Moonlighting with The Planets Series

You know what excites me more than Seth MacFarlane (of Family Guy fame) backing an authentic and refreshing remake of (all time legend) Carl Sagan's Cosmos?

Beers with planets on them.

The Planet Series by Bell's

Bell's brewing recently announced their newest speciality series: The Planets.

#Nerd-gasim!

Beginning in August (STARTING TODAY) and being released about every other month until July 2015, the series of seven beers are each inspired by a different piece of music from composer Gustav Holst.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jmk5frp6-3Q&feature=share&list=PLE6996668EC37137C

As my friends and followers know, I'm obsessed with the idea of getting craft beer on to the planets before the big companies take over  : Beer on Mars. And encourage any and everyone to sign up for crowd funded planetary explorations.

If all The Planets Series aren't your thing

then consider taking a Train to Mars! Leaving exclusively from Paris stations, Get Radical's "Saison du Mars" is hopped with Mosaic, Aramis, Simcoe & fermented with the world famous Thiriez house yeast.

Transported by train or by orchestra, nothing can beat a lawn chair in a low light polluted area, soaking up universal wonder like this home made time lapse of the milky way :

May the froth be with you

XOXO

Beer Tasting Review - Mosaic Black Bitter

Join me in the darkest of Parisian beer caves as I sip out a quick review of a popular local session ale.

Mosaic Black Bitter by Brasserie du Mont Saléve

This black bitter is based off the Strong Bitter style , often referred to Extra Special Bitter, ESB or English Pale Ale.

Balance is important and most examples range from balanced to moderately bitter. While many commercial examples can be described as "hoppy," do not confuse this style with American pale ale. Strong bitter has more fermentation and malt character than American pale ale and the hop character is nothing like the big, bold hop character you find in many American-type pale ales. Moderate is the key word here and the hop character should be somewhat restrained and balanced, never overshadowing the fermentation and malt character.

BJCP Guideline

While these styles are usually best done using English hops, like East Kent Goldings, Fuggles, Target, Northdown or Challenger, Mont Saléve pops in with what hopunion.com refers to as, "a great aroma variety," Mosaic, which adds a great pine and citrus note to the nose that keeps the fresh sessionability of this low abv beer a winner for a variety of occasions.

Unless you're like me and you just want to skip to the stouts.

XOXO

For more on ESB skim through this in depth profile from BYO.com

Also :

• If you haven't seen these beer label gifs, get with it!


• Want to know more about how to become a BJCP judge? Follow this blog


• Shoot TastingNitch texts international with the goTenna

Working with beer quacks @ Le Supercoin

Le Supercoin

in Paris's 18th district is not only a pretentious people free zone that houses a grand collection of local French beers but it's also my most recent beery place of employment.



Coin in French means quack.

Us super beer coin-coins have been gobbling up some of the newest beers from our French super team :

• Nouveaux Mondes - Brasserie du Mont Saleve (Rhones-Alpes) 8%  Nose of passion fruits and mango, the smells persists onto the taste with a nice round bitterness. It is all rather sweet and super balanced. Double IPA - 4€ 33cl


• La 11 - Collabortaion of 11 brewers from Ile de France for Paris Beer Week 5.5% A blonde beer that is super dry but very fruity, herbatous on the taste and delightfully bitter. (each of the 11 brewers added brought a different hop strain to add!) Hoppy pale ale - €4 33cl


• Orange mécanique - Brasserie Sainte Crucienne 7% A soft fruity and perfumed nose with light hints of floral honey, clove and caramel malts. The taste is agreeable with a fine texture. Agreeing with the smell, honey and caramel malts are present in a nicely balanced, simple beer. Amber ale - €4 33cl


• Rêve d'étoiles - Brasserie Bendorf (Alsace) 5.8% A dark super hoppy beer with a nofruity nose, rounded taste and a fnishe that is very hoppy.  Black IPA - €4 33cl / €9 75cl


• Triple Hot - Brasserie Thiriez (Nord-Pas-de-Calais) 5.5% Nice body .. Blonde with a nose of ginger, not sugary but close to a candy, with a little bitter on the f inish and a an after taste of spicey pepper. Hoppy blond - €4 33cl

Among the mass of craft beers are a mix of people. Local's drinking diablo menthe  (7up with mint syrup) or espressos, FIFA fanatics, friends after work, beery types who prefer long stem glass ware, occasional expats and Claudia.

[caption id="attachment_2858" align="alignnone" width="640"] Claudia and Me being professional coin-coins[/caption]

We get the coolest people and the craziest in at Supercoin. Some sit around taking photos of their beer and others order mojitos at midnight (more on my hatred of mojitos in French later). I've heard people conversing in nearly every major global language, but yet the feeling of being at a local pub persists.

