The newest beer produced by this tiny microbrewery in Saint Cyprien, a medieval village in the French Dordogne region; allegedly inspired by Vikings, which would either suggest the use of 'northern' herbs or the use of an ancient Scandinavian farmhouse (kveik) yeast strain - but neither of these two seems applicable here. From a 75 cl bottle with crown cap donated by Hinke, cheers! Very thick and frothy, rocky, egg-white, lavishly lacing head on a cloudy peach blonde robe with deep beige tinge, turning all murky and more brownish-grey even in the end - clearly not filtered indeed. Aroma of orange pith, chamomile, soggy biscuit, young mugwort, grapefruit zest, bitter honey, clove, old bread crust, wormwood, raw turnip, drying grass, moist white pepper, tonic water. Fruity, estery onset, peach, pear and vague tamarillo, but only restrainedly sweetish; very fine-bubbled and therefore softish carbonation, fluffy mouthfeel. Full bready, lightly biscuity- and croissant-ish maltiness, quickly bittered by a very pronounced, 'raw', floral, wormwoody hoppiness stretching deep into the throat, with bitter herb-, white pepper- and citrus peel-like flavours mingling with very strongly bready yeastiness, in itself producing a whiff of clove-like phenolic spiciness. Ends quite earthy, a bit dusty even, but also very bread-juicy, spicy and hop bitter - almost as, or rather: exactly like, some or other Walloon blonde, with which it shares average strength as well... The connection with Vikings was even more obscure to me after tasting this, but this is no clean Anglo-Saxon pale ale either: given that the label only mentions 'pale ale' and that the brewer himself is an Irishman, I was expecting one here, but like some of his other creations, this is far more 'Belgian' in style than anything else. I personally can appreciate a super-earthy and bready Walloon style blonde from time to time though, so I am certainly not complaining...

17/VIII/24 - 75cl bottle @ GBV No-Festival-Bottle-Share, BB: V/2026, S.05.’24 (2024-768) Thanks to Cies for sharing the bottle!

Clear light brown to amber beer, small creamy beige head, stable, a bit adhesive. Aroma: very floral, soft roast, grains, soapy impression, more floral notes. MF: lively carbon, medium to light body. Taste: soapy, soft roast, pretty bitter, a bit watery, dry, ok. Aftertaste: more floral notes, soapy, gentle roast, meh, ok but not great.

The newest Croix du Rat beer to date, a session pale ale suited for the hot southern French summer coming up; apparently the second batch, differing from the first one in containing different hop varieties (first batch was a single hop beer). Thanks to Craftmember for sharing. Brief gusher, but this was probably more due to temperature contrast than anything else; snow white, irregularly edged, moussy, coarse, medium sized head on an initially clear, ‘metallic’ orangey-tinged old-golden beer, turning misty and somewhat apricot-tinged with sediment. Aroma of field flowers, unripe peach, dry hay, pear peel, minerals, crackers, mugwort, moist white pepper, touch of orange pith, bread crust. Fruity onset, lightly sweet with accents of light apricot, apple and a dash of green Conference pear, moderately carbonated with refreshing minerality (much welcomed in this kind of low ABV beer), cracker- and bread crust-like, bit cereally but ‘pure’ pale maltiness, supple and elegantly hopped by a flowery, hayish, lightly citric hoppiness, bringing lovely ‘summer meadow’ aromas of lemonbalm, sweetclover, meadow oat grass and eventually even wormwood; the bitterness lingers, becomes powerful enough to add a quenching dryness and to lend body to the finish, but never becomes too dominant. Utterly well-balanced, feeling very ‘genuine’ and down to earth without too much sleekness; a kind of ‘Euro-hopped’ or Belgian style ISA if you will (without actually being an IPA), very well measured, a tad yeasty and in all respects very solid. One to drink by the gallon on a bright and warm summer afternoon.

Small but rather stable off-white head over orange-ochre beer. Honey, but in a strange, dry, aged way, honingbollen . Dry, seems pretty attenuated with just the non-fermentables of the honey left. Felt, dried yellow fruit, dry sweets. Medium bodied, very slick, good carbonation. Better than decent.

