McKenzie Bavay
McKenzie Brew House in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, United States 🇺🇸
Farmhouse - Bière de Garde Regular|
Score
6.91
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Clarkvv (16327) reviewed McKenzie Bavay from McKenzie Brew House 19 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
750mL, bottled Nov 2003, drunk on 9/14/06.
Fabulous bottle conditioning job leads to, even at almost 3 years of age, a dense, rocky, mountain of off-white head that is well-retained and provides sheets of lacing. High clarity from being well-settled out, with tiny bubbles still rising in the liquid. Deep orange-magenta with strong copper and auburn hues.
Almonds, pale sugars, rich butter toffee and a decidedly snappy, borderline tart, Belgian yeast are well-integrated in the nose. Sweet, richly extracted malts up front give way to earthy, crusty, more dry flavors and then finish on a lightly acidic, fruity Belgian yeastiness. White bread dough, angel food cake, lots of sweet almond paste-like notes. The aroma is very strong as well, with no alcohol noted. Absent are any stale/oxidized notes.
Creamy sweet malts in the flavor showcase rich, sun-baked honeycakes, minor fruit esters and a touch of vanilla and toffee. Almond notes on the finish grow slightly dry and almost biscuity, while the complex yeast notes evolve from lightly acidic, yellow/red fruits to a more robust dryness and more integrated soft fruitiness. Unfiltered texture is vastly sumptuous, while the frothy, engaging carbonation is done well enough to showcase this beautifully done malt, but keep it from growing cloying. A dry, lightly dusty/earthy note hangs on after the finish, providing more authenticity and dashing any possibility of this being an overly clean, American example. Thanks to Bucknaked for the bottle!
2006 draught at Kennett on 10/7/06.
Favorite beer of the fest and deliciously drinkable. Really the best of both the saison and BdG worlds. Not too heavy on the malt, yet what is there has both honey, biscuits, light graininess and just a touch of toffee. Hops are perfumey, moderately done and give off grass, lilacs, lavendar and I like Ernest’s suggestion of honeysuckles. Very well-attenuated, though not bone dry by any means, without any overyeasting (no meatiness, overt doughiness) and no crude phenols/esters. Strong mouthfeel boasts a moderately tight carbonation, especially given the draught nature. Not too much acidity and a nice lack of nuttiness relative to the style, as a change of pace (no almondskins). Moderate fruity esters are reserved, but aromatic. Very clean for a Belgian, and definitely notable as being American-made, but not in a bad way, in my opinion. I guess you just either like McKenzie’s Belgian approach or you don’t. Raising the score a little.
Sloefmans (15338) reviewed McKenzie Bavay from McKenzie Brew House 19 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Orangey-cloudy beer, heavy pearling to good rosy-ochre head, fast gone. Fruity, and very grainy nose, fresh malt (for a 2 year old beer!). Pure rosewater taste, filtering out more grain, this time with indeed a little oxidation. Extremely perfumey, but lacking depth somehow, unidimensional. Sweet-grainy aftertaste, not really new and not fullbodied, without being watery. Bit thanks to Eyedrinkale and mkobes for sharing this bottle. It’s certainly not them that can help it, but (REALLY, "Dude", I’m not doing this on purpose), I’ll probably be never a McKenzie’s fan...