L'Évêque
Micro-brasserie Saint-Arnould

L'ÉvêqueL'Évêque
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From:
Micro-brasserie Saint-Arnould
 
Quebec, Canada
Style:
Belgian Dark Strong Ale
ABV:
8.5%
Score:
81
Avg:
3.37 | pDev: 17.21%
Ratings:
18 | reviews: 14
Status:
Inactive
Rated:
Jul 25, 2019
Added:
Jul 28, 2004
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  2
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 4.01 by Electros from Canada (ON)

Jul 25, 2019
 
Rated: 3.58 by mademers from Canada (QC)

Dec 30, 2016
Photo of Socialiste
Rated by Socialiste from Canada (QC)

4/5  rDev +18.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Dark fruity belgian style beer.
May 19, 2015
Photo of nikolav1990
Reviewed by nikolav1990

3.78/5  rDev +12.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Look: dark brown with a thick 2fl finger head that stays for 5 minutes then goes away
Smell: plums, smoked, honey, irony smell
Taste: taste of caramel comes on slow with lots of carbonation, then it starts to taste a bit like coffee, slight bitterness on the finish with a metallic (iron) taste
Feel: lots of carbonation for this style of beer,already feeling the alcohol after 5-6 sips

overall it does not taste like a belgian brown ale but is close to the style, for the price of 2.49$ it was well worth it and i would have it again
Mar 05, 2015
 
Rated: 3.71 by samEBC from Belgium

Dec 29, 2014
Photo of Digimaika2
Reviewed by Digimaika2 from Canada (ON)

3.15/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
A: Deep dark ruby red with very little head. Little to no lacing down the glass.

S: Malty molasses and a faint candied almond smell. Quite a faint smell that's hard to pick up, at least for me. As another BA suggested, cranberry glossettes, should this product exist, would likely smell like this.

T: Slight malt taste that is rather subdued, also picking up tart cherries, tangy pineapple, and those cranberries. Overall a bit one dimensional with minimal complexity, but on the plus rather easy-drinking due to the wateriness of this. Not exactly well executed for this style with little in common with the better Belgian Strong Dark Ales. Alcohol is considerably well hidden, but then again, this isn't true to the style.

M: Oddly quite a thin mouthfeel, with below average carbonation.

D: Drinkable I guess but would prefer a thicker product with more complexity that's truer to the style. Likely wouldn't seek this out again.
Jun 10, 2011
Photo of TerryW
Reviewed by TerryW from Canada (ON)

1.64/5  rDev -51.3%
look: 3 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 1.5
Whoa! Not too sure what's going on here, but it's not too Belgian.

Very ordinary looking beer. Moderate head that settles to a creamy looking film. Dark, reddish brown colour.

I kept sticking my nose in this to try and figure it out. Dusty and moldy come to mind. The suggestion of Cranberry Glosettes by another poster is a good one. Some Belgian yeastiness. Chocolate and coffee? Malt and molasses. Dark fruit. I'm just not getting it. If I had to pick a word it would be "bizarre". It's just too all over the place.

Sweet, thin bodied. Slightly dry to finish. Wine, fruit, and malt to taste. Dominated by malt. Again, not too Belgian. Seems almost like some sort of odd porter.

I'm afraid this is just an unpleasant brew. It's not sure what it wants to be and just has too many off aromas and off tastes happening. Fail.
Jan 24, 2011
Photo of Yoonisaykul
Reviewed by Yoonisaykul from Canada (QC)

2.72/5  rDev -19.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Found this single at Dépanneur DeLorimier. All alone, no other brewery offerings next to it.

Poured into oversized wine glass.

A- Reddish brown. Medium bubble light beige head which did not last long enough for me to really appreciate it.

S- Milk chocolate covered berries. A little like cranberry Glossettes if they existed. A little bit of peanut butter & jelly. Light but hot alcohol.

