mwedge
07-15-2009, 09:51 PM
http://www.beeraday.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/hercule-stout-beer-glass.jpgRealizing that I’ve already had two imperial stouts this week, I decided the only sensible thing is to keep going down the darkened path.
My wife bought me a bottle of Hercule Stout (http://www.brasserie-ellezelloise.be/bieres-uk.shtml#L%27Hercule), a Belgian beer emblazoned with the image of Agatha Christie’s famed detective, Hercule Poirot. Indeed, his is an appropriate visage; this bottle of beer would certainly keep the detective busy, hunting down clues.
The first mystery to arise is the name of the brewery. My label says it is brewed by “Brasserie Des Legendes” in Ellezelles, Belgium. However, the brewery website states the name as “Brasserie Ellezelloise”. If there’s been a name change, I’m not sure which is out of date — the website or my bottle. The only thing not in question is the slogan of the brewery: “La Bière des Collines”, which translates as “The Beer of the Hills”.
The squat, 11.2 oz bottle is capped with a swing-top. According to the label, the beer is refermented in the bottle. I braced myself for an explosion of beer as I swung the metal hinge forward — and though there was a resounding pop, nothing but vapor escaped.
The second mystery presented itself as I poured the stout. Black beer splashed into my glass and a huge head errupted, but wave after wave of some strange — but not unpleasant — aroma gurgled out.
I held my nose above the agitated stout and inhaled deeply. There’s plenty of roasted malt, but there’s a zesty sweetness I couldn’t place. Chocolate? Toffee? Raisins? Elements of all the above are present in the aroma, but eventually I settled on anise. Yes, there is a definite anise aroma — but even that seemed to miss the mark.
http://www.beeraday.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/hercule-stout-label.jpgOn the tongue, the beer starts of sweet, with more sweet toffee than I’d expect in an imperial stout. That zesty, raisiny-sweet taste is still present — sometimes it seems like anise, sometimes not. As you swallow, the bitter roast seems to rise from your throat and swarm the vacated space in your mouth, warming and leaving you awash with roasted bitterness.
What could that elusive taste and aroma be?
I’ve been compared to Hercule Poirot in the past (sadly, yes, this picture is of me (http://www.boston.com/yourlife/gallery/funny_faces_1?pg=28)), but it took no great leap of intuition for my detective work to pay off. Instead, I simply found the beer’s description on the brewery’s website.
The Brasserie Ellezelloise website (http://www.brasserie-ellezelloise.be/bieres-uk.shtml#L%27Hercule) claims the scent and taste is spruce. The site elaborates, describing the Hercule line of beers as:
…very malty, but dry, with a hint of sweetness in the finish, and perfectly hopped. All three share a very distinctive and intoxicating spicy aroma of fresh spruce that suddenly, irresistibly, fills the room when the swing-top is released. This unique house character probably derives from the strains of yeast used by the brewery – and possibly from the fermentation in oak – because the beers are made entirely of malt and hops, without any spices or sugar.
Then again, the explanation uses the words “probably” and “possibly” when describing the spruce character — so perhaps there’s still some sleuthing to be done.
Hercule Stout is an interesting beer; I enjoyed it, but the Belgian yeast and that “spruce” character distracted and seemed out of place. I completely agree with John LeMasney of BeerCritic.com (http://beercritic.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/la-biere-des-collines-hercule-stout/) when he describes Hercule Stout as “more of a brown ale than an imperial stout”. The only thing “imperial” about this stout is it’s 9% ABV.
Use Social Bookmarks (http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?&linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.beeraday.net%2Fbeer%2Fher cule-stout%2F&linkname=Hercule%20Stout) Related posts:
Samuel Adams Imperial Stout (http://www.beeraday.net/beer/samuel-adams-imperial-stout/)
YETI Imperial Stout (http://www.beeraday.net/beer/yeti-imperial-stout/)
Oskar Blues Ten Fidy Imperial Stout (http://www.beeraday.net/beer/oskar-blues-ten-fidy-imperial-stout/)
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My wife bought me a bottle of Hercule Stout (http://www.brasserie-ellezelloise.be/bieres-uk.shtml#L%27Hercule), a Belgian beer emblazoned with the image of Agatha Christie’s famed detective, Hercule Poirot. Indeed, his is an appropriate visage; this bottle of beer would certainly keep the detective busy, hunting down clues.