What Supercoin has over other Parisian beer bars is a real sense of Cheers. Everyone here might not know your name (which is likely a good thing) but they do trust you to pay your tab without leaving a credit card and they aren't going to cut you off if you drink too much. Come - be drunk - be quacky - mind your own self and have an everyday pub experience with outstanding French artesanal beers.

Check out the website for menu and event updates, like the facebook cuz your cool or follow on twitter to keep in the know!

5pm-2am Tuesday to saturday (last call at 1:30am) - 5pm-midnight Sunday - Closed Monday



[mappress mapid="5"]

Tasting- Le Brewery's Odo and Old Cheese

Odo and Cheese

I came home and didn't have any bread to go with my cheese. I didn't have anything much at all in my frig but beer and some floppy carrots. Bare cupboards and beer bottles abounded but nothing to go with my cheese. I had picked up a bit of funky looking fromage from the Pigelle Bio c'bon and spaced the idea of what else to put it with. Surely not organic fair trade tea, bio-degradable sponges (we'll see how that works out) or kale.

I needed bread and beer is liquid bread.

Voilà-  à table!

Le Brewery

“Beers brewed with passion and the belief. Ale that is an art.”

Le brewery is a family run business, founded by Steve and Jane Skews in 2001 in Normandy, France. The country is best known it's ciders, cheeses and military defense zones, not so much for it's hand crafted beer. Le Brewery, however, has been a mission for the past eleven years to produce good beer in France. Located in the heart of cider country, their British style real ale is now being exported all over Europe.

Spreading their passion for beer that is crafted by hand and using only the finest, Le Brewery hosts an annual beer festival, runs two pubs and houses campers in their hops fields. If you are on your way south for a  ‘sojourne en Normandie,’ Le Brewery is located just 1.5 hours south of the ferry port of Caen.

Not just touristy, Le Brewery is also picky about their ingredients: Normandy water, imported English malt from Warminster Maltings, live yeast from an old English yeast strain and home grown hops. Their 10-barrel system and hand picked ingredients roll together to bring out Odo. Their toasted, dark and brooding 6.6% stout inspired by a real historical dude, who was portrayed on screen by  John Nettleton in the two-part BBC TV play Conquest (1966), part of the series in the TV drama Blood Royal: William the Conqueror (1990).

Quel nerds.

Le Fromage

Sticking historical and hand made- I picked up some bio Fourme d'Ambert. Legend has it that Fourme d'Ambert was alreading being made at the time of the Druids and Gauls. Odo himself likely munched on the mold while plotting to become pope. It is certainly one of the oldest cheese in France along with Roquefort but not the stinkiest. The mildest of the blue cheeses, Fourme d'Ambert has a creamy texture and delicate mushroom falvor.

Odo

A: Pours a brooding dark brown with a slim, thin head and reddish hues.

S: Chocolates, roasty malts and a hue hit of vanilla bean- rather basic.

T: Dark, rich chocolates, velvety dried red fruits and a toasted caramel finish. No vanilla in the taste, but the smell is present through out. A few sips in and there is slightly black licorice after taste.

M: Creamy coating

O: Although not as milky stout as I would have assumed, Odo has a nice rounded presence with a lactose mouth coating and acute flavor layers. Not my favorite, not extremely memorable but simple, well done and perfect for my cheese mongering.

Pairing: The lactose lingering gets nicely cut to pieces by my fatty blue molded cheese. Cream on top of cream becomes a smoked dessert.

Two things made with so much love- coming together in my mouth! Historically balanced and indulgently rich.

Merci Anglophones for bringing your beer habits onto French soil. And then shipping it to Paris. So I can drink it with my cheese because I don't have any bread. Ho hum.

XOXO

Why are we waiting to drink good beer?

Ou qu'est ce qu'on attend pour boire de la bonne bière?

The French have nothing holding them back from drinking great craft beer, so what are they waiting for?

More beer bars.

More craft beer outlets.

 François Moutou the réalisateur of this mini documentary about the rising French craft beer is on a mission to show France and the rest of the world, that there IS a craft beer culture brewing in the land of wine and cheese.

Moutou is looking to progress his 3 minute long short film into a full length documentary with English subtitles and commentary for non French speakers.

With a beautiful marina view, fantastic bagel sandwiches from one of the best places in Paris and, of course beer from my new favorite cave à bière, the two of us hatched out ideas for the full project.

Completely beer geeking out!

Luckily Moutou is a beer geek with a fancy phone, so he was checking in on Untappd (add me!) and we have evidence of our productivity.

 Started out with a Danish 'American Pale Ale' called Fanø Vestkyst from Fanø Bryghus that paired beautifully with our roast beef, avocado and other amazing ness bagel-wiches.

Yeast on the nose, but clean and fresh on the palate, finishes with a nice citrus hop bite that is mild and delightful.