T- Very English taste. But English as interpreted by many Quebec microbreweries (a few which come to mind right away are: Au Maitre Brasseur, Brasseur du Hameau and Brasseurs et Frères). Now I'm not really sure if this is because of the yeast or the hops, but when poorly executed I think it really tastes like wet cardboard. Bitter from start to finish with, in the middle, some of what was described in the aroma. Alcohol in the finish and after taste which is a little bit grassy and watery. Alcohol is well concealed.

M- Even kind of feels like cardboard; astringent like I had a piece of corrugated in my mouth. Medium carbonation, low for the style. Pretty dry for the style too. Also a bit thin I think.

D- Gets worse every sip. Seems like the dirty wet cardboard after-taste layers on with every sip, making it harder and harder to drink.

Smells better than it tastes. I do not like this beer. Pretty much what I was expecting.
Dec 05, 2010
Photo of notdan
Reviewed by notdan from Canada (ON)

2.68/5  rDev -20.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2
Pours a dark ruby/brown with average head. Looks alright. Smell is... odd. Some nice dark malt and fruits, and also odd/tangy notes that aren't too pleasant. Taste is tangy and not very nice. There's some nice malt there, but it's overpowered by the tangy/slightly sour flavours.
Apr 28, 2010
Photo of allergictomacros
Reviewed by allergictomacros from Canada (ON)

3.64/5  rDev +8%
look: 2 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Lightly hazed but very dark ruby red. Head formation is weak, and that's a generous descriptor. Nose is toasty, roasty and fruity. Lots of caramel, apple, raisins and the like. Somewhat sweet flavour, with a roasted coffee edge and a big yeasty middle. Some husky grain, again some apple, and winey and grapey flavours. Finish has a bracing bitterness. Hints of nuts and alcohol complexity. This one seems to be growing on me a bit. Individual flavours are not the best, but the balance seems good. Not bad drinkability for a bigger beer.
Aug 09, 2009
Photo of bloberglawp
Reviewed by bloberglawp from Canada (QC)

3.84/5  rDev +13.9%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Pours a light brown, a good fair amount of head that dissipates slowly to a medium size crown of foam, little lacing. A little bit hazy from the chill haze and the yeast maybe, good carbonation for the style.

Aroma of spice, malted wheat and yeast. Flavor very much like aroma, a good amount of malted wheat caracter in this one. Also some phenols and esters reminding of a belgian wit minus the orange zest.

Add a little orange peel and coriander to the recipe and you could call this a imperial dunkel-wit. Quite good but could be tweaked to exellent.
Aug 16, 2008
Photo of brewtal
Reviewed by brewtal from Canada (QC)

3.45/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
This is the 341ml version, not the 750ml with a pewter label, hence the appearance score. Served in a Koningshoeven chalice.

-Pours a foamy head fading to good lace around the glass. Color reminds me of liquid caramel/caramel syrup.

-Smell is mostly caramelised malts, roasted grain, cocoa and somewhat spicy.

-Simple, bu huge taste. Malty, but some pleasant brown sugar and milk chocolate and a slight roasted bitterness. Could use some more complexity

-Feels a bit liquory. Could use a bit less carbonation. Warming alcohol feeling.

-One that you can either sip or avidly drink depending on your mood.

A good brew to have now and then. Goes well along with a good meal. To bad they don't have that great bottle anymore. I'll get back to this one sometimes tough.
Sep 04, 2007
Photo of vanrassel
Reviewed by vanrassel from Canada (AB)

3.13/5  rDev -7.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Received in CANBIF 2006. Thanks, Matt!

A two-part pour out of a 341 mL bottle into a Chimay goblet yielded a moderately foamy head over a caramel-coloured body. The aroma is mostly malty, with some fruity esters and sweet sugar.

