“La Morsure”: A Transition IPA
World’s Best IPA in 2014, then Bronze Medal at the same competition in 2016, La Morsure (“The Bite”) comes from Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada. More precisely from Le Trou du Diable, a microbrewery launched in 2006 (seven employees then, close to a hundred today). For more specific details, see “Rightly Poised.”
This “Bite,” according to the brewery’s website, is a “compulsive strong ale.” If I understand that correctly, this beer should produce an irresistible urge, a compelling craving embedded in my mind. So I had to try this nice looking, hazy IPA…
Let’s say from the outset that this beer does indeed bite, at 77 IBUs. Yet what a priori is an aggressive beer finally proves to be very tranquil, especially compared to its inspirational model, an American IPA.
It’s a well balanced and round beer; I must say that the aromatic palette is top-quality. I do like it, but it’s really the announcement that bothers me. My advice is to quickly forget that it’s an American IPA. Then you’ll appreciate this little bite for its true worth: a moderate English IPA (6.5% ABV) whose reserved bitterness leaves room for flavours of caramel and resins.