Chanvre Noire
Brasserie de West Shefford

bouteille brune de 341ml.

belle couleur brune claire, pas de mousse, nez de caramel très invitant, la bouche est tout aussi agréable avec de note chocolaté, caramélisé, le tout dans un harmonie complet, un peu sucré, très bien mais pas facile de trouver le chanvre par-contre.

341 mL brown bottle, undated.

Clear, dark brown brew with not much head to speak of.

Aroma is of molasses with hints of dates and figs.

Starts of sweet and sugary, with lots of molasses and caramel notes. A bit of dried fruit and citric hops as well. There is a sharp, slightly sour note as well, which I imagine to be the hemp seeds. Finishes sweet and sour, with very little bitterness. Fairly full-bodied with moderate carbonation.

While it was off to a pretty good start, this beer took a wrong turn when the hemp too over, leaving you with an average offering from an above-average brewery.

Pours a very dark brown with minimal head.

Smells like caramel and tobacco.

Has the thin mouthfeel one should expect from a porter but is surprisingly effervescent.

Tastes of caramel and dark fruits, but is a bit too sour for my liking.

Not a bad brew overall, but I'm not going to rush out to get more.

Received in CANBIF 2006. Thanks, Matt!

This beer poured cola brown with a creamy, bubbly head. The head had good retention and left evenly-spaced rings on my pint glass. The smell was a combination of some chocolate, bready malt, fruity esters I couldn't identify and a slightly metallic tinge.

The aroma carried over into the taste, with a bit of a variation: lightly roasted malt, chocolate again, but also a hint of coffee bitterness and a grainy finish. The high carbonation tickles the palate, but the mouthfeel is a little thin and watery. Overall, a little light for this style.

Bottle: Poured a medium black color porter with a super big foamy head with good retention. Aroma of roasted malt with some very subtle coffee note. Taste is more interesting then expected with some roasted malt with a slight sweet edge and a medium bitter finish. Body is a bit thin for the style and carbonation is about average. Good session porter and not something I was expecting from this brewery.

Looks and smells like a porter, good initial head, opaque black. Light alcohol is a plus, and this would be ranked higher if there was a category "light porters"..more of a medium mouthfeel, significantly but not overly carbonated. Reasonable porter taste, graininess from hemp

Bottle: Hemp-porter advertised as "non-traditional". Pouerd a dark mahogany with ruby highlights into my porter galss...smallish head that goes to a ring. Decent coffee-cocoa aroma with some grassy notes. Light body...ample coffee-semi-sweet choclate..hints of dried fruit....mild finish with light charring from the toated malt and bittering from the hemp...a very nice tasting porter but too thin in body for me.