Rooie Dop was pushed on us by St. Bière owner as one of his newest most loved beers and, although very interesting, I continue to have problems with this brewery. A pungent over ripe fruit smell persists throughout and the watery finish is less than desirable.

"Something is keeping me from liking it..."

I can see why many would rank this as a fantastic beer, seeing as how it's bold use of hops is striking, but there is a touch of unbalance that keeps me from loving it.

Hemel & Aarde or Heaven & Hell started us down the track of destruction. The after taste is better than the beer. Lingering smokey, woody and boozy notes hang on with delicious grace. One of those beers that is more fun to smell and savor than actually drink.

Vanilla, rye, roasty malts, dry wood and whiskey.

Pick this one up if you love William Blake and sipping beers.

Estraomnes Donker Imperial Stout.

What better way to finish a lunch meeting than to completely melt one's face off with a blast of peppery spice and coffee. Pulling back from Heaven & Hell's 9.8% abv to Donker's 8.5% just shows that alcohol content does not the beer make because although lower in alcohol Donker's boozy punch was much more evident.

Business is a pleasure!

Bike helmet in hand, France's beer culture documentarian set off to the office while I am the proud owner of four empty bottles and a head full of new ideas. Keep checking back for more updates on the growth of a beer nation!

XOXO

 

Black Bear Beer

Over on Tasting Nitch BeerTube we got ourselves a new beer review

A Morning Beer Review!

Black Bear Beer

Which, as I have mentioned here, is my current favorite French craft beer for a number of reasons. Not only does the style tickle my fancy being a heavily chocolate-malted black IPA but it packs a boozy punch at 10.5% ABV. I love mingling around a bar with a glass full of deathly looking brew and Black Bear Beer delivers on more than just aesthetics. There is love in that bottle, you can tell that someone labored over that beer to get the right balance of roasted malt to hop ratio. An entirely smooth drink that goes great with hardy beef dishes, chocolate desserts and tangy bold cheeses.

Alas, much like my first Brasserie de Fleurac review, I got myself a beer that wasn't ready for the reviewing.

Good morning Nitch, go fuck yourself.

That is what I get for drinking in the morning- the universe is trying to tell me something.

'Try another beer'

I've emailed Greg at Brasserie de Fleurac but am still waiting for a response. Hopefully he hears my cries for help and sets me up with some of their beer that I will REALLY be able to show off because hey deserve some positive attention. And so does my mouth. I'm tired of drinking malted wines.

Enjoy the disaster that is

Tasting Nitch

Morning Beer Review

Black Bear Beer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv4fTEhbUXY

And if you know of any really good Quadruple Black Ipas- do tell, because that's ma new thing and I found a website that can ship me stuff!

XOXO

French Kissing with La Goutte d'Or at La Fine Mousse

Paris's first micro brewery celebrates 1 year anniversary and releases a collaboration beer

FRENCH KISS is a beer made with grapes and French hops, designed in collaboration with the brewery Outland and created for the Harvest Festival of Montmartre in 2013. A true blend of all things that make Paris 'The City of Love.'

La Fine Mousse

Located between the metro stops of Ménilmontant and St. Maur, Le Fine Mousse was a buzz with Goutte d'Or Birthday bash go-ers in a flood of great beer and converted wine lovers. The theme of the night was "I used to love wine, but now I French Kiss."

Tasting

LA GOUTTE D'OR- French Kiss

A: Lush rosy pink color of lips, veiled with a soft haze.

S: Oh honey, honey, honey! Huge sweet honeycomb notes followed by a pomegranate, red fruits, and a slight rosé tang with a delicate hay touch on the base.

T: Sweet, sugar love'in mama! Not much more bitter then a gentle love bite and while the malt stands out unexpectedly, there is no missing the fact that there was grape juice AND fresh grapes used in this baby. Imagine honey and pink grapefruit on a bowl of cereal.

M: Slight mouth coating on a medium body.

O: This beer has all the potential of a blossoming virgin, but isn't quite ready for the plucking. There was a lack of bubbles and sourness to cut through the grape juice and caramel malt. Give it

[caption id="attachment_2032" align="alignleft" width="418"] French Kiss[/caption]

Romain from Outland admitted that the two week fermentation of the beer wasn't as much time as they would have liked and that the pilot batch had more astringent characters. The bottled versions will make for great cellaring!

Home Brew from Guillaume Toussaint

A: Murky apple juice

S: Say what, bacon? There is a smokey smell, like roasting chestnuts.

T: Figs, sugared dates, malty and smoked.

M: That slightly flat effect that home brew often gets, but a clean mouth feel.

O: Guillaume used a huge amount of dates in the post boil and thinks that having let them sit in the wort for such a long time roasted the date pits thus causing the smoked effect. All in all, a pretty cool idea. Bacon wrapped date beer. Test batch #1 get Nitch's nod of approval. Lets do another!

