Castelain St. Amand French Country Ale
Amber red in color, slightly fruity with wine notes.
3.3
178 reviews
Benifontaine, France
Community reviews
750ml bottle. Pours a hazy orangish color with a small, thin white head that reduced to a small cap. Musty and very fruity nose, with sweet grainy malt and a peppery yeast character. Flavor is sweet, floury malt, with fruity taste of dried cherries, with faint spicy hops and very light cloves. Finishes fairly sweet, slightly caramel. Medium body with heavy carbonation.
Smelled like I was in a field. Tasted sweeter than expected decent beer but maltier than expectex
Draught at Ginger Man, NYC. Golden beer with a nice offwhite head. Malty toffee aroma, vanilla, floral, vinous notes, caramel, hay notes, citrus, banana notes. Malty vanilla flavor, floral, chocolate, hop notes, hay, caramel, some milk notes.
750 ml bottle shared by stevemastny on Bastille Day at his house- cheers, Steve! Pours a clear copper with a small off-white head that instantly settles into film and a small ring. Aroma of caramel malts, leaves, faint funk, metal, and toast. Flavor of caramel malts, toasted brown sugar, leaves, crackers, and mild spice. Light-medium bodied with a malty mouthfeel an medium carbonation. Not my favorite take on a Biere de Garde.
750, corked and baled. Pours a crystal clear rubied medium amber with a loose tan head. Mild grassy floral nose, understated. Creamy medium body, on the light side. Very lively carb. Toasty caramel, grass, and flowers on the mid palate. Not much happening here, good or bad. Tasty and drinkable and forgettable, but refreshing and pleasant.
750ml bottle poured into a snifter. Pours a hazy dark amber with a thin ring of off-white head. Aroma of dark fermented fruit, plums, fruit loops and sugar. Taste is light bitter and light sweet. Plums, dark fruit and some caramel. Medium-full bodied with a thin yet creamy texture. Lively carbonation and a long finish. Overall, not bad. I wouldn’t drink it again but I’ll enjoy this one.
Really wasn’t huge on this one. Aroma is light, fruity, raspberry, malty, vinegar and very light acetic. Color is rich amber, kinda nice, but the flavor is a little off for me. A good malt character, sweetness, very light berry flavors, light acetic. Overall, it definitely wasn’t for me.
750ml bottle pour. Appearance is light copper and hazy. Thin milky head with great lacing. Aroma of flowery hops, malt, toffee, and a little bit of brown sugar. Medium body with some carbonation and a very smooth finish. Flavor is malty with fruit notes and a hint of sherry. Slight alcohol taste at the end, but a very refreshing beer to drink.
Bottle. Pouts mostly clear amber with an average, frothy off-white head, medium retention with excellent lacing. Aroma is heavy caramel and biscuit malt, fruity esters, faint hops, sherry and cellar notes. Flavor is heavy malt, light oxidation, sherry and fruity esters with a dry finish. Medium body, warmth, and carbonation.
Massive caramel and vinegar on the nose. Clear orange with gold on the edges. Drinkable.
Appearance: clear brassy amber with a soft white head slowly shrinking to a thick cap. Aroma: fruit loops, a little hot sauce, and some saison funk. Taste: malty and sweet, with notes of cracker, some spice, and a hint of plum. Finish: crisp, clean, and a bit toasty/malty. Notes: A very nice beer. Drinkable, lively palate. Smelled like it would taste over the top with fruit, but the pleasant malty taste was a nice surprise. Solid.
Pours gold with a lasting white head. Smells of dry malt, some underlying funk, some floral notes, touches of spice on the finish. Tastes of dry malt, slightly fruity, some dry malty hints on the finish.
750ml. bottle purchased at Whole Foods, Tempe, AZ. Pours an amber-coppery color. Moderate head is white. Well carbonated, big pop when uncorked. Aroma is earthy, grassy, apples, malt and restrained floral hops. Taste is malty, honey, caramel, fruit sweetness with subdued background hops. Finish is malty, with some tartness and slight bitter aftertaste. This is a nice refreshing summer ale.
Translucent amber with a thin white head; medium body with medium-high carbonation.
Aroma: toffee malt and a bit of subtle farmhouse funkiness.
Taste: toffee malt, some farmhouse funkiness, faint fruity esters, a leafy citrusy hop bitterness.
Aroma is light and smooth with a hint of alcohol. Appearance is an amber with a small head. On the front end it is smooth but ends with a strong taste of alcohol.
Wow, delicious ale. Overall it tastes like a refined elegant version of Anchor Steam. Really appealing fruity flavor leaning toward peach. Caramel, malty and beautiful delicate hops.
