I'm told that Telenn Du is an extremely commonplace beer in Brittany. This particular bottle was suitcased over to me by the sister earlier this year."Bière au blé noir" is all the description the brewery is willing to give us -- "black wheat" being the local name for buckwheat. It's 4.5% ABV and a dark garnet colour in the glass. The pillowy off-white head and a creamy texture had me immediately thinking of stout as I drank it. That impression is helped by the prominent chocolate and coffee flavours in the foretaste, as well as the tangy hop bitterness. What sets it apart is a spicing which I'm guessing is yeast-derived, giving it a bit of a Belgian feel, with the white pepper of La Chouffe coming to mind in particular. A mushroomy umami effect arrives at the end.
Overall, it's rather good, giving most of the things you might want from a porter or stout. I'm sure they don't drink it by the pint in Brittany, but it would absolutely work.
Sounds lovely John. Guess it is easier to sell such a beer in Brittany which is not as wine drinking as other parts of France.
ReplyDeleteOscar
There was a recent survey of drinking habits in France in which 55% of respondents said they preferred to drink wine and 56% said they prefer to drink beer. The French beer scene is immense. Spain is another country that we associate with wine because that's what they export in volume, but they're beer drinkers themselves.
DeleteThat is an interesting statistic never knew Spain or France were that into beer.
DeleteOscar