LA GOUTTE D'OR- Chateau Rouge

[caption id="attachment_2038" align="alignleft" width="487"] Chateau Rouge[/caption]

A: Head for days, what a slut. Dense and the color of a red wood

S: Yeast and again, that hard honey hit that the French Kiss had

T: Bitter, floral and hop forward with a smooth cherry touch and delicate spices.

O:. Very much like French Kiss but less grape juiced. Great balance. Each element has a place: malt, hops and sweet red fruits. Very smooth and crowd pleasing. I can see now why so many of the converted wine drinkers love this beer.

Below is Thierry, the brewer/founder/owner of La Goutte D'or with Quentin Blum (enjoying some home made chocolate cake). Mr. Blum is one of Paris's only craft beer import/export merchants and has converted his lovely girlfriend Leone (second from the right) from a wine drinker to a beer and food pairing apprentice. Clemence (on the far right) is Thierry's converted wine drinking neighbor.

"Thierry is passionate about beer but not showy."

-Clemence

Virginity

It was brought to my attention that Nitch, whore of many things, is a coffee virgin.

Tom and Paul from Café Lomi in the 18th were French Kissing and spreading their version of geekiness. Coffee Geeks? Who knew. They've promised to pop my craft coffee cherry- such gentlemen these Aussie expats.

Café Lomi/La Goutte d'Or fusions in the future? The magic 8 ball says, "the future looks bright."

If you speak a bit of French, check out the below video of Thierry and Romain talking about the story behind French Kiss, the collaboration and what it means to be craft beer in Paris.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Yj1g5BmbMk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Didn't get enough tongue action? Check back tomorrow for more coverage of the 2013 Montmartre Harvest Festival festival including: people who take pictures of things instead of experiencing them, snails as street food and 'Merica.

Thats right 'Merica.

XOXO

Rouge, Rogue, Glass and Paris Craft Beer Tastings

Walking past the Moulin Rouge

En route to lip some Brutal Rogue.

"Le Glass is where?"

s'il vous plaît monsieur,

ou est la Rue Frochot?

He says to the right, it ain't fo sho.

Average Parisian night out in the Pigalle district being mostly lost and mostly driving up a huge thirst. Paris's touristy sex arcade infested 9th district is all lights and English speakers. Which was perfect for my visiting friend, who is all male American man and comedy. Just in town from Oktoberfest, we needed to show him not only that Paris was more wet then Germany but that the baguettes are better. (Fun fact: the word baguette in French is often used as a slang term referring to the male genitalia.)

 Will was at Le Glass doing a tasting of his newly imported bottles and we had to get us some.

As soon as we found the fucking place.

That American touristing friend of mine, who's job it is to rain on people'e picnics and predict the future, best weather forecaster the government can buy, just to happened to have a working phone. (Unlike yours truly.) Voila- Location acquired.

Le Glass

[caption id="attachment_2017" align="aligncenter" width="540"] This isn't Glass's logo but the shiny lights told me to use it.[/caption]

Soon to celebrate it's one year anniversery Le Glass is a snug, well heated space not much bigger than my drunk kitchen but with better lighting. Most everyone spoke English but not many people were speaking at all. In fact, when we walked in there was a hello from the barmen but everyone else seemed to have their mouth occupied. Organic hot dog, a home made pickle or someone else's face are top ticket menu items at Le Glass.

Felix to the rescue! For customers to wash down their seriously delicious dogs, or pickles or what ever else, he pumps out amazing house made specialty cocktails. Whipped up with flare and skill, Le Glass is not only sporting yummy yum foods but killer drinks to drown in. My Forecaster friend was right at home and ready to move.  Le Glass's ambiance had set the mood and we were staring a craft beer line up what would later have him determined to expat to Europe.

"St.Louis is great but I'd move here today if I wasn't contracted until 2017."

No luck for the Forecaster, more for me. But, for the moment we have some magic, space men and hoppiness ahead of us so let's leave the future to future and

Taste Beers!

Sip #1: ROGUE- Brutal IPA

A: It's hard to see in such a sexily lit location but I think it's a tawny orange.

S: Pine with roasty caramel

T: No so brutal

O: This is one of America's original IPAs, made in a time before the "west coast IPA" had ravaged all beer geek's palates and caused a hop addiction epidemic. So, it's more like a nice pale ale that was understandably brutal back in the day. Love the bottle, great for sharing and food pairing.

Sip #2: BREWFIST- Space Man IPA 7% 70 IBUs

A: So, so, so bright! Like a golden/copper tinted champagne. So clear and bright

S: Passion fruit, exotic fruits in huge amounts

T: Sweet, soft bitter finish, not aggressive, caramel grapefruit with heaps of citrus.

