F: big, bit tan, good retention. C: amber, hazy. A: malty, caramel, toast, bit cherries, bit mellow fruity. T: malty, vaguely fruity, bit warming alcohol, caramel, dry on the palate, toffee, medium to full body, medium carbonation, not bad, typical for the style, enjoyed, 33cl bottle from Carrefour supermarket in Rethel, France.

Thanks! Sampled draft @ Hoppy Loft. Totally clear amber, almost no head. Nose is massively sweet oily caramel, sugar, lots of sweetness, candy. Taste is very sweet concentrated candy sugar, like an extremely sweet APA minus the hops, toffee, old people candy,… Body is all candy & sugar. Not a bad beer but very simple & bafflingly sweet.

Backlog rating LCRBM/Bruxellensis 2006: Cloudy red amber, amber creamy golden head. Herbal, pine, spice. Nutty, light fruity base. Honeyish, spice, aromatic hop profile. Relatively light body. Bitter dry and light fruity finish.

Typical northern French bière de garde, the ’ambrée’ variant. Moussy, off-white, creamy head retaining well on the edge but fairly quickly breaking in the middle, leaving thin patches of beige foam over the surface; clear very pure and intense orangey amber colour with coppery hue, becoming hazy and deeper copper with sediment; lively strings of tiny bubbles here and there. Notably sweet aroma of strong ripe banana (even some bubblegum isoamylacetate), sweet red apples fried in butter with brown sugar, marmelade, honey, Sultana raisins, amaretto, lightly toasted bread, peach, white pepper, caramel, damp straw, raw red cabbage, stewed beetroot, cloves, dried basil, hint of tea. Expectedly sweet taste, lots of banana ester and residual candi sugar sweetness, hints of apricot, raisins and fig, light basic sourishness underneath, softish carbo, slick and lean mouthfeel. Caramelly and lightly nutty malt middle, sweet with a toasted bittering edge in the end, meeting with herbal, lightly spicy hop bitterishness and an earthy, phenolic yeastiness yielding clove- and other old dried kitchen spice-like aromas retronasally. The tail carries some of the hop bitterness down into the throat but juicy malt sweetness prevails even with a remnant of the initial, more sugary sweetness; the toasted, more bitter effect lingers as well. Not an unpleasant beer, in all: technically decent and perfectly meeting the expectations of an amber-coloured BDG in both looks and general flavour, i.e. very much the same as a Wallonian strong amber, but a tad more ’clean’. This will never be my favorite style and this one is a bit too sweet for me, but all things considered, this is certainly acceptable for what it intends to be.

BOTTLE 33 CL. Clear mahogany, beige creamy head. Fine baked fruit pie crust aroma, some harsher esters too. Taste: fruity, moderate caramel sweetness, fruity, drying and warming alcohol. Light bitter and somewhat salty finish. A good one.

Bottle, 0.75l, shared with Gregor. Clear amber brown color with thin soapy tan like head and average sparkling appearance. Aroma of mildly roasted malt, caramel, herbs, yeast and mild medicinal character. Taste starts with medium sweet caramel and mild toasted note, following is slightly fruity and grassy, mouthfeel is rather dry, while finish is medium bitter. Medium body, slick texture and average carbonation in palate. Palatable, but a bit too dry for my liking...

bottke bbe7/17 bel ambrato filo velata purtroppo quasi piatta fili ossidata maltato caramello amaro medio lieve riscaldante

33cl bottle at home on 8th April 2016; poured into a Hoegaarden Grand Cru badged stemmed tulip glass. What a lovely colour, bright Amber with beige top. Malty and alcoholic in nature, semi-sweet yet there is a bitter bite in the flavour also, the nose is all malt, but taste wise it is not one dimensional, like a bitter tasting toffee really with some fruit esters thrown in.

Clear medium amber colour, small frothy off-white head, diminishing slowly, good lacing. Aroma is malty, caramel, candy sugar, fruity (apple, red currant, strawberrie), bit basement. Taste is a combination of medium sweet and light bitter, also light sour notes, fruity, toffee, long duration. Medium body, oily texture, soft carbonation, aftertaste is sweetbitter, some tart, spicy notes, nice but not completely satisfying.