People are always asking me what my favourite beer is.
No wait, that’s actually not true at all. I’ve never, ever, not once, been asked what beer I like. I’m not upset about that, because I don’t see myself as the James Halliday of beer (though if that job is vacant, I’ll happily put in the training required to fill the position). Instead I feel like an enthusiastic amateur.
And this enthusiastic amateur’s favourite beer is La Fin Du Monde from Canadian brewer Unibroue, a bottle of which I bought at a local bottle shop about two months ago and had been waiting for the right moment to try.
When’s the right moment? When my wife has gone out for dinner on a Friday night and I’m at home by myself. See, she always wants to try whatever beer I’m drinking (it’s a process that has broadened her beer horizons a fair bit) and I love this beer so much that I simply didn’t want to share it with anyone.
I know some readers in Australia may be going ‘‘you bought a Unibroue beer in Australia? Surely you are bullshitting me. Please tell me you’re bullshitting me’’.
Nope, I’m not.
I know beers from Unibroue are exceptionally hard to find. I don’t really understand the machinations of beer companies but I understand Sapporo took over the Canadian brewery in about 2006 and some time after that said ‘‘screw you Aussies, we’re going to concentrate on the US and Canadian markets from now on’’.
My brother had been drinking their beers at the time and was not happy to find stocks had dried up. But he was happy when I discovered a cache of Unibroue in Wollongong – at a bottle shop in Unanderra.
He came down and bought heaps of the stuff and, figuring there must be something worthwhile here, bought a few myself.
And one of them was La Fin Du Monde, which my high school French (I was dux of Year 12 (that’s not as scholarly as it sounds, there were only six in the class)) tells me means ‘‘the end of the world’’.
I also picked up a bottle of Maudite and the oddly named Terrible, which prompts me to imagine the following conversation:
‘‘I had a new beer last night.’’
‘‘Really, what was it?’’
‘‘Terrible.’’
‘‘Oh, that sucks.’’
Anyway, I cracked open the La Fin Du Monde and loved it. So much so that I went and bought another one. The very one I’m sneakily drinking now while my wife is out.
And oh, jeez it’s good. The colour is a very appealing cloudy, dried apricot colour. There’s a wonderful yet subtle fruity aroma and then comes the fun part – drinking it. There’s delectable flavours of orange peel overlaying hints of spices like coriander. But the thing I love most is the wonderfully soft mouthfeel. It’s quite unlike any other beer I’ve had.
My last post was about deceptively high alcohol beers, and this is certainly one of them. There’s absolutely no way this tastes like a 9 per cent beer. And yet, that’s what the label says.
For mine, this is truly a sessionable high alcohol beer. And a undeniable work of genius.
Would I drink it again?: Goddamn right I would.