O: This is Will's favorite beer at the moment and I have to agree that if I was craving a super fresh hop bomb THIS would be the definition of what I would be craving. So fresh and so clean, clean.

Sip #3: MOOR- Hoppiness 6.7%

A: Copper with a great lingering head

S: Cascade pine (at the date we were drinking this beer about 5 months, it may have lost some of it's aroma).

T: Barley wine malt bill balances with American hops. Not too hard on the finish, so drinkable.

M: Grainy more thick full body than is usual for this style.

O: MOOR Brewing is a great company, UK based but turned around by a California brewer and his wife with a massive passion. I recommend checking out the website and seeing the rouse they have about traditional beer vs natural beer. Fish bladder protests!

Sip #4: MOOR- Illusion 4.7%

A: Murky brown

S: Very faint, slight coffee and toasted malt.

T: Toffee sweet roasted malts, bittering hops are present in a grassy way and come out in the taste rather then the smell.

O: Hello session beer with a kick.

Sip #5: BREWFIST- 2 Late IPA 9.5%

S: American hops with heaps of citrus and pine but also a delicate floral sweetness like honey.

T: Grapefruit and a candied fruit, peaches maybe. Malt is in perfect balance with the freshness of the hops. No alcohol on the nose or in the taste with is a real surprise.

Sip #6: MOOR- JJJ IPA Triple IPA 9.5%

S: Malt sweet, sugar, caramel no hops- super slight earthy smell

T: Like fresh wort, sweet with a subtile hop middle, lingering bitter- like an english cask ale. American and UK hops. Sweet hop finish.

Sip #7:

MORE HOTDOGS PLEASE!

MAGIC ROCK- Double IPA Human CannonBall IIPA 9.2%

This. This is kind of a big deal. It is the last keg in ALL of France! When it's gone. It's effing gone people! Bet you wish we were with me. But you weren't, so I'll tell you all about it and let you have dreams about it later.

A: Golden peachy color with light haze and slim bubbles S: Citrus flowers and fresh cut grass

T: I'm hit with huge grapefruit and orange blossom hop blast but then... a meaty, smoked malt. Like smoking rain under a heap of floral hop and citrus peel.

O: Very interesting. So many things going on, such originality and intrigue that I'm slightly baffled. That big roasty thing that happened at the end kinda put me off a bit. I would for sure Cannon Ball again, but for tonight I'm taking my  beer like I take my men: thick, black and rich.

ON TO DIRTY DICKS!

...I'll give you some Dirty Dick later, we've had enough sexual references and sipping for one post. Tease, tease, tease! Oh okay, if you really can't wait click Paris My Mouth to see what they do with the Dirty Dick.

XOXO

Cider loving Female Half puts up a good beer resistance fight

I've been living with wine people. Hardcore wine or die kinda French. The Male Counter-Part will partake of all reasonable alcoholic items. He enjoys the clink of the drink! The Female Half on the other hand has a stigma against beer.

She likes cider.

As a beer evangelist, I quickly went work with my beer enlightenment. Thus far to no avail.

[caption id="attachment_1844" align="alignleft" width="178"] DIPA[/caption]

Granted, I started off with a super IPA. A DIPA. My hysterical hop loving mistake. When one is nose deep in the floral notes of Dordogne Valley by Corrézienne then it is impossible to think someone wouldn't love it as much as yourself. I smell the wilderness and home, romance and stability. But... granted, when you taste the beer it burns a little. To those who are less accustomed to the sting of love, it can be a rough road.

I then graced her over to pale ales in which she politely sampled a sip but refused another drink.

"Do you like coffee and/or chocolate?" I posed casually.

And since she did, I went right away into the darkness. Women LOVE the darkness.

Or so I thought.

Here's what happened:

We started on the wrong foot again, classic bumbling me. I assumed a porter would be more "beer" and less drastic a change from what she was used to appeasingly drinking when men were around. Didn't want to shock the poor girl.

Chocolate Porter by Meantime Brewing Company

Was a failure of nose wrinkles and polite smiles. "Yep, tastes like beer. Ew."

I corrected my mistake, let's completely ignore "beer" and give her something that is russian winter stout with body and delight.

Tzarine Imperial Stout byBrasserie du Mont Salève

Warrented a pre-tasting battle of "oh, but I really don't feel like it...." and then "oh okay..."

All the while I'm holding my breath, waiting for the.. ya know.. light to click.

She drank a glass of cider to wash down the evil broth that had been pushed upon her for yet another awkward evening.

Now, don't think this was an every day sort of thing. I'm a lady! This was gradual and spontaneous!

To which, naturally, follows with gaping unexpected set backs...

