Miel Sauvage
Bayou Teche Brewery

Miel SauvageMiel Sauvage
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From:
Bayou Teche Brewery
 
Louisiana, United States
Style:
Braggot
Ranked #3
ABV:
9%
Score:
89
Ranked #12,442
Avg:
3.97 | pDev: 8.56%
Reviews:
16
Ratings:
71
Status:
Active
Rated:
Mar 29, 2022
Added:
Oct 13, 2013
Wants:
  10
Gots:
  9
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Drknight:
Photo of Drknight
Rated by Drknight from Virginia

4.25/5  rDev +7.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Jun 05, 2015
More User Ratings:
Photo of darktronica
Reviewed by darktronica from Indiana

4.05/5  rDev +2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Copper brown and transparent with relatively low carbonation. Nice honey and floral hop character on the nose, sweet grape and lavender. Some noticeable alcohol on the palate contrasting with honey and berry sweetness. Good oak character, but no idea what sort of whiskey barrel was used.
Mar 29, 2022
 
Rated: 4.41 by Argail from Louisiana

Feb 13, 2022
Photo of Jugs_McGhee
Reviewed by Jugs_McGhee from Colorado

2.64/5  rDev -33.5%
look: 2.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5
Confusion abound about this beer, but I'm looking at a yellow label depicting a honeybee that clearly calls it "Whiskey Barrel Aged Miel Sauvage." I'm presuming this beer is always either wine or whiskey barrel aged and always comes in at 9% or 8.5% ABV given what I've seen about it online.

Currently rated #4 in the Top Rated Braggots list (though the brewery only calls it a "honey ale"/"ale made with Louisiana honey") and #44 in the Top Rated Louisiana Beers list.

"Biere De Miel"..."aged in whiskey barrels" "fermented with wild honey"..."from our neighbor Bernard's Apiaries." 9% ABV.

BOTTLE: Brown glass with a green pry-off crown cap. 2020 vintage. 650ml format. $10.69 USD plus tax at a beer store in New Orleans, LA.

Served chilled into a snifter.

APPEARANCE: Body is a somewhat dull dark orange-amber. in the realm of what I'd want a honey ale to look like, but it lacks vibrance and brightness. No yeast/lees are visible within.

Head is off-white, ~2cm in height, and lasts only a minute or two, leaving modest lacing on the sides of the snifter as it quickly dies.

Not a great looking honey ale/Biere De Miel, but not a bad looking one either. Appears well carbonated.

AROMA: Honey is definitely present, and seems quite aromatic and genuine. Neutral Belgian malts give it some sweetness and complexity whilst hiding its high ABV. I don't detect overt whiskey at least in the sense of booze, spice, heat, or peat, but I do get some nice white oak that plays well with the honey sweetness and nectary/floral hop aromatics.

TASTE: The oak plays well with the honey, and the honey is certainly the star of the show in this committed-to-sweetness love it or hate it honigbier. I can't speak much to the character of the honey; I mean I wouldn't know it was wild fancy honey in a blind taste test as opposed to the honey lining your grocer's shelf (but isn't all honey wild?) but suffice it to say the honey is expressive and present, which is key in a Biere De Miel.

Belgian ambree malts play neatly into the honeyed sweetness at the core of the brew. I do get some faint floral hop character - European I'd venture to guess, but what this needs is more of an herbal approach.

The whiskey isn't overt, but its oak is, bringing ample barrel sugars and rich white oak undertones to the table to lend this beer cohesion. No whiskey heat, no peat, no spice, no vanillin/vanilla, but the oak is all it needs (and indeed, one must wonder if this wouldn't be better simply aged in virgin oak instead of used whiskey barrels).

I do find it too sweet the further I get into the bottle. What was tolerable with effort up front quickly becomes a chore.

TEXTURE: Sticky, rich, smooth, wet. Full-bodied and heavy on the palate. Borders on syrupy thick.

OVERALL: It's a tolerable honey ale but its weak attempt to incorporate whiskey barrels departs from its already troublesome vague European emphasis.

This needs virgin oak aging, more and/or better varieties of honey (hell, why not try royal jelly while we're at it), more herbal European hops, and a lower ABV.

As-is, it's a saccharine chore to drink that nevertheless has some enjoyable honey character and decent oak wood flavours.

