity, yeast.
T: Over ripe peach, pear, notes of apple, honey, citrus, Belgian yeast, coriander, nutmeg, distant clove, balanced tart & sweetness, it is lightly rich.
F: Brisk then quite smooth, medium-bodied feel with a slightly broad middle and a medium-long slightly drying finish.
O: Tastes like a good creamy Belgian beer that is grainy and is gently sweet. Beautiful. Traditional for the most part. It drinks easily for being 7.5% and it is delicate. It is very good in its style.

I definitely used to enjoy this beer. It has a nice kind of zesty feel to it a little cloudy, nice golden color but that was many years ago. The new batches I have not really enjoyed.

(4 oz taster pour in a flight at their taproom on 6 Jul 2024... reviewed from recollections)

Faded gold-colored liquid, slight haze; wispy foam ringtop... surprisingly strident, zippy yeast spice on the palate, somewhat reminiscent of Dupont Saison, but maybe leaning more toward a sparkling white wine / rambunctious tripel blend... underlying sea of lightly-toasty pale malt providing enough of a foundation for the fermentation fireworks... one of the more surprising, intriguing beers I had that visit (and I've had this once from a bottle and thought little of it); worthy of a second (larger) glass in order to learn more (2343)

 

 

 

This beer doesn’t make me want to do anything. I don’t want to think about what could have been. I don’t want to think about what may be. I don’t want to pop on TCM. I don’t want to take out the trash… And here I am, in a moment of “don’ts…” Any which way, it’s just that I get nothing from this beer. And in turn, momentarily, I want nothing.

Clean up after yourselves, my children.

appearance: golden/brass hued
smell: buscuits and honey, very light nectarine
taste: stronger honey, dried apples, pears, barely perceptible yeast. not a whole lot of malt presence, although I think that's intentional. in a word, fruity.
texture: fine carbonation, medium to light body leaning more toward light
overall: an interesting, fruity belgian style beer. it hides the alcohol extremely well, almost undetectable.

 

 

 

Body is a nice golden amber. Aroma is spicy and almost like a sweet cider. Taste is of apple cider, fruity esters banana, bubble gum, and pear puree. Finishes slightly dry and warm, but the alcohol is well concealed. Bitterness is moderate to low depended on how much bitterness you like. Very good.