Eats Writes Shoots

Living & Tasting Life's Passions

  • Home
  • Eats
    • Beer
      • Hopped & Bothered Reviews
      • Beer Reviews
        • Amber/Red Ale
        • Bitter
        • Blonde
        • Brown Ale
        • Farmhouse (Saison)
        • Pale Ale
          • India Pale Ale (IPA)
          • Double (Imperial) IPA
          • Imperial Black IPA
          • American Pale Ale
          • English Pale Ale
        • Lager
        • Scotch Ale
        • Seasonal and/or Specialty
          • Beer with Fruit
        • Stout
          • Imperial Stout
          • Milk Stout
        • Wheat Ale
        • Winter Beers
    • My CSA Challenge – 2013 Edition
    • Recipes
      • Appetizers
      • Breakfast
      • Baking
        • Dessert
          • Cookies
      • Drinks and Cocktails
      • Egg
      • Fish
      • Gluten-Free
      • Lunch
      • Mains
        • Asian
          • Thai
        • Barbecue/Grilling
        • Beef
        • Fusion
        • Greek
        • Italian
        • Lamb
        • Mediterranean
        • Mexican
        • Pasta
        • Pork
        • Poultry
        • Veal
        • Vegetarian
      • Preserves
      • Salad
      • Side Dish
      • Soup
  • Writes
    • Canadian Food Experience Project
    • Poetry
    • The “Benjamin” Project
  • Shoots
  • About the Author
You are here: Home / Beer / Beer Reviews / “Corne de Brume” (Scotch Ale), À l’abri de la Tempête

“Corne de Brume” (Scotch Ale), À l’abri de la Tempête

February 16, 2013 by Dale Leave a Comment

Corne de Brume (Scotch Ale), À l’abri de la TempêteHere’s a brewery, À l’abri de la Tempête, that I’ve been tantalizingly saving to re-explore since I tasted one of the most striking beers of my life: that beer was La Belle Saison. Based on the two I’ve now tasted, this is an amazing brewery and one which is all the more impressive owing their location. The brewery is all about sustainable development and agriculture and which I highly approve — what amazes is that they they achieve this whilst located on Iles-de-la-Madeleine (i.e. the Magdalen Islands), a very small archipelgo of islands in the Gulf of the St. Lawrence. A pristine area with less than 15,000 people, it is also blessed with a challenging growing climate: cool and damp. It’s an area I’ve long wanted to visit and yet feel fortunate that I’ve got a chance to visit it through their amazing beer export.

Yet as amazing as La Belle Saison was to taste, given our own season and my focus on winter beers, I thought it made sense to start introduce my blog to À l’abri de la Tempête via their winter beer: “Corne de Brume,” or foghorn.

I knew before I flipped this cap that this was going to be a consummate winter beer. At 9% and with “Strong Beer” on the label, this could either go well … or very badly. I knew I’d either end up with a boozy bunch of spices and caramels or I’d end up with something that navigates all those strong components and finds balance in a storm. I’m happy to say that Corne de Brume achieves the latter … and it navigates it with grace and aplomb, like a ship navigating the dangerous, fog enshrouded shores of the Iles-de-la-Madeleine.

Poured into the glass, it is a filtered beauty. It looks dark, to be sure, but hold it up to the light and you’ll be impressed by its deep, deep (very deep) dark red colour. Darker than a blood red, ruby port, but still unmistakably red. The carbonation is light and and delicate and the lacing produced slides down the glass effortlessly as it wanes. The aroma reminds me of black treacle: there are huge sugars in the smell. But unlike some of the sugary strong beers I had at Le festibière d’hiver, this one isn’t “sickly” sweet or cloying. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a “bitter” beer, though it has some good hops that cleanse the end – but the malts don’t overpower as much as they’re present to impress and coat the palette. The upfront taste starts with some dark, dried fruit like prunes or currants and then finishes with the sweetness of a Medjool date. I’d say there is a little clove in there as well. Mostly, though, it is a very beautiful dark roasted malt, almost toffee, that is sustained throughout.

