The French should stick with winemaking

After dinner on our last night in Nice, France last week (we were there for three nights for a long weekend) we stopped by one of the many cafes lining the Cours Saleya (flower market).  The previous night we accidentally ended up in an "Irish Pub" - the most boring of bars that exist in every city in the world - so this night I was quite set on getting something local.  Let's just say the Chimay I had at the Irish Pub (yes, Belgian beer at Irish Pub) the night before sounded really stellar after this bizarre beer we ended up ordering...

The beer we sampled is called Adelscott, and it turns out this beer is made by a brewery on the French/German border not that far south of Luxembourg (but most definitely in France).  It was the only strange name among a list of beers commercially available all over Europe, so trying this was a must.  However, after the first sip I knew this was probably a poor choice.

Confusion, shock and annoyance all in one.  Oh the French.

We've gotten in the habit of doing a quick recording on our camera of tasting notes.  They are as follows...

- Light whiskey aroma on the nose, but not much else
- Extremely sweet on the palate - sweetest beer I've ever had.  I guess it makes sense - the French do love their desserts.
- Malty, and you can pick up the intended whiskey flavor
- Very little effervescence - like a step up from a cask ale
- Sticky aftertaste - almost like you've just had a Red Bull

In short, this is kind of like Innis & Gunn (an unbelievably delicious Scottish beer that is aged in whisky barrels), but in all the wrong ways.  I noted to the camera that this beer had "all the characteristics that could be good, but it's like they didn't try hard enough."  Perhaps the brewmaster was too busy sipping coffee and smoking cigarettes?

And Emily summed it up nicely when I asked what she thought of it:  "If you had too much to drink, this would push you over the edge."

At least the people watching was good:

- Our waiter was high on something and would alternate between twitching, robotic movements and dancing
- A group of high school kids got kicked out of the bar because one of their friends was underage (bear in mind that the legal age is 16)
- Many of the women were ordering huge glasses of some drink that looked like red Kool-Aid.  I have a feeling that would make this beer taste like a 10.

Our visit to Nice was absolutely amazing - including some stellar culinary experiences.  This, however, was not one.

Price:  €6.80 for 33 cl (OUCH!)
Alcohol:  5.8%
Rating*:  1.5 (extra half a point for the effort of at least trying to make something different)


* Rating guide:

1 = Piss water (i.e. Natty Light)

5 = Take it or leave it

10 = Nectar of the gods