These are the beers that I picked up on my visit to La Cave à Bulles in Paris. Brewer Anthony Baraff ( who doesn’t actually work in the shop) was very helpful in helping me choose from the huge selection.
I started off with the bigger bottles while I was still in Paris for two reasons, obviously they were the heaviest when your baggage gets weighed and the beer choices in the Disney resort are limited to say the least. Simon Thillou, the proprietor of La Cave à Bulles was involved in the making of Train To Mars. It’s a very hoppy saison brewed with Mosaic, Aramis ( a French hop) and Simcoe. I liked it as it fulfilled a need in me that had been left gaping after some underwhelming Belgian IPAs.
Monk from Deck and Donohue is an altogether maltier affair. It’s a delicious chocolatey English style brown ale.
I am happy to report that the remaining bottles made it home intact. I was keen to try the other beer brewed by Anthony Baraff at Le Brasseurs du Grand Paris; Smoke on the Water. It’s a smoked pale ale but it’s not killed with smoke and the fruity hops are able to shine through.
I also enjoyed Etoile Du Nord from Brasserie Thiriez, it’s another hoppy saison which is easy to drink but I slightly preferred the Train To Mars.
La Brasserie Du Mont Saleve’s Mademoiselle Aramis IPA makes great use of the titular French hop. It’s an unusual hop, more fruity than bitter. I love it.
From the same stable I had a Sorachi Ace Bitter. It’s only 2.5% and once again the hops dominate, I’m a fan of Sorachi Ace but sadly I found it lacked body, I was missing the malt that I thought would balance the beer out. I’m glad I tried it but I wouldn’t be in a rush to have it again.
Yesterday was Easter Sunday and it was the first day this year that I was able to sit out in the garden and sip a beer. I went with the last bottle from my small French stash: La Ri Oule Simcoe from Brasserie De La Vallee Du Giffre. I’m a simcoe lover and it worked really well here making for a very drinkable IPA. I hope I’ll be able to get my hands on these beers again, if you’re heading for France this year you know what to look out for and once again I recommend having La Cave à Bulles, Paris on your itinerary. Sláinte!