Black Bear Beer by Brasserie de Fleurac

[caption id="attachment_1847" align="alignleft" width="300"] Black Beer Beer makes me drool[/caption]

Black bear beer is my new absolute favorite French beer. My favorite current beer. My go to AND impresser. Like a hat trick at 10% it will give you a buzz from one sip, but has the body of a knock out porter and the head of a hop duchess. It is all leather and lace.

So it is natural that when the Male Counter-Part tried to once again force his partner into beer sampling (always trying to be the helpful, inventive type) he exposed her to group bondage orgies when she had hardy had come to realize sex was possible with the lights on.

Young's Double Chocolate Stout by Wells & Young’s Brewing Company

[caption id="attachment_1848" align="alignright" width="200"] PintLog[/caption]

Was my home run!

I thought it was going to be my home run anyway. I thought it was going to a halo around her head and tears to her eyes.

"It all makes sense!"

But alas, to me even, my much loved Young's Double Chocolate Stout wasn't as chocolate as I remember. Or maybe had thought I remembered it being more dynamic in my younger beer discovery years.

At that point I had moved on.

I had a Rogue Chocolate Stout and didn't even offer it to her. What was the point?! She would hate it. The girl likes cider and, although I hadn't even began to help her explore Gueuze and Lambics, I felt totally defeated. No hope. No justice in the world! I had lost my touch. I was no longer a messenger of god (Ninkasi).

Rogue's Double Chocolate Stout

[caption id="attachment_1849" align="alignleft" width="194"] Rogue Double Chocolate Stout is loved the world over[/caption]

This stout had been sitting in the frig for over two weeks. That is how much beer sampling had declined in the Nitch household due to lack of companionship.

This night. Not but one hour ago, my French Man asked if we could drink the bright red beer in the frig and I obliged because we were drinking whiskey and smoking things. It was a party! And the movie had just ended. Oui.

As people milled around, I saw the French Man pour the beer into his glass and I felt a little tickle in my soul. It had a black, saucy body and a velvet cream head. He held the glass up commenting on its lush appearance. I drooled. He went to get another glass and I commandeered his.

Chocolate cream with a bitter chocolate bite, finishing with a milky chocolate ring.

I was gob smacked. THIS was the dynamic beer I was looking for. THIS was the chocolate stout to convert nuns into can-can dancers. I had to test it on the Female Half.

"No thaaank you..." she tried to slide out of the way around me as I husked in an almost creepy voice, "so.. did you try this one."

I cleared my chocolate beer coated throat and tried to explain that his was different from the other ones. Again, I mean. Different-er.

Male Counter-Part had tasted the beer said she would hate it, she hates coffee.

"I like cafe," she protested

I hand her the beer, insisting eagerly. Maybe too expectantly. This whole thing had become an obvious obsession for me and she thought I had already left her alone. Given up. She wasn't going to like beer and I wasn't going to be able to change her mind.

Yes. But taste this.

Wide eyes, nose wrinkled and a playful smile of, "yum, I can't taste it yet but I know I'm going to hate it," she sipped the stout.

I don't know what I was expecting. Halos? Epiphanies?

She set the glass down giggling awkwardly, following quickly with a sip of water.

It was just too bitter, all evil and darkness. She liked apples and champagne. It lingered and she didn't like the aggressive nature.

The French Man made a beautiful speech about how he found the enlightening path into beer foodie-dom. How he had been around me and sampled so many beers in Australia and America that he was no longer able to drink a Heineken without thinking of what a beer could be. So sweet of him, but there was no saving my credibility, it had leaked all over the floor. Quel dommage.

The Male Counter-Part mentioned that it was still too bitter, it reminded him of his morning coffee.

Breakfast stouts, I grumbled. Breakfast stouts.

We discovered that, for wine drinkers, it is helpful to compare dark beers to light beers as one compares red wine to white. Most novice wine drinkers (women implied, having lowered alcohol experience aka are fucking dumb to that sorta thing) don't like red wine.

At one point a French Girl says that she never drinks red wine because of "you know, Freud." Red wine reminds woman of her period, the pain and discomfort. The French Girl never drinks red wine.

And so we end the evening...

No epiphanies, no shining light of transformation, but...

...more determined then ever to make the Female Half try Lambics!

Bwahhahaa. Nothing can resist the CANTILLION!

My Beer Company, BièrEVOLUTION- a French Beer Geek Meet

"When we sell out beer at the Levallois market, none of the locals believe that there is a brewery in the area. I even had a girl who said she went to the address, thus proving that there is no brewery. "

Perched on the top floor of a 5... 6... what feels like 7 story building, in a 10 meter squared office above his own family's flat, Fabrice Le Goff runs My Beer Company. With the help if his co-brewer Anthony Baraff he makes the many stair'ed march with bags of grain and the occasional brew equipment. The man is a legend.

