Dominus Vobiscum Blonde
Microbrasserie Charlevoix

 

 

 

 

 

500ml bottle poured into a 22oz snifter.

A - Massive head of thick, white, bubbly foam. This head is just absurd, and is making this a long, slow pour getting all the beer out of the bottle. The beer is a hazy, pale golden-yellow hue, with tons of cloudiness. Monster retention and lacing.

S - Lots of spices and floral notes. Citrusy zest, light floral hops and a distinct sour funkiness. Some fruity aromas appear as well; mainly green apples and citrus. Fairly bready as well, and of course a generous amount of yeast.

T - Tons of different flavors everywhere here. A barrage of different fruits all over the place. Green apple, pear, banana, and orange are all easily picked out. Clean barley and wheat with some yeasty goodness backing the bready flavors as well. Finishes with a light kick of spice and a strong sweetness that I can only describe as cotton candy. All together it's incredibly easy to drink and boasts a fantastic flavor profile.

M - Clean and light, with lively carbonation and a light body. Spice in the finish is done well and works well overall.

D - My second Dominus Vobiscum brew, and a really good one at that. While the flavors are kept relatively mild, they taste excellent and are really enjoyable. All around fantastic beer from Microbrasserie Charlevoix.

hazy dark amber liquid . Some sediment visible as well with this one and tons of carbonation running up through it as you would have expected,

The aroma was actually was very nice. The first notes to hit me were the sour funky yeast that just gave it that extra little pop that we all love so well. Lots of spices evident here as well with a ton of allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg making up the bulk of this one. I was quite impressed with the depth of the aroma here. The flavor followed suit nicely, though some of the tartness fell off a bit. The first note to come through was sour fruit notes, maybe cherry, touched with a hint of pepper. A very interesting combination. Some nice sweet, malt notes lying under this, with touches of caramel and cinnamon swirling about.

Last of what has been a phenomenal mixed four pack, along with the Dubbel, Blanche and Tripel. Hopefully Charlevoix won't falter in the home stretch! (I sincerely doubt they will...)

Poured into a tall tulip glass. Simply put, this brew looks magnificient. A lovely peach-golden hue, slightly opaque, with lovely streaks of carbonation rising to the surface to compliment the billowing meringue head. Remarkable retention and lacing - several minutes after the first pour, it still has a 3/4 inch head.

The nose is yeast, soft peach and apricot, a slight boozy character, mild floral hops. Like their other brews, pleasant, but mild.

Sweet, but this is challenged with a nice dry finish. Notes of peach, yeast, apple, wine, maybe a bit of cinnamon and other spices as well. A slight mineral tang to the finish. Tastes like a Belgian pale should, but despite catching a few notes here and there, this beer is a bit simplistic for the style. Still damned tasty, though!

Zippy, potent carbonation. A few reviewers have likened this to champagne - I certainly got that impression early on, but as the brew sat for a few minutes things settled down. Thicker bodied, coats the tongue nicely. Creamy thanks to the (still present) head.

A dandy little Belgian pale, not as flavorful and well-crafted as the Tripel (which was phenomenal), but still a terrific take on the style. Would happily drink more of this.

This beer is a part of my Memories of Montreal - not a President`s Choice entrée in my case...

This beer pours a hazy, very pale golden yellow colour, with a tonne (we`re Euro-friendly up here, y`all) of seriously fast rising thin foamy white head, which settles slowly, leaving some thick, chunky lace around the glass, in addition to some floating icebergs...

It smells of crisp wheat grain, mild tart citrus, spicy coriander, and earthy yeast. The taste is sweet barley and wheat, a bit of sugar, and a fair bit of fruit - banana, pear, and orange, predominantly, some fruity, earthy yeast, and some mild spicing - cloves and nutmeg, subtle at most. A slight warming pervades all. The carbonation is on the low side, the body medium weight, and smooth in a sugary sort of way. It finishes sweet, somewhat spicy, and yeasty.

A very approachable, drinkable ale - the big sweetness well offset by the yeast and mild booze. Tres bien fait.

Bottle from Brew Ha Ha in Gatineau. Bottled May 13.

A - Fizzy white two finger head that seems to dissipate at a reasonable rate. Tons of noticable carbonation. Nice golden/straw colour. Not cloudy but not translucent.

S - Lot's of spice when I first opened the bottle. Complimented by some zesty citrus notes

T - Lot's more of that spice and zest in the flavour. Zest comes first then you feel a nice spice flavour towards the end that lingers. There is some offputting sweetness there too. Not overly complex or flavourful but decent enough.

M - A little thin. Light bodied and a bit too carbonated for me.

D - Easy drinkability on this. Sweetness might get to you after a few and carbonation might lead to some unpleasant fullness.

This is by no means a bad beer, just nothing to write home about.

Pours a murky yellow with huge white head. As the head dissipates, there isn't much lacing or head retention. Smell of green grapes, apple and lots of bready yeast. Taste has very mild bitterness with lots of malt sweetness. Carbonation is a little bit prickly. Quite drinkable though.

A: pale yellow color, fully transluscent, insane amount of head, pure white and frothy with tons of lacing.

S: Grape and green apples come first. Some orangerine as well as some lemon are present. Spices such as cloves, cinnamon and pepper. Bread and biscuit malts. Brown sugar. Strong smell

T: Grape and green apples. Orangerines and lemon are still present. The spices are still there but much more hidden as well as the malty tastes. Still sweet with brown sugar. Light taste :(.

