Intemporelle
AMB - Maître Brasseur

500 ml bottle, thanks to my boy Goldorak for sending this my way!

Pours a clear dark amber/golden, some light orange highlights, very thick and rocky white head forms, slowly settles down to a thin ring around the glass, a few lace spots stick, looks alright.

Smell is nice, sweet and malty, some honey, quite fruity, candi sugar, lightly grassy hops, some floral, quite perfumy, a bit of alcohol, lightly spicy, a bit phenolic, but a real nice aroma.

Taste is similar, boozy up front, a lot of fruit, peach and a bit of grapefruit, floral, some spice, nice perfumy note, a touch of vanilla, honey sweetness, apples, candi sugar, nice hoppiness, solid balanced finish, pretty dry.

Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied with medium carbonation. Smooth but a bit of spritz to it, alcohol is well hidden. A pretty nice Belgian strong, I dig it. Thanks Martin!

This golden strong ale looks, pardon the pun, good as gold. Its honeyish, slightly hazy complexion glows with a healthy luster and a sheen golden gloss. Imperative for any beer fashioned in the Belgian style, it has a tall mound of head that is well whisked and quite bubbly. This look for a beer is indeed Intemporelle ("Timeless").

The aroma is, in a word, fantastic. It is a pungent, earthy bouquet that boasts a variety of really bitter and really aromatic odors. Its intense grassiness activates the body's natural apprehension to unfamiliar, suspicious scents; this smells of poisonous grasses, inedible flowers, rotten grapefruit and molded orange peel. Trust me though, it's all good.

The beer drinks a little like Duvel on steroids. The taste includes all the aforementioned as well as a sturdy toasty, biscuity maltiness, a spoonful of honey and a few chunks of macerated orchard fruits. Without the yeast and vibrant U.S. hops these pale malts wouldn't be all that exciting but taken all together it makes for a very dynamic beer.

Those hops clip the palate at the end of every sip, bleaching it in alpha-acids then painting it the various shades of orange, green and pink (burping, especially, reinforces the hop's floral and fruity attributes). The only issue is the alcohol, which limits the beer's quaffability by being so rowdy and unconcealed. That needs to be scaled way back.

It has flamboyant yeast, assertive malts and rambunctious hops - what more could you want? While the style is innately aromatic, flavourful, complex and quaffable, let's not take any credit away from Maître Brasseur for brewing it well and uncompromisingly. Given its cultural uniqueness, it's no surprise that a brewery from Quebec was able to blend new and old world styles to make a beer that encompasses the best of each.

Bottle: Poured a deep slightly hazy brown color ale with a tiny foamy head with average retention and minimal lacing. Aroma of candi sugar and light dry hops is more pleasing then anticipated. Taste is also a mix between some candi sugar with a potent malt backbone and a light dry hoppy finish. Body is about average with good carbonation and no apparent alcohol. A lot better then I had anticipated considering the beer I tasted from this brewer recently.