Me, out of shape beer blogger that I am, and my internal collection of beers (beer gut) were sweating, panting and appalled at the idea of hulking malt up that mountain of a building, while Fabrice kindly offered water and said that is was a bit tiring. He wasn't even breathing hard, the animal.

Fabrice, a native of Brittany, founded My Beer Company two years ago and says that the craft beer scene in France has changed dramatically in the those two short years. But that materials are easy to come by seeing as how France is one of the world's (if not the) largest producer of malt.

Also joining our tasting session, the owner and founder of BièrEVOLUTION, William Faria, American born French citizen who is one of those beer geeky beard rubbing types.

[caption id="attachment_1802" align="aligncenter" width="995"] Will on the left, Fabrice on the right, Brewery in the back[/caption]

Fabrice and Will met a few years back and were over joyed to find one other, mentally hoppy-capped beer lovers both living in the same area.

"We were both so alone, it was nice to see other beer fools."

Both men agree that their biggest obstacle at the moment is storage. They both use the same underground storage facility that is handled by workers who are used to hauling around wine. When it comes to storing flats of beer, the French employees groan, grumble and merde.



Will hints that he might be making some big additions to his import list, so if you live in France, get your local shop to ring him up (+33 (0) 6 99 70 06 73) and soon, you'll be basking in the beauty of international beer bottles galor.

As the lone wolf operator of BièrEVOLUTION Will is at the forefront the changes that have been waving across the French beer scene in recent years.

But... the change is gradual. French craft beer isn't at a point there consumers are ready for seasonal beers even. Although there are a few places like, L’Eurelienne in Chandres who do a Christmas cuvee, don't expect to be seeing any pumpkin pints around Paris anytime soon.

My Beer Company

When asked if My Beer Company had any plans in the future of distributing to larger chain stores, Fabrice shook his head with an infatic no.

We are not looking to sell in the grocery stores because there is a huge difference between the small bottles shops who are able to educate the customer and a consumer who simply picks up a bottle. They won't know what hit them!

Tasting

MY BEER COMPANY- Levallois 5.7%

A: Chill hazed golden blond

S: Soft fragrant floral hops, sugared malt

T: Sweet hops, melting caramel and great exotic fruits. Almost like fruity pepples with it's great floral bouque and wild fruits.

M: Medium body

O: Great hoping wonder, here is a beer that you can drink all evening and not get your hop loving face melted off. Smooth and drinkable with just a perfect amount of aggressive bittering to give you a kick but not repeat the tongue lashing after it's down your throat.

Last batch was closer to an IPA admits Fabrice- hop addicts brewing beer need to show restraint.

MY BEER COMPANY- Citra Galactique 6.5%

S: Amazing NZ hops, citra galore

T: Dancing hops and a refreshing hop bite, palate pleasing and "yes I'll have another."

My first go with Citra Galactique back in the heat of June was no less in love than now.

Label Change

The label of Citragalactiue is about to get an overhaul! French legislation requires anything consumable goods to have a certain percentage of and proper labeling to indicate the amount of, said ingredient. You put Citra on your label? That is a hop, please label your beer with the exact amount of that Citra hop used, Miseur et Merci, au revoir.

French legal system is a tough piece of jerky, so it is easier to change the label then account for the minuscule amounts of hops used in the beer.

MY BEER COMPANY- Porter Gourmande 6%

A: Big, thick bubbled head

S: Vanilla, roasted malt, warm coffee and caramel

T: Yeasty, slight vanilla- caramel malt backbone.

M: Warming and dry

O: Smooth, bitter, lingering dry hopped bitter with balancing vanilla notes

Was dry hopped with vanilla beans!

We finished the tasting session with a a French Breakfast Stout that the pair pulled out from the back room, in back reserve and not currently being sold. (o.0) Special.

[caption id="attachment_1838" align="alignleft" width="300"] Pain au chocolate- common French breakfast item YUM[/caption]

A: No head- super dark

S: Meaty, malty , chocolate sweet

T: Like a French breakfast- pain au chocolate

M: Slippery and smooth

O: Great chocolate loving Mary this tickles the tummy! Stouts are a beautiful thing but when the coffee notes take over, Nitch takes a break. This stout hints at coffee without whamming you in the face with cold coffee grinds. Delicate and delicious! Literally like a dark chocolate bar, wrapped in buttery French croissant. Looking forward to seeing more of this French Breakfast Stout on the shelves at CaB.

We are at the dawning of a new age, in Paris!

It is black and white on the streets of Paris- New vs Old. You have classic belgian beer bars across the street from new craft beer bars and their are grumbling and eye rolling in both directions.

Belgian beer bars have matching glasses for each beer, traditional lagers and beers defined by their color while new craft beer bars have brews from around the world, beer educated servers and define beers by their style.