C- (2.64) / BELOW AVERAGE
Mar 15, 2020
 
Rated: 3.84 by JoshuaShort13 from Texas

Apr 08, 2019
 
Rated: 3.9 by kjkinsey from Texas

Apr 02, 2019
Photo of StonedTrippin
Reviewed by StonedTrippin from Colorado

3.96/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
there appear to be several versions of this and all with varying alcohol contents, but i believe the original is whiskey barrel aged, and that the wine barrel edition and others are special editions. we definitely had the whiskey one, different label than is pictured here though, but im not sure if there is one without barrels at all, or if this is the right listing for the whiskey barrel aged one. in any event, its nice beer, we dont see enough braggot around, and this is a nice example of the style. it has a deep caramel color and a short tan head, an aroma of intense floral honey and all the sugar that goes with that, but also a long cooked almost barleywine malt base, and the interesting part, the whiskey barrels, which have robust corny sweetness, lightly charred oak, and lots of vanilla to them, its quite an appealing aroma, albeit boozy and sweet as the come. the flavor is great, surprisingly though i get the malt before the honey, and it very much has a barleywine quality to it, rich and sweet and bready, with the honey right there behind it, orange blossom and light citrus to it, field flowers, raw and waxy. the barrels are all at the end, but a nice way for it to finish, the mellowness of the oak and the whiskey, and that classic vanilla note is brilliant with the honey. quite alcoholic, especially as it warms, but the flavors come together really well and i think this is a cool take on this style. im not sure the wine barrel would be as good with these flavors, but i would be really curious to try that edition...
Mar 21, 2019
 
Rated: 3.98 by RayCannata from Louisiana

Jun 10, 2018
 
Rated: 4 by Beerbuddha from Florida

Jan 14, 2018
 
Rated: 4 by animal69 from Louisiana

Aug 14, 2017
 
Rated: 3.96 by BowmanR from Louisiana

Feb 01, 2017
 
Rated: 4.6 by Tigerbrau from Louisiana

Oct 29, 2016
 
Rated: 4.13 by Shafaegalo from Texas

Oct 22, 2016
 
Rated: 3.79 by Taphouse_Traveler from Florida

Jun 11, 2016
 
Rated: 3.89 by Jamie_Newman from Louisiana

Apr 17, 2016
Photo of Myotus
Reviewed by Myotus from Texas

4.23/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
Poured at 50°F from a 22oz bottle (2015 vintage) into a snifter. Consumed on 31Mar16.
LOOK: A fingers worth of off-white foam is formed after pouring. The short-lived head quickly recedes to a line within 25 seconds. Burnt orange in color with a high amount of cloudiness. There is a moderate amount of small, rising bubbles. Lacing is moderate in quantity and thick.
SMELL: Very strong aromas of sweet honey entangle with mild figs, plums, oak, and vanilla aromas along with subtle whiskey aromas and hints of sour green apple.
TASTE: Strong flavors of honey and mild oak and vanilla flavors first carress the taste buds leaving a delicious first impression of a barrel aged honey beer. Mild whiskey, fig, and plum flavors immediately trail as both vanilla and oak flavors grow slightly stronger. Hints of sour green apple finish off the taste profile as all previous flavors maintain.
FEEL: Full-bodied and moderately carbonated. Goes does somewhat smooth while also clinging to the back of the throat like syrup. Finishes with a mild, but pleasant dryness. A mild alcoholic warmth can be felt as it goes down the throat.
NOTE: A honey bomb of a Braggot. I can't emphasise enough how much I love the taste of honey. Some Braggots are mild with their honey, but not this one. Although mild, I still thought the whiskey could have been toned down a bit, but this was still delectable.
Apr 01, 2016
Photo of BigGold
Reviewed by BigGold from Mississippi

3.71/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
First had this barrel-aged Honey Ale poured from 22-oz. bomber into red solo cup and then into snifter. Was dubious about the style, but "Wild Honey" is perhaps the finest example of what Bayou Teche does best: recreate rare French/Belgian styles.
Mar 13, 2016
 
Rated: 4 by Karibourgeois from Texas

Feb 11, 2016
 
Rated: 3.5 by Lare453 from Florida

Jan 11, 2016
Photo of russpowell
Reviewed by russpowell from Arkansas

4.01/5  rDev +1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Opens with a bit of a gush plus amber color and cream colored head. Pretty good head retention and lacing

S Figs and barrel

T. Follows the nose, honey and Bourbon notes up front. Dryness, figs, pears, honey sweetness as this warms. Finishes dry, sweet, with some nice barrel notes plus a little raisin

MF. Fairly thick with slight carbonation

Drinks a little slow but packed with flavor. Nice take on the style
Jan 08, 2016
Miel Sauvage from Bayou Teche Brewery
Beer rating: 89 out of 100 with 71 ratings