Cognac Barrel
Brasserie La Débauche

 

 

33 cl bottle, poured at 50° into a Belgian snifter, in Toulouse, France.
Gorgeous yellowy kitchen sponge foam works up over deep brown brew. Minimal lacing.
Nose is tinny, nondescript. There is a spice note that pops up a few minutes in. Bits of fruitcake.,.
Taste is almost burnt toffee, oak barrel, tad of char, cheap cognac, if I give the benefit of the doubt. I do like the extended warmth, bigger than its 9.5% ABV. Finishes with a good sweet-bitter contrast.
Mouth is full, carbonation is low to mid.
Overall, wanted this to be killer, it tries to reach for good, I say it’s alright.,. one-off to say I got a pull.

This is labelled as illustrated above, La Debauche Cognac Barrel and then in the top margin (if you squint at the pic) you might also notice it says 'XVI'. I do not know what the latter refers to but mention it as I had thought that 'XVI' was the beers name.
L- A deep chestnut brown, with hints of ruby when held in front of a halogen bulb. Poured with a 5mm ultra fine-bubble mid tan head that looks like it'll stick around. Tip: This leaves a layer of heavy sediment in the bottom of the bottle, handle+pour according to how much of that you want in your beer! [ps@+10mins, holds very well, esp for a 9.5%, forms lacing on the way down].
S- Much milder than anticipated - perhaps I've congestion? I just get a very light Christmas cake note plus mild winey liquor.
T- Winey right on the front, then it builds into liquor on the palate. No need to guess what kind. The cognac is pungent and I ponder to what extent it over-shadows what ought to be complexity and detail beneath it.
F- It's pungent alright. With a mega liquor note on top of a fat-rich but rather detail-light base.
O- It you rate big statements then this is one! I suppose it's interesting to try but only because [IMHO] it's an example in over-use of liquor-barrel ageing. That just dominates from start to finish, not a beer I'd choose to drink again.
#2051 - 330ml bottle BB: 08/10/22 (etched in glass at foot of bottle). £7.49 from Bacchanalia, Mill Road, Cambridge.

 

 

 

Had Cognac Barrel at Le Bar Galaxy, in the Sheraton in Terminal 2E, Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris, poured from 33-cl. bottle into pilstulpe.

Pours very nicely, amber-red with a 1-finger light-tan head, which collapses to a ring, but pulls nice lacing down the glass. It has a nicely malty aroma as it warms, starts surprisingly sweet and then is all about the barrel and cognac bite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On tap at the Alehouse in Zurich. Pours a dark amber. Nose is spice, fig, and dark fruit. Taste is bitter upfront. Definitely a lot of spice. Caramel and dark fruit coming through. Mouthfeel is medium and a bit dry.

330ml bottle poured into tulip 21/06/17

A dark murky looking brown liquid, tan head has great retention leaving partial rings deep down the glass

S lots of bruised apple, caramel coated that is, smoked chocolate, hard to place fruit, cherries and plums maybe? not a whole lot of cognac but a little barrel hiding in the background

T leather and dried fruit added to the mix, some odd yeast profile hiding in the background but nothing "off"

M thick and bubbles give it some life, a little sticky and just a little warmth going down

O something different, odd malt profile and not a whole lot of barrel but decent stuff

I liked it but not enough to find out how it ages, smoke seems out of place and the barrel plays a small part.

A- The head on this one is most impressive....it has a life of its' own! The tan colored top is about 3 fingers thick, has excellent retention....eventually settling down to about one finger and it is cloud like in texture. Lacing is most excellent as well with puffy jets of foam clinging to the side of the glass impressively.....The coloration of this one is a semi transparent root beer float. Think of root beer just as the ice cream is melting into it! Very impressive!

S- My initial reaction was that this smelled like Cherry Coke right out of the bottle, but then pours into the glass and the cognac aromas come out. Very sweet smelling overall.....chocolate, dried black cherry, caramel toffee, rummy booze sweetness, milky chocolate fudge, and then the oak barrelled brandy booziness.....yes....the brandy. Yum!

T- This isn't grandpas cough syrup....Gusto Intenso! ok....now that that is out of the way, the flavors follow the aromas, but this is super cognac like....raisin mash, chewy malts (red, caramel and possible chocolate), milk chocolate, oaked vanilla brandy.....Brandy Bean! This is something!

M/O- The biggest failure of this beer is how overly carbonated it is! It took forever for the bubbles to settle down in the bottle and I needed to slow pour this for 10 minutes, plus it was hard to get a sip of the liquid in without a mouthful of foam. Other than this complaint, it is full bodied, with boozy attributes for sure.....I could see this one being great with vanilla ice cream or a dense Christmas cake...or both! Drinkability isn't great, as it's much too rich to enjoy an entire bottle to oneself....good thing I am sharing haha! A very decent beer and with some tweaking we have a world class ale out of France!!

 

 

This one definitely smells awesome. You get the malt and a hint of the cognac and barrel. It is Whisky-like, minus the 40% alcohol.
I detected a sweet sherry-like flavor, the slightest smokiness, and big flavor from the malt.
I don't understand why they call this an American Amber; it is closer to a barleywine I think.