TRAVELERS NOTE: If you are out and about in foreign beer hunting territory try looking for beers with their style on the label rather than color.

 

Thank you very much to both Fabrice and Will for welcoming a lone beer geek into the Paris underground. We all look forward to many years of craft beer expansion, hop culture saturation and a shift from traditional to My Beer Company with an evolution of beer.

Merci beaucoup Fabrice et Will pour accueillir un passionné de bière solitaire dans la résistance de Paris. Nous attendons tous avec impatience beaucoup d'années d'expansion de bière de métier, la saturation de biere culture et un changement de traditionnel à My Beer Company avec la évolution de bière a Paris.

XOXO

Follow My Beer Company and BièrEVOLUTION for more updates

Tasting Location- Express de Lyon Paris, France

 

Express de Lyon

Paris, France

Where craft beer and French café intersect

If you happen to be near Gare de Lyon, whizzing your touristy way through Paris, take a metro break and cross the street to one of the most well hidden beer sampling locations in Paris- Express de Lyon. Camouflaged as a typical station stop café-bar, Express de Lyon is a heaven for hardcore beer geeks as well as vanilla beer drinkers.



A Yelp post by Cameron M. explains the secret behind Express de Lyon's unique place in the Paris bar society:

"...BUT the secret is, the owner is a huge beer geek. For me, this is a real Paris bar (well... except [that] there is amazing beer): you have the local flavor, the die hard gamblers sipping on a Heineken, beer nuts (expats and francophones) from around the city trying the lastest microbrew on tap, tourists drinking the classic Belgians (like Chouffe or Karmeliet or worse...Amstel!!), and even some travelers passing through who stopped by while they wait for their train at the Gare de Lyon."

Chidini over at Trip Advisor had this to say:

"This humble café has some of the most exciting tap selections in town, from Evil Twin, Mikkeller, BrewDog, Craig Allan, De Molen, and other rising stars of the European craft beer scene. The atmosphere is laid back and the opposite of pretentious, and the prices are more than fair."

And for those French speaking readers:

"Un bar typiquement parisien ! Une ambiance conviviale et populaire, des bières introuvables à la pression, une clientèle jeune et souriante...Que demande le peuple ! Le service est parfois un peu long mais l'équipe compense par sa bonne humeur et son accessibilité...Chaudement recommandé !"

Trendy Paris guide Paris by Mouth notes Express de Lyon as one if it's favorite Parisian locations:

"Although it appears on first glance like any other train station-adjacent café-bar, this place is a must for serious beer geeks in Paris."

Express de Lyon is owned by two brothers, one more beer addicted than the other. Brother beer drinker wasn't in when Nitch was there, but a return visit is promised. Geek session planned!

Tasting

[caption id="attachment_1587" align="alignright" width="696"] Note how the Funky E-star (in the foreground) has bigger, more round fat bubbles while the Green Gold has a tighter, more creamy head.[/caption]

MIKKELLER- Funky E-star 9.39% 4.90/5.50

Funky indeed.

S: Steeped malts, fermenting fruit like a cider in the fermenter

T: bitter and dry, with sweet beery hop notes and a skunky hop undertone, no strong alcohol presence

M: Dry with a light resin coating

O:  Likely to be better in the bottle than on the tap line, Funky E-star is one of my least loved Mikkeller beers to date. The off fruit tickles the nose and the hops are hidden under the malts.

MIKKELLER- Green Gold 7% 4.90/5.50

Smells Green!

S: Hops, citrus hops and a distinct uh.. hop smell

T: Fresh hops pop out bitter then a tart cherry bitter finish

M: More creamy then Funky E-star, smoother on the palate but still light to medium in body

O: More fresh and enjoyable then the first beer, Green Gold lives up to it's name as a treasure of golden green hop goodness.

[caption id="attachment_1588" align="alignnone" width="696"] Things are hand written on a chalk board, bistro style and, as you can see from the hand, are willingly explained but the bar man.[/caption]

Findings

Both beers tasted were a bit flat, green gold a bit less so, but there was a mild question mark as to rather or not the tap lines need a little cleany up. Dive bars aren't known for their cleanliness so, lets chalk it up to authenticity, shall we?

If you want to save yourself some piggy bank money, then sit at the bar (if possible) rather than a table. There is about a .60 cent mark up for table service. Not saying that you'll get better service at the tables or anything, more like you are charged for renting the table space; 4.90 for bar Mikkeller, 5.50 for table Mikkeller. Drink 8 bar beers and you've paid for your 9th in savings!

As we learned from Brandon over at Cave à bulles, Express de Lyon is owned by two brothers who recently were converted to the hop loving order. Brother hop maniac wasn't in attendance at the time of our visit, but we were assured by brother hop enjoyment that he would hold a lengthly vigil with us upon our next visit.

I like it- dive, dirty and divine

XOXO