The first mystery to arise is the name of the brewery. My label says it is brewed by “Brasserie Des Legendes” in Ellezelles, Belgium. However, the brewery website states the name as “Brasserie Ellezelloise”. If there’s been a name change, I’m not sure which is out of date — the website or my bottle. The only thing not in question is the slogan of the brewery: “La Bière des Collines”, which translates as “The Beer of the Hills”.
The squat, 11.2 oz bottle is capped with a swing-top. According to the label, the beer is refermented in the bottle. I braced myself for an explosion of beer as I swung the metal hinge forward — and though there was a resounding pop, nothing but vapor escaped.
The second mystery presented itself as I poured the stout. Black beer splashed into my glass and a huge head errupted, but wave after wave of some strange — but not unpleasant — aroma gurgled out.
I held my nose above the agitated stout and inhaled deeply. There’s plenty of roasted malt, but there’s a zesty sweetness I couldn’t place. Chocolate? Toffee? Raisins? Elements of all the above are present in the aroma, but eventually I settled on anise. Yes, there is a definite anise aroma — but even that seemed to miss the mark.
http://www.beeraday.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/hercule-stout-label.jpgOn the tongue, the beer starts of sweet, with more sweet toffee than I’d expect in an imperial stout. That zesty, raisiny-sweet taste is still present — sometimes it seems like anise, sometimes not. As you swallow, the bitter roast seems to rise from your throat and swarm the vacated space in your mouth, warming and leaving you awash with roasted bitterness.
What could that elusive taste and aroma be?
I’ve been compared to Hercule Poirot in the past (sadly, yes, this picture is of me (http://www.boston.com/yourlife/gallery/funny_faces_1?pg=28)), but it took no great leap of intuition for my detective work to pay off. Instead, I simply found the beer’s description on the brewery’s website.
The Brasserie Ellezelloise website (http://www.brasserie-ellezelloise.be/bieres-uk.shtml#L%27Hercule) claims the scent and taste is spruce. The site elaborates, describing the Hercule line of beers as:
…very malty, but dry, with a hint of sweetness in the finish, and perfectly hopped. All three share a very distinctive and intoxicating spicy aroma of fresh spruce that suddenly, irresistibly, fills the room when the swing-top is released. This unique house character probably derives from the strains of yeast used by the brewery – and possibly from the fermentation in oak – because the beers are made entirely of malt and hops, without any spices or sugar.
Then again, the explanation uses the words “probably” and “possibly” when describing the spruce character — so perhaps there’s still some sleuthing to be done.
Hercule Stout is an interesting beer; I enjoyed it, but the Belgian yeast and that “spruce” character distracted and seemed out of place. I completely agree with John LeMasney of BeerCritic.com (http://beercritic.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/la-biere-des-collines-hercule-stout/) when he describes Hercule Stout as “more of a brown ale than an imperial stout”. The only thing “imperial” about this stout is it’s 9% ABV.
Use Social Bookmarks (http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?&linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.beeraday.net%2Fbeer%2Fher cule-stout%2F&linkname=Hercule%20Stout) Related posts:
Samuel Adams Imperial Stout (http://www.beeraday.net/beer/samuel-adams-imperial-stout/)
YETI Imperial Stout (http://www.beeraday.net/beer/yeti-imperial-stout/)
Oskar Blues Ten Fidy Imperial Stout (http://www.beeraday.net/beer/oskar-blues-ten-fidy-imperial-stout/)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BeerADay/~4/gZ5NcadnZqk
More... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BeerADay/~3/gZ5NcadnZqk/)