Brasseurs Et Frères La Récidive
Brasserie Dunham

 

 

Typical start to the head and it settles to a thin layer of bubbles. Nice ring lace on the glass. Dark brown where light shines on the edge.

Nice blend of toasted and burnt malts to the nose. There's a chalkiness to the aroma.

Bitterness comes from two sources, burnt malts and hop. They are different and come out at different times (malt first). Not so sweet, but still full bodied, this beer has all the elements of a very good dry stout. Lots of coffee grounds in the taste.

Purchased in Quebec City in July, 2010. No date on the bottle.

Poured into a beer mug moderately and got an aggressive mocha head (1/3 of the mug) atop a black stout. Head caps nicely, although it didn't lace. About everything I would want in a stout. The nose has an appealing aroma of licorice and roasted grains. The taste though is all off kilter, initially it comes fairly smoothly and stout like but then an acrid burnt taste dominating everything that lingers forever... Bleah. I chocked it down, all the while contemplating "Drainpour?"

A: Dark black color. Some reds on the edges. The head is nice looking. It is brown/beige and creamy looking. Interesting fact is the head sticks to the glass making good looking symbols on the glass! I like it.
S: Chocolate and coffee. Pretty what I expected from a milk stout.
T: Chocolate, what else? It is more milk chocolate to me than dark chocolate. The bitterness is light and it is something you usually get from coffee grains.
M: Not creamy enough for a milk stout. Average carbonation in the mouth.
D: Good drinkability.

A good session beer however, not my go to milk stout.

papat444 hooked me up with this one. thanks pat!

12oz bottle. sampled feb 5/2010.

pours deep dark brown, not quite black, with a small brown head. the head slowly drops to a ring around the glass and leaves spotty lace.

aroma is nice. big milk chocolate. dark chocolate. coffee. bit of alcohol. light herbal character. bit of anise. earthy. bit of oxidation.

taste is ok. bit of cardboard. ashy burnt whole wheat bread. hint of alcohol. super dark roast coffee. bit of dark chocolate. zero sweetness whatsoever. hint of alcohol.

mouthfeel is ok. astringent. medium-light body. medium carbonation level.

drinkability is ok. fairly balanced, but the burnt and astringent character certainly takes away from it. this is neither sweet nor milky.

12 oz bottle, thanks to grub for sharing.

Pours a slightly opaque dark brownish black, some orange highlights, very thick off white head forms, settles down to a very thick layer and ring, some lace spots, looks pretty good.

Smell is nice, lots of milky sweetness, roast, some chocolate milk, brown sugar, raisin, some licorice, a bit of coffee, very sweet and malty, a bit of vanilla, lightly toasty, pretty nice.

Taste is nice, light and roasty, some coffee, very biscuity and dry toast, some caramel sweetness and lactose through the middle, very rich milk chocolate finish, a touch of raisin and brown sugar, some toffee, pretty nice.

Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied with high carbonation, too high for the style. Real nice except for the carbonation, it really detracts from the enjoyability. Thanks Russ!

Pours a cola like body with a frothy mocha top that leaves some lace. Nose of smoke, chocolate, yeast, a bit of coffee. Tastes very grainy, with coffee, a bit woodsy, quite yeasty, a bit of vanilla. Grainy texture with lingering funky aftertaste. Something missing here, but overall still good. Thanks Milos!

I noticed that this is Brasseurs & Frères' best rated brew here on BA and was excited to find it on tap at Brouhaha in Montreal after not seeing it anywhere in bottles.

This beer initially makes a good impression; opaque and black, thick creamy head with good retention, though not much lacing. Pretty impressive look for a stout of 4.8%.

The only other beer I've had from this brewery smelled overwhelmingly of corn on the cob, oddly enough. Sadly, whatever it is they do over there at Brasseurs & Frères, they seem to do to all their beers. This one also smells like corn; although with the addition of smoke this time. Smokey corn. Not good.

What's up with the corn-on-the-cob at this place? Tastes like an average stout with corn juice in it. Yuck.

Decent mouthfeel, although it's hard to notice under the corn fiesta. Medium bodied...nothing special.

If I have a hankering for some corn, I usually cook some corn. I don't really appreciate it in beer form. I'm not sure what's up with all the corn beers; do they really brew with corn? If not, it would actually be quite impressive to achieve such an accurate roasted corn flavour. Undrinkable; I left half my glass at the bar after attempting to choke down as much as I could. I'm confused as to the great reviews here. Sometimes I'll chug a shitty beer for the buzz, but at 4.8% this one was definitely not worth it.

Thanks to papat444 for a bottle of this brew - I'd never heard of it until I pulled it out of the cellar. Served in a pint glass. Love the label!

A - Ridiculous huge (like four fingers+) dark mocha foam that has solid retention. Pitch black body - not a trace of light gets through this bad boy. The only knock is the dearth of lacing.

S - Lots of roastiness, coffee & cream, milk chocolate, and a nice floral and earthy hop presence that's reminiscent of Russian River Porter. There's also some touches of nuttiness and smoke in there. Big smell that leaps out of the glass.

T - Taste is a serious letdown - really subtle roastiness and smoke mixed with some dirtiness. Only the slightest hint of cocoa and none of those other great notes from the aroma. What happened?

M - Mouthfeel is thin and highly carbonated - very porter-like. It's a little harsher than I prefer - especially compared to something like Young's Double Chocolate or Moloko.