There is definitely a watery essence to this beer which is strange to be experiencing at all in a beer that weighs 9%. Generally I’d take points off for this absence of a mid-taste, but in this case, I give it high marks because it is this absence, I’d conjecture, that allows this big, strong, dark beer to be so very drinkable. And if you’re going to pay $7 for regular-sized bottle of beer (note: that is not $7 in a pub – that’s $7 from BroueHaHa), then you want to enjoy it right to the end. I also give them marks for putting this strong ale in a right-sized bottle, perfect for one person. And I give them many marks for making me a lover of a Scotch Ale, something I’ve typically not enjoyed. All in all, this is a balanced beer that I personally think hits the mark very well and it has to be the easiest drinking strong beer I’ve ever had.

Stats:  Scotch Ale. 9% ABV. L’Étang du Nord, Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec.
Colour: Dark, dark ruby red.
Mouth Feel: Minimal carbonation, watery mid-taste, and creamy.
Purchased:  Quebec (e.g. BroueHaHa)

87 points

Share this:

  • Share
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Filed Under: Beer Reviews, Eats, Scotch Ale Tagged With: À l’abri de la Tempête, Brouehaha, Corne de Brume, foghorn, food, Iles-de-la-Madeleine, L’Étang du Nord, La Belle Saison, Le Festibière d’hiver, Magdalen Islands, malt, microbreweries, Quebec, Review, Scotch Ale, Strong Beer, Winter, Winter Beer, winter beers

« Love Joined
Spring Snow »

I would love to read your comments ....Cancel reply

30 Poems in 30 Days – Global Poetry Writing Month (2022)

  • A Love Song

    A Love Song
  • Chosen

    Chosen
  • Wormwood

    Wormwood
  • Bashert

    Bashert
  • Lumber Dog

    Lumber Dog
  • Aisling for the Land

    Aisling for the Land
  • Hard Boiled Boy

    Hard Boiled Boy
  • The Blasted

    The Blasted
  • Sense of Time

    Sense of Time
  • We Reflect

    We Reflect
  • A Family Grown

    A Family Grown
  • Fly — Away

    Fly — Away
  • Curtains

    Curtains
  • A Question Heard

    A Question Heard
  • The Storm

    The Storm
  • A Dis-Ode to the Mushoom

    A Dis-Ode to the Mushoom
  • Bun in the Oven

    Bun in the Oven
  • The world don’t owe you nothing

    The world don’t owe you nothing
  • the syrphid

    the syrphid
  • Osborne

    Osborne
  • Love is not a Word

    Love is not a Word
  • Meta

    Meta
  • Super-Pop

    Super-Pop
  • footprints on the sands of time

    footprints on the sands of time
  • Spring Grows

    Spring Grows
  • Neptune’s Recline

    Neptune’s Recline
  • Red Light, Green Light, Stop

    Red Light, Green Light, Stop
  • Wuthering Heights

    Wuthering Heights
  • Afterwinter

    Afterwinter
  • The Story of a Dog

    The Story of a Dog

Recent Posts

  • A Love Song
  • Chosen
  • Wormwood
  • Bashert
  • Lumber Dog

Join My Community

Simply enter your email address and never miss another post.

Join 827 other subscribers

2012-2022 © Dale Schierbeck.

All rights reserved. All material and content is the original property of Dale Schierbeck and “EatsWritesShoots” 2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and owner is strictly prohibited. Links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author (“Dale Schierbeck”) and the site (“EatsWritesShoots”) and with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Connect with Me on Facebook

Connect with Me on Facebook

Top Posts & Pages

  • Recipe for Low-Phosphorus Dog Food ~ Caring for a Dog with Chronic Renal Failure
  • Ben ~ In Memoriam
  • Homemade Super Dog Food ... aka Ben's Breakfast
  • Adjustments
  • My Canadian Eyesight

Join the Conversation

  • mb on Ben ~ In Memoriam
  • Dale on Ground Beef Tacos
  • Nicholas Robert Parkes on Ground Beef Tacos
  • Molly on Recipe for Low-Phosphorus Dog Food ~ Caring for a Dog with Chronic Renal Failure
  • Dale on Chosen

RSS Feeds

RSS feed RSS - Posts

RSS feed RSS - Comments

Archives

Categories

Copyright © 2025 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress

 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d