Highway to Helles
BFM (Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes) in Saignelégier, Jura, Switzerland 🇨🇭
IPA Regular|
Score
6.63
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Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
04.05.2016, trying this beer or with Fred or in the Jura at Bonfol, don't really remember, the thing that it is sure is that it was a good ipa
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Keg at the hanging bat. Pours golden, nose is lemon, grass, something vegetive, taste is juicy citrus, sweet, toffee.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
"A nightmare for lager drinkers", the label on this one reads (roughly translated) so the name probably deliberately puts the consumer on the wrong track - I too thought I was going to receive a Münchener Helles when I bought this, but coming from this rather quirky brewery, I was expecting some twist to it. The twist seems to be the use of smoked hops - so in terms of style, this is everything but a typical Rauchbier, that much is clear. Dense and very foamy, egg-white, thickly lacing head, extremely stable (still completely closed after fifteen minutes or so), crowning a hazy peach blonde beer with warm orangey tinge, becoming quite ’muddy’ and ochre-ish in the very end. Aroma of smoked peaches, smoked hay, bread crust, curcuma, starfruit, sweet curry somewhere, orange peel, Cape gooseberry, paraffin, fainter hints of sweet onion (must be the Simcoe playing in the background), gin, barbecue spices, camphor, rainwater, lapsang souchong, cooked potato. Fruity, bit estery onset, peach and plum hints with an impression of unripe banana, immediately very soapy mouthfeel (becoming a tad ’waxy’ further down the road), slick and medium carbonated. Cereally, rounded malt body with a thin caramelly edge, leading to a herbal, bit unusually aromatic finish of smoked hay or dito tea, whilst establishing a resinous, dried wormwood-like, long, pleasant and spicy bitterness in the back of the mouth. A pale ale with a twist - so not a Helles at all - and an original twist I must admit, I have not encountered ’smoked hops’ very often, to say the least; reminds me vaguely of a smoked tea beer I had from the same brewery, apparently a smokey herbal character is part of BFM’s identity at least in a number of their beers. Nice, quenching, interesting and in all quite characterful beer, this one, I like it, and it confirms BFM’s position as the foremost Swiss craft brewery - in fact, I have not even encountered a single other one from this country so far...
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
hazy orange colour, huge, dense off-white head; aroma of bread, lemon, slight grapefruit, maybe peach notes, as well as moderate smoked notes; taste of overripe peach, citruses, bread and smoked notes; good beer; although the smoked notes are not as intensive as it is expected, it is in fact an advantage, since it allows to feel the fruity-lemony lines of the beer.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Shared from bottle at Maakun’s. hazy golden with white head. Sweet malts, something sour, barley, fruity, banana, citrus, wood, rotting wood, and smoked hops apparently, interesting aroma’s! Moderate sweet and light sour and bitter. Medium body, average carbonation, bit milky and malty feel. This is nice stuff.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Bottle shared at home. Gusher! Hazy golden with fizzy white head that settles into a white layer. Hay, straw, horse poop, some smoke, fruity hops, light minerals and grass. Light sweet and bitter. Medium bodied with fizzy carbonation. Unusual but nice, I like this kind of smokiness without the meat.
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 6.5 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7
Hazy pale amber colour, tall frothy white to off-white head, light lacing. Aroma malty, light lemon, light smoke, bit basement, cheese. Taste light to medium sweet and bitter, bit brett, malty, grain, lemony. Dry bittersweet finish, herbal notes, medium body, watery txture, soft carbonation, strange brew quite confusing but nice.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
On tap at the International Beer Bar. Aroma is all grassy hops. Flavour is big citrus, pine and grass. A little apple in there too. Really balanced finish. Lovely and hides its strength well.