From Movies and booze newsletter
BEERS OF FRANCE WITH DEAN MCGUINNESS
Friday 2nd May 2008
Introduction –
Northern Europe is the ‘barley belt’ of Europe. This is the area of Europe most suited to the growing of barley and hops – two of the key ingredients of beer. Included in this barley belt are the countries of Ireland, England, Belgium, Germany and the Czech Republic – all countries noted for their beer culture, and the distinctiveness of their brews. Also included in this barley belt is France (or, more specifically, Northern France). Despite this France has never been particularly known as a country for beer.
To-day, we have two beers from France. Kasteel Cru is a Biere Brut or Biere de Champagne (beer brewed using Champagne yeast). Ch’ti is a Blonde Biere de Garde.
France and Beer –
France is not particularly noted as a country for beers. To be fair, this most likely is due to the fact that, when it comes to Old World wines, France historically has cast its shadow on the rest of the Old World. It is not surprising that this shadow would relegate beer to a secondary beverage. Furthermore, culturally France leans more towards the café bar culture – where glasses of wine are sipped in the afternoon sunshine. The tradition of serving beer as ‘un demi’ – a serving about the same volume as a glass of wine – is about as far as one could get from the litre steins of beer wielded by buxom German waitresses.
In some respects, this is a missed opportunity. France (in particular, Northern France) lies in Europe’s ‘Barley Belt’ – the area of Europe where the weather is more temperate, and with reasonably moist conditions. These conditions are ideally suited to growing barley and hops – two of the main ingredients of beer. Given that France is the home country of Louis Pasteur, one of the first scientists to propose theories and understanding of the processes of fermentation (the process through which alcohol is produced in beer and wine), and given France’s proximity to Germany – probably the country in the world most famous for beer – one would feel that access to intelligence as to how best beer could be brewed would not be that difficult.
One can’t help by assume that beer is less a feature of France’s culture because of the ‘prestige’ bestowed by the world on wine as a drink. This being said, in Italy, there has been a kick-back by younger drinkers against the dominance of wine, and beer has been the selected drink of choice among these people.
Kasteel Cru –
Beer Style - Biere de Champagne / Biere Brut
Alcohol by Volume - 5.2% a.b.v.
Brewer - La Brasserie de Saverne, owned by Coors
Country of Origin - France
Brewed at la Brasserie de Saverne, a French brewery owned by Coors, Kasteel Cru is described as a ‘Champagne Beer’ of ‘Biere Brut’ due to the use of champagne yeast (as opposed to brewers’ yeast) in the fermentation process. The town Saverne’s name, in which this brewery is located, derives from the latin name for the town ‘Tres Tabernaes’ (‘the three taverns’ – or ‘les trios tavernes’) – even back to Roman times, this Alsace town was recognized as a brewing town.
Brewed with Spring Barley, Hallertauer hops and Champagne yeast. The yeast used in Kasteel Cru is Prise de Mousse, which is a particular type of Saccharomyces Bayanus (SB) – the yeast traditionally used to make champagne. This yeast is an ‘all purpose’ yeast – in other words a relatively generic champagne yeast without characteristics that would lead the yeast to behave in an unorthadox fashion during fermentation.
Overall, this beer is relatively bland. The beer presents with a bright straw gold appearance – this colour very much reminiscent of the colour of champagne. Aroma on the nose is remarkably restrained. On the palate, there is a thin, light wine white grape fruity character to the beer, that is more on the sweet side. There is no hop character of note – the use of Hallertauer hops is undoubtedly as a ‘dash of salt and pepper’ rather than any effort to deliver hop character into the beer. Finish is very quick, with no taste lingering after swallowing the beer.
So, is this a marketing gimmick, or an authentically creative approach to brewing a different style of beer? To be fair, the idea to use champagne yeast in a brew is inventive – no doubt, the selection of champagne yeast (as opposed to a variety of other yeasts that might be available) is purposefully designed to allow the beer to benefit from the connotations of elegance or distinctive opulence associated with Champagne.
If I were to taste this beer without being told anything about it, then the taste alone would not lead this beer to stand out significantly from the hordes of mass-produced ‘Euro-lagers’ available – it is a relatively bland beer without a doubt. However, when I consider what I would expect of a beer brewed with Champagne yeast, I would expect the brewer to remain true to the appearance of champagne (note - the yeast has no impact on the colour of the beer). Therefore, a bright gold colour is what I would expect from appearance (a dark ale or stout brewed with Champagne yeast would just be a travesty). I would expect the beer to be crisp in flavour and presentation, and I would expect the flavour not to be over-powering. All in all, Kasteel Cru is in line with these expectations. However, I do feel that the brewer could have built a touch more character into the beer, and maintained an elegant taste to the beer by ensuring that the balance is maintained. Overall, a creative idea, executed with a touch too much restraint and caution, and giving the impression that the ‘creators’ of the beer intended to lean more heavily on the marketing of the idea than on the character of the beer in appealing to drinkers.
Ch’ti –
Beer Style - Blonde Biere de Garde
Alcohol by Volume - 6.4% a.b.v.
Brewer - Brasserie Castelain
Country of Origin - France
Ch’ti Blonde is a Biere de Garde. As a style, this type of beer has specific general characteristics. A Biere de Garde is golden to deep copper or light brown in color. They are moderate to medium in body. This style of beer is characterized by a toasted malt aroma, slight malt sweetness in flavor, and medium hop bitterness. Noble-type hop aromas and flavors should be low to medium. Fruity esters can be light to medium in intensity. Flavor of alcohol is evident. Earthy, cellar-like, musty aromas and flavors are okay. Diacetyl (buttery taste or taste of butterscotch) should not be perceived. Often bottle conditioned with some yeast character.
Ch’ti Blonde fits with this general style. In appearance, the beer has a yeast / chill haze, and a light honey gold colour. Aroma is grainy, lemon, honey. This character comes through on the taste – the honey pre-dominating, with a combination of citric lemon character, and grainy and bready character combining on the palate. There is a touch of buttery diacetyl that coats the mouth, and sustains into the finish of the beer. Given the strength of the beer (6.4% a.b.v.), I expected a little more flavour to the beer, though, perhaps this is just that the flavours that are in the beer are all quite soft – in particular the honey. It is surprisingly drinkable, and deceptive.
Brasserie Castelain – the brewery that brews Ch’ti – is a relatively small brewery, with a production output of in the region of 30,000 hectlitres per annum (60,000 standard 50 litre kegs, or 375,000 standard cases of 24 x 330ml). The brewery outputs a range of beers under the Ch’ti name, including a Biere Blanche, an Ambree, a Brune and a Triple. To the best of my knowledge, only the Blonde is available in Ireland – in Dunnes Stores at circa €7.49.
Dean McGuinness
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