Brought to you by:
BrewTools Homebrewing iPhone App

Latest Reviews

Double Dry Hopped pseudoSue
Toppling Goliath
Modus Vivendi
Wild Beer Co.
Spaceman
Brewfist

Recent Articles

Shameless
Craft brewer sellouts become as tone-deaf and underhanded as their new overlords. Great Taste Eve
Check out the burgeoning Madison beer scene the night before the best fest in country. Good Beer Makes Good Conversation
The effects of drinking beer worth talking about. The Beers of Walmart
The largest retailer in the world now has its own line of beers. Our Take on the Lagunitas-Heineken Deal
Fuck Lagunitas. archives »

Beer Reviews

La Femme Amére

Tyranena Brewing Company
Lake Mills, WI
USA
http://www.tyranena.com/

Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)

Eddie’s Rating:
   (Recommended)


Comments:
Yet another Belgian-IPA hybrid, this one from Lake Mills, Wisconsin’s Tyranena, La Femme Amére (the bitter woman for those of you non-frog speaking folks out there) named so because this is a “Wisconsin Belgique-style India pale ale” based on Tyranena’s “original” IPA, Bitter Woman.

(Frankly, I think using the French translation of the beer name was a bit of a cop-out, since it would’ve been cooler to use the Flemish term for “bitter woman.” Then again, there aren’t any free Flemish-to-English translation sites out there on the interwebs.)

A short, fizzy head disappears within a few seconds on top of a crystal clear, yellowish red pour. Two big aromas twist out of my trusty Tripel Karmeliet tulip glass, dueling back and forth: spicy Belgian yeast phenols and citrusy American hops. Weird, it seems I can only pick one of them out at a time, without any melding of the two going on.

The sip starts with a surprisingly heavy body alongside a shot of bitterness. Sugar-tinged spiciness cuts some of the harshness out of that bitterness, paving the way for a medium-length, flowery finish.

Although La Femme Amére is certainly tasty, the Bitter Woman bitterness and Belgian yeast character don’t play all that well together, as it seemed each flavor was trying to win over the tastebuds instead of working together to create a new taste altogether. Definitely worth a try to see if it’s more up your alley, and even though I plan on grabbing another couple four packs for the fridge, there are (admittedly only a handful) more interesting Belgian IPA brews out there.

Reviewed by Eddie Glick on June 30, 2010.

Drinkin’ And Thinkin’

Beer Dorks News

AB-InBev lays off 90% of its sales force in "craft" division. Gosh, who'd have guessed massive layoffs were part of their evil plan... My Adidas. The pillar of the American craft beer movement sells out to Japanese giant Sapporo. Message to Minhas: As the only brewer that manages to make worse beer than ABI and Molson-Coors, it's very ironic that you are suing them. Short's sells 20% stake to Heineken. We know how this story is going to end... BA creates label to distinguish true, independent craft beer from faux, corporate-owned "craft" beer. Cheers to that! The aptly named Tenacity Brewing seeks to emerge from the disaster that was the water crisis in Flint, MI. Chicagoans hopeful a recent announcement from Three Floyds will bring a much-desired brewpub to the city. Sam Calagione's brilliant response to the news that an AB/InBev subsidiary is now a part-owner of RateBeer. Wisconsin's Gestapo, the Tavern League, looks to tighten rules that will hurt small brewers.