It tastes malty and not much else — maybe a bit of brown sugar. The label says the beer is made with spring water and indeed, it had a pleasant freshness about it. Mouthfeel is thin and watery. Overall, a one-dimensional beer that lacks complexity.
Sep 15, 2006
Photo of Tim2000
Reviewed by Tim2000 from Canada (QC)

3.73/5  rDev +10.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
341 mL brown bottle, undated. Everyone here seems to have reviewed the 750 mL version. Maybe they updated their recipe too, because this one is identified as having 8% abv instead of 8.5% and "Belgian style beer" is written on the label.

Crystal clear caramel brown brew with a thick frothy head that laces the sides of the glass.

Aroma is malty and spicy with a bit of hops.

Big and malty. Lots of caramel flavors backed up by resinous hops. Spicy notes abound, as well as some fruit. Alcohol is present and lends a nice warming touch to the beer. Very sweet but balanced. Mouthfeel is thick and rich and carbonation is quite high.

I don't know how to classify this beer. It tastes like some kind of belgian-style double ipa. Very good though.
Aug 13, 2006
Photo of Sammy
Reviewed by Sammy from Canada (ON)

2.83/5  rDev -16%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5
Coca-cola in appearance with little head, my wife commented that it was almost drinkable. Nice colour but not a bear appearance. Honeyish aroma. Honey in taste, light mouthfeel maybe even watery. Not finishable. Scottish? Had under Le Gobelet label, and bought recently and tasting fresh. Didn't work
Aug 28, 2005
Photo of Phyl21ca
Reviewed by Phyl21ca from Canada (QC)

3.5/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Bottle: Poured a clear dark brown colored beer with a huge head with standard retention. Aroma is a mix of sweet caramel and some spices. Taste is bit lighter then expected with again some sweet caramel and spices coming out quite clearly. Alcohol is well hidden for 9% beer. Overall, this is a very good drink but not sure about this being a scottish ale, seems more like a strong Belgian ale to me. The bottle is extremely cool too with the metal label.
Aug 04, 2004
Photo of erica
Reviewed by erica from California

3.38/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.5
To be honest, I wasn't that crazy about this beer. But the bottle was cool, with a metal 'label' on there. First of all, I still have no idea what style it is. I was told it's a scoth ale, the tag on the bottle said it was a brown ale (brune bier), and here on BA it's a Belgian strong dark. Hmm.... I would have to say though, it does taste more on the brown ale side, with Belgian spices shining through quite clearly. So... Belgian Brown?

Appearance is nice, cloudy dark orange-reddish colour with an off-white head that fizzes away as quickly as it came. It smells ok, a bit like a saison actually but not quite, with that grassy aroma, mixed with rich spices and a bit of apricot perhaps. I kept going back and forth on taste, whether I liked it or not. I'm still not sure. It tastes like a sweet and spicy and mixed fruity Belgian up front, then comes that flavour that I attribute to a brown ale, the only way I can describe it is dirty. Tastes like dirt. But I kept getting the good flavour too, back and forth. Hard to get past the dirt though. Mouthfeel is good, smooth and not thin or syrupy, and drinkability is not scoring too high with me. I liked it well enough, I suppose, but I don't think I'd want it again.
Jul 28, 2004
Photo of francisweizen
Reviewed by francisweizen from Washington

3.86/5  rDev +14.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
750ml bottle with an awesome pewter(?) embossed label and a cool-looking silver overwrap. No cork, just a crown, which is pryed off easily. The pour reveals a dark orange/ruby liquid with a small white head that fizzes and dies quickly. The aromas are not strong, but they consist of several varieites of dried fruit, some candy sugar, a nice yeastiness, and a bit of floral hops. The taste is sweet up front with a dirty scotch ale flavor on the flip side. The dry fruit taste is in the finish, and it mixes wonderfully with the dry, herbal hop flavor that is in the finish as well. The mouthfeel is a bit thin for this "bruin" ale, which is actually more of a scotch ale than anything else. The drinkability is very good!
Jul 28, 2004