Calèna
La Brasserie Artisanale de Nice
- From:
- La Brasserie Artisanale de Nice
- France
- Style:
- Sweet / Milk Stout
- ABV:
- 5.5%
- Score:
- +9 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 3.2 | pDev: 0%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 1
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Apr 21, 2016
- Added:
- Apr 21, 2016
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 0
NO SCORE
-
-
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by Jugs_McGhee from Texas
3.2/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3
3.2/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3
BOTTLE: 33cl format. Brown glass. Silver foil-ed over pry-off crown cap. Blue label design. "LOT 121116."
"Cacao xmas milky stout." Brewed with lactose sugar, clementine zest, allspice, cinnamon, and ginger.
5.50% ABV.
Served cold into a dimpled mug and allowed to come to temperature over the course of the review.
HEAD: Very pale khaki colour. Nice even smooth consistency. Decent complexion. Retention is good - ~8 minutes. Width is ~12cm, occupying ~60% of the mug. Leaves no lacing as it recedes.
BODY: Dark brown-black. Opaque, save for a bit of translucence at the bottom of the glass. No yeast/lees/sediment is visible within, though its opacity would obscure any anyway.
Looks decent for a milk stout. Lacks any unique or special characteristics.
AROMA: Bitter orange peel, expressive ginger spice, ginger snaps, rich winter warmer-redolent maltiness and breadiness, amber malts, dark malt sweetness, a blip of lactose sugar (though it's quite restrained; I think very little lactose sugar was used here), and saccharomyces ale yeast intangibles. Attenuation is a bit chaotic; it's not as sweet as you'd expect of a milk stout, but it's not cleanly finished either.
Aromatic intensity is average. Suggests an interesting brew with plenty of flavour, yet one that hybridizes a milk stout (schwarz ale?) with a winter warmer. The spices and orange peel are the more captivating notes here, with the usual malty sweetness of a milk stout taking a backseat.
Hop profile is minimal, but I suppose there's some herbal character in there.
TASTE & TEXTURE: The spice profile and bitter orange peel work extremely well here, balanced by an undertone of clean lactose sugar sweetness. Ginger jumps out and grabs the palate, enjoying an uncommon expressiveness and depth of flavour. Allspice recedes into the background, but maintains a faint presence there. As with the aroma, I struggle to find any cinnamon.
In any case, its embrace of its spices coupled with its malty sweetness bring it into more of a winter warmer profile than a milk stout build; the lactose sugar just isn't forward enough for this to really qualify as the latter. English ale yeast is indicated, with moderate attenuation and anything but a clean lager yeast profile.
It's a busy beer, but a balanced one. Its subtly dry and slightly coarse mouthfeel is consistent with a winter warmer. Medium-bodied, well-carbonated (if a bit too highly so), and somewhat soft on the palate. Not oily, gushed, hot, boozy, astringent, harsh, rough, or scratchy.
The mouthfeel complements the taste nicely, with the subtle dryness dragging out a bit more depth of flavour from the spices.
OVERALL: A delicately spiced winter warmer-cum-milk stout, Calèna is interesting fare from Nice's only brewery, but fails to impress as much as their tea dry hopped E.S.B. I'm glad I picked this up once, and I'd happily drink one again, but it won't dazzle the discerning drinker. Inspired work, and certainly above average.
C+ (3.20) / ABOVE AVERAGE
Apr 21, 2016"Cacao xmas milky stout." Brewed with lactose sugar, clementine zest, allspice, cinnamon, and ginger.
5.50% ABV.
Served cold into a dimpled mug and allowed to come to temperature over the course of the review.
HEAD: Very pale khaki colour. Nice even smooth consistency. Decent complexion. Retention is good - ~8 minutes. Width is ~12cm, occupying ~60% of the mug. Leaves no lacing as it recedes.
BODY: Dark brown-black. Opaque, save for a bit of translucence at the bottom of the glass. No yeast/lees/sediment is visible within, though its opacity would obscure any anyway.
Looks decent for a milk stout. Lacks any unique or special characteristics.
AROMA: Bitter orange peel, expressive ginger spice, ginger snaps, rich winter warmer-redolent maltiness and breadiness, amber malts, dark malt sweetness, a blip of lactose sugar (though it's quite restrained; I think very little lactose sugar was used here), and saccharomyces ale yeast intangibles. Attenuation is a bit chaotic; it's not as sweet as you'd expect of a milk stout, but it's not cleanly finished either.
Aromatic intensity is average. Suggests an interesting brew with plenty of flavour, yet one that hybridizes a milk stout (schwarz ale?) with a winter warmer. The spices and orange peel are the more captivating notes here, with the usual malty sweetness of a milk stout taking a backseat.
Hop profile is minimal, but I suppose there's some herbal character in there.
TASTE & TEXTURE: The spice profile and bitter orange peel work extremely well here, balanced by an undertone of clean lactose sugar sweetness. Ginger jumps out and grabs the palate, enjoying an uncommon expressiveness and depth of flavour. Allspice recedes into the background, but maintains a faint presence there. As with the aroma, I struggle to find any cinnamon.
In any case, its embrace of its spices coupled with its malty sweetness bring it into more of a winter warmer profile than a milk stout build; the lactose sugar just isn't forward enough for this to really qualify as the latter. English ale yeast is indicated, with moderate attenuation and anything but a clean lager yeast profile.
It's a busy beer, but a balanced one. Its subtly dry and slightly coarse mouthfeel is consistent with a winter warmer. Medium-bodied, well-carbonated (if a bit too highly so), and somewhat soft on the palate. Not oily, gushed, hot, boozy, astringent, harsh, rough, or scratchy.
The mouthfeel complements the taste nicely, with the subtle dryness dragging out a bit more depth of flavour from the spices.
OVERALL: A delicately spiced winter warmer-cum-milk stout, Calèna is interesting fare from Nice's only brewery, but fails to impress as much as their tea dry hopped E.S.B. I'm glad I picked this up once, and I'd happily drink one again, but it won't dazzle the discerning drinker. Inspired work, and certainly above average.
C+ (3.20) / ABOVE AVERAGE
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