D - The 4.8% is a blip on the radar, but the carbonation and roasty bitter aftertaste leave me sort of lukewarm. It started off so promising too...

Purchased on Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at Depanneur Peluso. Drank on Saturday, August 9, 2008.

Pours opaque black with minimal tan head and no lacing to speak of. Smoky malt smell as is the taste along with some chocolate. Beer coats the mouth as it makes it's way down, causing the smokiness to linger. The smokiness cuts down on the drinkability factor.

I was surprised to see this labeled a milk/sweet stout, I wouldn't have thought it to be that type of beer.

Pours pitch black with a brownish-white head. Delicious aroma of roasted grain, raw dark coco bean and a hint of both fresh malted grain and earthy hops.

Flavor is quite ordinary, but incredibly enjoyable. Upfront is a coco-roast and a solid malt presence, a present but not overwhelming bitterness that melds perfectly with the soft astingency also present.

At 4.8% I'd could be stuffing these down without even thinking about it. Not something I can or would usualy say when talking about stouts.

Bottle from JA Moisan in Quebec City.

The beer pours a very dark black, with the slightest hint of ruby at the edges, and a medium tan head to crown it off. The aroma pulls in a little smoke to compliment the heavily roasted grains, and slight nuttiness, but doesn't reveal any sweetness or significant hopping.

Tasting reveals this to be a very solid stout. The roastiness is really at centre stage, with notes of cocoa, nut and smoke dancing around it. The finish is lingering, and the palate is very well suited to the flavour profile. There's limited sweetness here, which would be a massive strike against it as a milk stout, but as there's no indication that they aimed for this style on the bottle, I'm reviewing it as a straight-up American Stout. Body and carbonation are both medium and in line with the style.

Ridiculously sessionable. Although there is nothing really spectacular here, this is how stouts should be made.

Thanks to Goldorak for sending this ale noire from la belle province my way in CanBif III. Im finally getting around to my stouts!

Looks good. Black, decent one finger tan head, subsides to leave a thin ring of lace. Some garnet hues around the edges, but this is mostly jet black. Nice thin, intricate lacings form then slowly slide back into the glass after its tipped.

Nice nose. Some anise and roast, lactose sweetness, and hints of treacle. Nutty malts also in the mix. A faint earthy leafiness reveals itself in the finish.

Hints of anise and smoke rise above the slightly sweet milky treacle. Reminds me of eating porridge with my dad, hot oatmeal with some molasses and cold milk. Slightly metallic middle gives way to a pleasing roastiness, with a nice dark roast coffee flavour. Black earth with a touch of decaying plant matter in the finish.

A light to medium bodied stout. Appropriate very mild level of carbonation. Nicely constructed, well balanced sweet stout. The touch of lactose sweetness plays nicely with the roasted qualities. Very mildly hopped, which is quite appropriate for the style.

A very drinkable stout. Nice flavours and somewhat complex, but nothing too in your face. As such this would make a good introductory stout. Also very sessionable since it comes in at 4.8% abv. I'm glad i got to try this tasty stout. Worth trying for fans of the style. I'd enjoy this one again.

Bottle courtesy of papat444. Dark stout with a three finger head which was surprising. Roasty nose. Taste- coffee and dark chocolate with some nuttiness. Good body to it and carbonation is spot on. Finish seems off somehow- some sort of odd taste. Overall- nice light stout.

A very decent drinkable stout,dominated by coffee and also some chocolate. Balanced bitter and sweet. Pours black with dissipitating head. This would be a regular if available locally. Above average carbonation and medium body. Licorice and mollasses in aroma.

Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a light brown foamy head with average retention. Aroma of coffee is totally dominating. Taste is also dominated by dry coffee with some roasted malt. Body is about average with some medium carbonation. Well made overall but just a bit too dry from my own taste buds.

341ml bottle poured into a pint glass. Thanks to mattt for sending this my way!

Pours completely opaque, black as the night. 1 inch tan head erupts from a vigorous pour. Some wet lacing as well. Aromas of heavily roasted malt, milk chocolate, earth, and a bit of nuttiness. Not complex but really nice and befits the style.

Taste is exceptional, almost a clinic in this style of beer. The lovely milk chocolate sweetness balanced out the heavily roasted malt very well. Lactic sourness offsets the the bitterness as well. A bit of cocoa and coffee, earth, and some alcohol to round it off. Carbonation is a little high, but the body is perfect, medium-light, finishes roasted and tart wth a slight dryness. The ABV is awesome, as this is a session beer to be sure. Very flavourful and extremely enjoyable. Brasseurs & Frères are impressing me a lot with their flavourful and highly drinkable beers.

A: Black with a creamy tan head, good retention, some lacing.

S: Pleasant roasty aroma, slight dark chocolate.

T: Dry and roasty, with a very light sweetness (not much bitterness). Coffee, molases, dark caramel and a very light spicyness.

M: Moderate body is well-attenuated & dry. Great for its strength!

D: An all-around good beer. Quite drinkable.

Dark like the night, well darker than night! Pitch black beer with a nice foamy brown head that stays all the way.

Smell is heavy on coffee, roasted coffee, dark chocolate, malt and a shy hoppy smell.

At first, the flavours of coffee hits you pretty hard, very coffee like, then followed by a shy bitterness of chocolate, dark chocolate which ends up in a shy hoppy touch. Pretty nice stout