As mentioned in last week's column, the LCBO's Spring beer release has started trickling out into selected locations. It's quite a lean release this time around, featuring only six beers, one of which (Fruli Strawberry Beer) is already available year-round at the Beer Store. Of the remaining five beers, only two are imports: the Duchy Originals Organic Ale that I wrote about last week, and this week's pick, Atlantic au Pineau (LCBO 24372, $3.45/330 mL).
This beer comes from Brasserie des Gabariers, the French brewery responsible for the Cognac-laced XO Beer that has been available in a couple of previous LCBO seasonal releases. XO elicited some pretty strong "love it or hate it" responses from the local beer geeks, and I was one of the ones who actually enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to trying this one. Instead of straight Cognac, Atlantic is infused with Pineau des Charentes, a liqueur that is made by blending Cognac with unfermented grape juice.
Unfortunately, the ingredients list also includes sugar, which means the resulting beverage ends up being more of a sweet apertif or dessert drink than a typical beer. At least it looks like a beer, with a bright golden colour and a massive white head that disappears fairly quickly. The aroma is a bit grassy, suggesting that there are some hops in there, but it's mainly quite sweet - almost cloyingly so - and the body is sticky. The flavour is also very sweet, with strong notes of white grape juice and sugar syrup, and a middling beer behind it.
Like the XO, this is essentially a gimmick beer. It's just that it's a gimmick that doesn't work as well as it's predecessor. Still, it's worth a taste for the novelty value if nothing else. Just don't bother buying more than one - unless, of course, you have a serious sweet tooth and prefer beers that don't really taste like beer.
