Score: 52/100 – Not Recommended
From a 473ml can served warm into a stemless wine glass. Canned on 28/02/22 – making this two weeks young.
I grabbed a can at a local specialty store knowing they had just received the beer. First official review by Brasserie Mille Iles. Average expectations even if the style has me hyped up.
Appearance 6/6
The beer pours a clear very dark brown with 3cm of frothy, creamy, deep tan head which dissipates into a solid cap within 3+ minutes. Great lacing and good head retention.
Aroma 12/24
Moderate intensity with sharp-ish balance. The aroma is rich and overbearingly dark malt-focused.
Intense black licorice and burnt sugar character overpower anything in their wake. A hint of perfumy alcohol at the back. There’s a suggestion of vanilla but I feel like I’m just imagining it. In addition, a durian-like pungency exists yet remains mostly unexpressed. That must the contribution from jackfruit. No coconut. Severe lack of complexity with most of the special ingredients missing.
The dry nose reveals interesting layers of pungent tropical fruit, dark caramel, and cream. Too little, too late.
Flavour 20/40
Strong intensity with bitter-ish balance and assertive perceived bitterness.
The robust palate opens up with massive salted black licorice character which carries over all the way to the finish… and that’s it. No really, beyond some alcohol and mild roasted barley character I can only taste salted black licorice. And I love black licorice. It’s practically encoded in my DNA. Black licorice is my middle name.
But where’s the coconut? Where’s the vanilla? Whatever happened to jackfruit? Fail. Fine, I guess you could talk about burnt sugar, molasses, and tar in order to paint a picture. This was unexpected.
Mouthfeel 10/10
Full body with low carbonation. The mouthfeel is heavy, mouth-coating, and chewy with restrained alcohol warming and a sweet finish. No astringency or harshness on the palate. Excellent.
Overall 6/20
Brasserie Mille-Îles 5th anniversary Snowbird’s Paradise is a plain disappointment.
Very good appearance but the aroma and overall flavour are beyond rustic. I’m kind of stumped as I can’t remember a time a drank a beer so one-dimensional. This is boozy liquid black licorice in a glass and nothing more. Yes, I’m punishing the score due to false advertisement. Just because you put an ingredient in your beer doesn’t mean you should put it on the label. If you can’t taste a special ingredient, then you need to suck it up and leave it out of the description.
I really like this as a stout but not being able to pick up any of the attributes on the label and paying a high price for a specialty brew leaves me disappointed. Whoever let this pass… you had to pivot and make the most of a less-than-ideal-situation. Sticking to your guns made you look bad.
When you want to make lemonade and life gives you jackfruit, you make a jackfruit-f***ing-smoothie or something and don’t label it as lemonade. Great, I’ve officially turned into a troll. Or maybe it’s old age? In any case, walk away from this one.
Beerfection | Craft Beer Reviews | Montreal, Canada 