L’OURS ~ LE TROU DU DIABLE

L’ours (meaning bear in French) is a sour ale/wild ale from Quebec.   It is a mixture of twenty per cent rye saison, aged in oak barrels of Banyuls for two years. (Banyuls is a fortified aperitif/dessert wine made from old vines grown on terraces on the Catalan Pyrenees and Roussilion county of France).  The other 80% is a young saison.  Each cask will be different, some with more intense notes.  I am not sure which assemblage, as it wasn’t indicated on the draft tap.   The beer is a clear blonde, nicely carbonated, but had little head.  Lots of alcohol on the nose – almost cider or wine like.  Ripe fruit, spicy yeast and funky brett make up the aroma.    Taste had a complexity and many subtleties.  It had qualities of both a young and aged beer.  Lots of ripe fruit flavours, but also a subtle rye, spicy yeast, some barnyard funk and touch of wood.  I really enjoyed this and will go back for another. 

6.5% from Shawinigan 10 IBU