M: A bit watery. Medium low carbonation with medium low body.

D: very high. Super balanced.

500ml bottle poured into a Duvel tulip glass. Towering fluffy white head on a slightly hazy gold. Lots of foamy lacing. Sweet malt and yeasty bread smells. Taste is like the smell - rather mild but with some fruity notes added. Mouthfeel is light, well carbonated and refreshing. Drinkability is good. ABV is moderate for the style and that helps.

Pours a big bold hazy blond colour with a poofy white head.

The smell is fragrant spice, corriander and yeast. Nice.

Taste is similar but with a large dose of fruit including bananas and pears. A dry finish caps things off.

Mouthfeel is slightly prickly due to the carbonation. Drinkability is good. I would have had another.

500ml bottle poured into a chalice

Appearance - beer pours a pale, straw colour with ample white frothy head that is lingering

aroma - citrus, lime, yeast, bready biscuits, coriander, ginger, cloves

taste - slightly spicy, coriander, ginger, citrus aftertones, reminds me of some of the saisons I have sampled

mouthfeel - solid carbonation on this, citrus afterflavor makes this plesant

drinkability - smooth finishing beverage that i'm glad to have sampled, would drink this again

To me, this more closely resembles a saison than a BPA, but nevertheless, a solid offering.

What does Charlevoix put in their beer to get such a consistently explosive head? It's like they're cheating somehow, the head is too good. Do they add soap? While this beer will pour as much head as you'd like, mine settled down to a thick finger of off-white, foamy head. Wicked retention and lacing. The beer is opaque and a dull-straw colour. As with their Lupulus, you can easily create a whole new head by just topping up your glass. Belgian Pale Ales don't ever look any better than this.

The nose shows lots of yeast, grain, citrus, astringency, minerals, sweet malt, assorted fruits and light Belgian spices. There might even be a slight soapiness there...hmmm. There's some weirdness to the smell, I can't quite explain what it is. It smells good but something is a little off. Maybe the slightest bit of chlorine? If it didn't have that I'd give it 4.5.

It's quite flavourful but the extreme carbonation seems to be covering up some of the subtlety. Very Belgian in character, with yeast, grain, sweet malt (cotton candy), a general fruitiness, citrus (candied orange), and spices (coriander, nutmeg, pepper, a touch of cinnamon). I'd say there are more hops than you would find in your typical Belgian, presenting a bitter, dry finish. It definitely shows its 5.5% ABV but it's not necessarily a bad thing. It kind of blends in with the hops.

I don't know what to make of the carbonation, I've never had anything like it before. It's copiously carbonated (even moreso than a Unibroue) with seemingly large bubbles; feeling soft and lively in the mouth. Personally, I'd have to say I enjoy it but it's certainly odd and maybe others wouldn't be so into it. I guess the only thing I could compare it to is a champagne, but the bubbles feel larger in your mouth. Decent medium body.

This is super drinkable stuff and would be easily sessionable, especially outside on a hot sunny day. Tasty and very refreshing.

500ml bottle part of my birthday present from girlfriend.

A- Lots of clumpy white head on this one. The head really looks delicious and stays until the last sip. Clear golden until you add the sediment. Plenty of lacing.

S- Apple juice. Grain and hops remind me a bit of a pilsner. Alcohol, especially as it warms up. Very powerful smell. Once it warmed up I got cloves. Butterscotch.

T- This is good. But a little bland. Vanilla. A bit of a dairy profile to it. A taste I've found in Chimay Blue and a lot of other belgian's. I'm guessing it's from the yeast (If someone knows what I'm talking about lemme know). Metallic/hard water after-taste.

M- Very smooth. Carbonation is very mild and just right. Pretty astringent.

D- Very good. I would like a second one.

All in all I'm surprised that a beer so fragant doesn't offer more taste. It's still a good beer.
I'll wait before buying it again but I would recommend it.

500ml bottle poured into pint glass dec13 2009, thanks stagger/ceeder for this one via Calgary meet and greet secret Santa

A cloudy golden peach with a good amount of bubbles, a gently poor produces a massive bone white head, it took a couple tries to get it all in the glass. great retention and it slowly falls to island that looked like a little brain on top of a 1/4in film leaving a good amount of lace along the way

S sorta like a hefe with spice and banana and some mango and some yeast

T again a little fruity with yeast and a fair bit of spice and some mild hops

M a little too carbonated foams up in my mouth more then I would like

D no real problems with beer a easy drink if you ask me

haven't had a bad beer from these guys yet, in fact I've had nothing but good if not great beers from this brewer. I only hope they can keep the streak going till the end of time

Cloudy golden yellow with a white frothy head. Aroma is grains, yeast, fruit and floral. Taste is sweet spice with slight alcohol bite in the aftertaste. Overall a very good beer, another great creation by Charlevoix. I really enjoy this brewer. Hopefully one day I'll get to try the Lupulus.

Bottle from Marche Jovi- A deep and hazy golden with a frothy but short lived white cap. Simple nose is grainy, has yeast, modest spicy hops.Tastes sweet and grainy, with a yeasty funk. A bit of tangy fruit meets subtle floral spicing. Creamy mouthfeel and quite drinkable, but otherwise very mediocre.