750ml. Malty, toasty, butterscotch, grassy & herbal hops, caramel, subtle medjool date. Elevated carbonation. Malt, toffee, herbal hops, candi sugar. Smooth. Well attenuated. This is an example of the style that I seem to enjoy. Although I appreciate what makes a BdG a good beer, my preference is never for this style. Simple complexity, but not sweet or hamfisted. Brisk, but not too much, carbonation helps to further lighten it up and make it more drinkable. The finish seems to throw a little black pepper along with the herbal hops and a bit of lingering toasted malt flavor.
A-pours a transparent dark caramel color with a light tan fluffy and bubbly thin head that lingers for a little.
S-the nose is plain and simple of caramel and cooked brown sugar with hints of an herbal hop underneath but hard to detect.
T-flavor pretty much the same, notes of toasted malts with roasted brown sugar and slightly burnt caramel. herbal hay like hops faint in the back.
M-syrupy medium body, chewy with big carbonation in the back.
D-malt foward and simple, nothing wrong with it but nothing at all that makes me want to come back.
Bottle. Moderate malt notes of light bread, straw and nutty, moderate dough for the yeast, light flowers for the hops and a hint of honey in the background. Head is average size, fizzy, off-white with no lacing and is fully diminishing. Color is medium clear amber/orange. Flavor starts lightly sweet and moderately acidic, then finishes lightly acidic and moderately bitter. Palate is medium, oily but is hidden by the fizzy carbonation. Nice nuttiness with comparable hop and yeast presence to compliment in this Biere de Garde.
Pours amber with a white head. Aroma is leather, earthy caramel, fruity, and musty. Flavor is sweet caramel, earthy, lightly fruity, with a bit of bitterness.
Sampled from a 750 ml brown corked bottle this beer poured an orange-brown color with a huge creamy beige head that lingered forever and produced good lacing. The aroma was faint tart lemon, nutmeg, cinnamon and yeast. The flavor was tart and tangy with a moderate woody presence and some vague spices. Underneath were notes of bread, nut and an earthy presence. The finish was short, tart and malty. Interesting.
0.75l - Amber liquid under thin tan head, like an IPA in color. Pronounced wood on nose. Candy sugar palate, some hops. Eeh,
750ml bottle -
Aroma - fantastic aroma. Made my wife poke her head in my glass to smell what I was drinking. Citrusy, lightly musty, lots of fruity/honey sweetness with some yeast and baked goods.
Appearance - cloudy orange/brown copper body with a huge fluffed up off-white head.
Taste - shares much in common with the aroma...lots of fruity/honey goodness, some lemongrass, yeast...a bit of minty herbal notes too I think.
Palate - medium bodied, velvety touch, smooth crisp finish...nothing lingering
Overall - a really great BdG, and it went well with the Memorial Day bbq. Price is a bit steep at $10 a bottle though.
Pours amber with a thin foamy off-white head. Notes of phenols, spice, amber malt, caramel, pale malt, earth, and light herbs. Medium bodied with light resin and soft carbonation.
Bottle, sample. Pours copper in color with a small white head. Aroma is subtle herbs, medicine cabinet, sweet bread and must. Mouthfeel is rather light and smooth, riding nice effervescence. Primary flavors are mixed toasted and pale malts, sweet bread, grass, and must. Finish has mild bitterness, but this may be result of alcohol. Not my favorite, but this is a tough style for me.
Pours reddish brown with a nice pinkish beige head and a fruit and toffee aroma . There is a brown ale sort of flavor, but with a little fruitiness. It went quite well with a traditional cassoulet prepared by my lovely wife.
Had a great pour, slightly pink off white head plumes and really sets the beer up. The first smell i got off was quality scotch, earthy with prominent yeast tones. The first sip really sets off the sourdough flavor and has some nice subdued fruit flavors hid behind a fair malt background.
First thing you notice is the crystal clear sienna color. A thick off-white head. Aroma has fruit notes and slight apple vinegar notes. Beer has a wonderful sourdough bread taste along with esters, acetic acid, and slight malty taste. The beer is quite dry, and not as sweet as I would expect in a biere-de-garde. Definitely a unique example of biere-de-garde.
Very malty and with clear yeast astringent tastes, cloudy and foamy but the head does not hold. Some buttery notes and a clean finish
~Fruity malty sweetness with a woody character in the aroma.
~Pours a clear amber color with small off white head.
~Malty toasty flavor, some caramel.
~Slighty dry in finish, med body, med CO2.
~Enjoyable brew. Very sweet but not cloying.