Les Trois Mousquetaires Rauchbier

"Inspired by Europe - Brewed in Quebec - One for all!"

To round out the Canada category, we drank Les Trois Mousquetaires Rauchbier purchased at Vintage Estates.

This beer label proudly displays the musketeers (Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan - thanks, Shawn & Chris!). This is a Bamberg-style smoked beer ("Rauchbier") which, from my understanding, means the malt has been dried over open flames. It is a dark beer made partly from smoked malt that is aged slowly with a fine yeast sediment. It is 6% ABV.

Occasionally we will be having guests that taste our beers with us, and for this it was our friend Rex. He also works in the culinary field and has an amazing palate - he was picking out flavors none of us could identify.

Overall average rating: 7.7/10

This opaque, black beer has a long-lasting caramel head with definite lacing. Rex smelled the beer first and immediately said it smelled like soy sauce. I agree completely. Shawn & Chris smell it too, but find there is a sweet finish that Chris believes is a dark fruit of some kind. It tastes lighter than we expected considering how dark it is. It has definite coffee and chocolate flavors, as well as a woody flavor with a dark fruit finish. After some investigation into the indigenous trees of Canada, Rex pinpointed the flavor combination - black cherry and dogwood. (To truly get the flavor, after you swallow the beer, lick the roof of your mouth. It seems odd, but it works.)

Shawn- I think the beer has a good taste and a fantastic aroma. It is thinner than I expected. It reminds me of an Edmund Fitzgerald made with better water, 8/10.
Angela- It tastes soooo much better than the smell - I really couldn't get past the soy sauce aroma. Despite the slightly thick mouthfeel, it is thinner than I'd wished it was, 7.5/10.
Chris- To me, it looks like a rootbeer float. This is a beer I would enjoy while sitting by the fireplace, 7.5/10.