The Beer Taster's Notebook

Jonathan Thompson

Les Trois Mousquetaires Sticke Alt

Sticke Alt technically means “secret old”, which sounds like unisex deodorant. The Old in Altbier though is more a reference to the old ways, the old methods. Some might prefer to call this tradition. Perhaps a better way to look at this is a special altbier, or a special traditional beer. 

This beer is pretty special indeed. I must confess I somehow missed both the Sticke part as well as the ABV, and dove, somewhat ignorantly, into what I expected to be a bitter but toasty medium alcohol ale identifying as a lager. Wrong.

So it’s a coppery colour, with a vicious head. A proper, down the middle pour, will yield a mousse worthy of a friendship with Rocky, not to mention the rush out the top of the can. I will qualify that while this beer was alive a full ten months after packaging, I purchased it from one of the better LCBO’s who keep their beer in a fridge. The can also indicates aging potential of twelve months. I love the employment of the word potential, but in the age of beer abuse, it may be prudent. 

A lot happens on the nose at first, but the operation is being solidly run by caramel. Like a big bouquet of Werthers. There is some toast, but it lives underneath it all, and any hops, which we will learn are plenty, are mostly drowned out. Despite this caramel dominance, the bitterness here is assertive, maybe even aggressive depending on your leanings. A good comparison here would be a bock or a scotch ale, with a big adamantium backbone of bitterness. It feels like it wants to be chewy, but those aspirations are shattered by the high bitterness. 

My mistake was drinking this directly from the fridge. It needs to be around 7℃. The can even indicated an ideal temperature of 6-10℃ and this is accurate. At those levels it all comes together, the toast comes out, some dark fruit like figs appear, and a warming alcohol is allowed to participate.