Post number two of today! I am trying to catch-up on missed beers having been sick this past week. I posted earlier today about the Alien Klaw Belgian IPA from Day 5, and now I’ll be doing Day 10. I’ve been happy with the beers for the most part from this calendar. I hope that they continue to be awesome and bring some more unique one-offs.

The beer from day 10 comes to us from a Quebec microbrewery called “Le Grimoire”. It is a Witbier that has been flavoured with Apple and Cinnamon.

Situated in Granby, Le Grimoire has been operating since 2004, they try to make quality beers that take a step outside the normal. Bringing unique and wonderful beers to their patrons. They brew and serve onsite and strive to make both old and new. The story of Le Grimoire begins in 1996 with a trio of friend; Sébastien Dancause, Steve Dancause and Mario Lapointe. This trio were passionate about beer and decided to start brewing at home. In March of 2004, Sébastien learned that a microbrewery was selling it’s old equipment. The trio decided to buy this equipment and open a brewery. Not really knowing how to start, they added a fourth, Dancause’s uncle Michel Thibodeau. He brought a knowledge about business and construction that helped them get things moving.

They continued to grow, eventually buying the location they had originally been renting at 223 Rue Principale in Granby. In 2013 they were struck with a blow as Michel passed away. This didn’t stop them from brewing beer and their passion only grew. In 2015 they expanded buying a different location at 1546 Rue Principale in Granby and this is now the heart of their production. Here they sell their beers, promotional items, and homebrewing supplies. Eventually they hope to have a taproom open at this location as well.  While Le Grimoire does have a number of beers that they brew, and awards that they’ve won, we are trying “Shaman” a Witbier flavoured with apple and cinnamon.

A Witbier is a 500-year-old Belgian style of beer that had originally died out in the 1950s. Revived by Pierre Celis at Hoegaarden, it has grown in popularity and has become quite the popular summer beer. Many of the new breweries here in Winnipeg have a Witbier as a staple beer and have even competed to see who’s got the best wit. This style is an overall refreshing, elegant and tasty wheat-based ale that can bring a variety of subtle spicing. Not overpowering, the spicing in these beers is typically coriander and orange peel. As this one uses apple and cinnamon we can expect it to have the same subtle spice character (not overpowering the beer) but bringing these notes rather then what we’d tradition expect. So, let’s get to it.

Appearance:  Pours a slightly hazy pale straw colour with a nice 2” foamy head.
Smell: Definitely get some of that cinnamon right on the nose as well as a little bit of a vanilla character to it. There is a nice apple character to it right at the finish.
Taste:  Subtle spice notes from the cinnamon and maybe a little bit of apple from it. The vanilla is there as well. Some soft yeast notes and an overall refreshing character to it.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied, good carbonation, refreshing.
Overall: Subtle spice notes from the apple and cinnamon bring a different character to this decent witbier.
Do I like it: I found this to be a simple beer. It brought what I expected and was a little different from many of the other witbiers I’ve had given the spice variation. I didn’t really like it at the end of the day as I found the combination of spices and beer to be not to my liking. This doesn’t mean it was bad, It just wasn’t my cup of tea (or beer in this case).