Beer 222: 3 Monts Grande Reserve

I am 100% addicted to Breaking Bad.  All this week it's been my singular focus.  Well that and beer, of course.  It's been all come home, eat dinner, write a post and glue myself to the television.  I imagine that season 4 will be in the bag in another couple of days and then it's a torturous year waiting for season 5 to be released on DVD or Netflix.  So with that in mind, here is your beer update for day 222.

We're visiting France on this review -- a country that doesn't scream beer to me.  The 3 Monts Grande Reserve from Brasserie de Saint Sylvestre is a biere de garde. It's a style that is becoming one of my favorites.  But this was no ordinary biere de garde...


















Check out that set up. I've never seen anything like that.  It was a giant, and I mean GIANT, staple/hinge hybrid craziness.  It had dented the cork and I'm not sure if that was intentional or unintentional.  Lucky for everyone involved no one lost an eye loosening that contraption.

















The 3 Monts Grande Reserve poured a not quite clear but not fully hazy amber liquid.  It had a very loose, slightly off white head and remnants of the head clung in puffy chunks all around the glass.  It smelled of sugar and malt and biscuits.  The taste was a bit peppery. It morphed into creamy malt with a bite at the end.  It also had some tart fruit notes and was just a tiny bit musty.  After all that it did manage to finish surprisingly crisp.

Realizing that my top 25 is now a top 35, I hesitate to add it to the list.  But I really, really enjoyed this beer. In it goes!

Cheers!