Chambly Noire

I picked up a single bottle of this offering by Unibroue at my friendly local Wino Mart. This Belgian-style dark ale-on-lees is named for the black hats of a French battalion who quelled an Iroquois uprising back in 1665. I don’t know how I feel about the moral implications of drinking an ale commerating the squashing of an indigenous uprising by an imperialistic overlord, so I’ll just focus on the beer.

Chambly Noire has a rich, bready nose with malty notes. It pours very dark, ruby-tinged brown with a voluminous tan head that is slow to dissipate but leaves little lacing. The mouthfeel is not particularly coating, almost fizzy, with a smooth finish. It tastes like malty dark bread, with notes of raisins figs. There is a sour breadiness to this ale that, although not entirely unpleasant, would not have me reaching for a second bottle in a hurry. For being dark ale, Chambly Noire doesn’t have a whole lot to say, it is almost boring.

This brew pairs well with the traditional New England boiled dinner and corned beef brisket, where the sourness goes well with the cabbage and potatoes and the spices from the brisket convince the tongue that this ale has more going for it than a pretty label.

The saving grace of this ale is the alcohol content which rolls in at 6.2%. This underwhelming ale might not have a lot of character, but it doesn’t taste particularly boozy, and as such, with enough of these in hand, one could easily find themselves another victim of the imperialist French army.