Relatively new addition to this range, brewed by an Irishman in the Périgord region in France; 75 cl bottle shared by Craftmember. Egg-white, irregularly lacing, thick and creamy, stable head on a hazy, ruddy-bronze beer with deep caramelly, almost brown core. Aroma of wet toast, caramel, dry tree leaf, rye bread, dried cranberries, rosehip, apple peel, dried field flowers and a very slight whiff of DMS, which fortunately fades quickly. Fruity and crisp onset, lots of lively and minerally carbonation playing through impressions of dried red fruit, apple peel and some fig; supple, rounded, full body, brown-bready core with slick caramelly edges, toasty-bitterish towards the end in a gentle way, becoming ever more dry. A light herbal hop bitterness further aids the malt bitterness but the malts, in all their juiciness and breadiness, even fruitiness in this case, get the last word here. Very balanced, dry and quenching, malt-forward beer, very well done - this may in fact even be the best Irish red I had so far, taking into account that this style is not a very common one, neither industrially, nor in craft beer terms.

Thx! 330 ml. bottle sampled @ GBF 2018. Deep hazy orange, creamy white head. Nose is dull stale bread, sugar, fruity, leaves,… Too fizzy thin with poor bread, wheat, stale bread, sugar, soap, esters, far from impressive.

Imported from my RateBeer account as La Croix du Rat à la Châtaigne (by Croix du Rat):
Aroma: 7/10, Appearance: 3/5, Taste: 6/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 12/20, MyTotalScore: 3.1/5

18/VIII/18 - 33cl bottle @ Gents Bierfestival - BB: VI/2020, bottled: VII/18 (2018-1042) Thanks to Vincent for sharing the bottle!

Pretty cloudy orange beer, irregular yellowish head, bit adhesive. Aroma: caramel, bit sweet, some vanilla, dried fruits. MF: lively carbon, medium body. Taste: soft bitterness, bit sweet, caramel, banana, little sourish. Aftertaste: soft bitterness, bit malty, yeasty touch. Actually one of the better chestnut beers I've had, probably because there's not too much in it, I guess. ;-)

Imported from my RateBeer account as La Croix du Rat Blanche Foncée (by Croix du Rat):
Aroma: 6/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 5/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 10/20, MyTotalScore: 2.8/5

18/VIII/18 - 33cl bottle @ Gents Bierfestival - BB: VI/2020, bottled: VII/18 (2018-1041) Thanks to Vincent for sharing the bottle!

Clear to little cloudy beige blond beer, small creamy off-white head, little stable. Aroma: very yeasty, alcohol, banana, floral notes, perfume, weird... MF: soft carbon, medium body. Taste: bit sweetish start, very malty, banana, yeast. Aftertaste: slightly bitter, yeast, banana, bit oxidized, meh.

Pours unclear darker amber, but not nearly dark enough for a Dunkelweisse. Small white head. Smell is bit caramelly, mild wheat. Not as characteristic by the yeast as it should be. Taste is full, tad sweet, bit plastic, but not troublesome. Some caramel, bit wheat, tad to sweet.

Bottle straight from the brewery, thanks to Craftmember. Medium thick, moussy, pale greyish white head retaining fairly well, colour is a pure, deep, warm orangey amber, lightly hazy with deposit. Aroma of freshly baked brown bread, dried orange peel and even a touch of marmelade, deep-fried potatoes, cake, chestnuts, dried apricot, straw, earth, artisanal honey, hints of fragrant field flowers, oude ’jenever’ but no sign of the DMS I encountered in most of his other beers. Dried fruits in the onset, with a restrained sweetness of apricot and mandarin, well balanced with a basic, background sourishness; carbo is medium. Bready and lightly nutty malt body, soft and supple, sweetish with a gentle bittersweet toasted edge to it somewhere at the back; breadiness increases towards the finish, which combines earthy yeastiness with an equally earthy, leafy, mildly spicy hop bitterness. Last impression is of a juicy, bready, pleasant maltiness along with a dash of ’jenever’-like alcohol which should have been better hidden for a 6% ABV beer, but does not really disturb otherwise. This is somewhat of a pleasant surprise actually: there is a refined honeyish sweetness in the nose and in the mouth, it behaves gentle and quite well-balanced. Nothing spectacular in any way, just a very decent quencher, but to me, this is a lot closer to a refermented Belgian ambrée than to an EPA, which is apparently the style category stated above...