Fil Du Temps
Microbrasserie Charlevoix

 

 

Bottle: Poured a hazy dirty beige color ale with a large foamy head with great retention and some lacing. Aroma of dry ester with solid rustic malt notes. Taste is also dominated by solid rustic malt notes with some light floral notes with a dry aftertaste. Light spicy buckwheat notes can also be detected. Body is quite full with great carbonation and no apparent alcohol. Solid rendition of the style and something that should be made available in smaller bottle size.

 

1L fliptop poured into a tulip.

Got this as a gift and I'm happy I didn't have to pay 18$ plus tax for this.

Beer is a clear straw yellow. It smells like your typical saison, nothing special going on there.

This beer tastes just like it smells, which is ordinary. Don't get me wrong, this is a regular tasting saison but the price tag on this really ruins it. The positive I found in this glass was that it drinks really well for a 7.5% alc beer.

So in the end, try this beer if you want to, definitely not a drainpour but please do yourself a favor and buy something tastier and cheaper.

Drank in a over-sized red wine glass.

A: Cloudy straw yellow colour with a nice, thick white head that pours at least 2 fingers tall even if being careful, with lots of micro bubbles exploding up through the head. Retention is long lasting, staying on top nearly till the end, and leaving plenty of lacing on the sides of the glass as it goes down.

S: Aroma is quite light, some smell of grains, Belgium yeast and a bit of a sudsy fruit peel.

T: On the front is classic Belgium grain/yeast flavours with some citrus zest and grassy notes. The addition of buckwheat adds a bit of earthiness/herbal to the typical grain flavours as it leads into slightly fruit tastes and at the end a dry bitterness.

M: Extremely smooth and well balanced with medium carbonation. At first after pouring this is a slight sparkle on your tongue but as the beer warms it really smooths out. There is a nice amount of alcohol and bitterness but neither are overbearing and there is only a very light aftertaste of hops/wheat.

O: At first I was a bit underwhelmed. Perhaps it was the sticker price, mediocre reviews on that 'other' beer site, or ?. But after going through this one more and more (it is a 1L bottle after all), I've started to come around to it more, and perhaps also as it warms up slightly and has had some time to breath in the glass the flavours are becoming more complex on my palate. I think that this is a beer pretty true to a Belgium Saison style, it has enough yeast/wheat/zest/earthiness to qualify, and there is a few interesting flavours that are mingling around within it (perhaps from the buckwheat?). Not a lot of reviewers on here but I wouldn't say that should steer you clear if you have a chance to try it out. Most people on RB seemed to of had it on tap at one of the festivals and from my weak french translation of Charlevoix's facebook message they are only producing this in a limited quantity, with proceeds going towards charity. I wouldn't say it is the most amazing Saison I've ever had, but they are difficult beers to rate due to their subtle complexity. Before I finish the 1L and this review becomes biased, I will say it is up there for the style and towards the end I'm really enjoying what is a very well made beer, as you'd expect from this brewer. Not sure I'd buy it again because of the price, but I'll just consider it a tasty charitable donation for the year and highly recommend trying it.

Huge 1L bottles. Only available at the brewery and brewed only once. Thanks to my friend Pierre-Olivier for this bottle he grabbed for me while in his hometown.

A: Hazy pale yellow color with a pure white head (very voluminous with lots of retention). Lacing is good.

S: Right from there, I knew this would be the only true Saison made in Quebec and one of the best I ever had. There were hay, horseblanket (some stuff you rarely see from here). But, the main players were the spices (pepper, cloves) as well as the tartness (orange zest, green apple tart).

T: Almost identical to the smell. The barnyard is still there and strong, spices and tartness are again there to satisfy even the most hard to please palate. Amazing.

M: Very very light and fluffy, not sticky at all, like it should. Medium to heavy but smooth carbonation.

O: This was an amazing beer that I really hope they do again. One of the best beer in Quebec that is for sure. I really suspect though this is the same base as the Dominus Vobiscum Brut but with regular saison yeast instead of the champagne yeast.