It's the end of the world

When I was a late-teenager, I visited Canada with my family. Because the drinking age was quite young there, I was able to legally drink beer. My dad and I decided we'd move beyond the regular Coors Light and try to become more enlightened beer drinkers.

We tried local Canadian beers like Labatt, Molson, Sleeman and other regional brews. They were all essentially light lagers. While they certainly boasted better craftsmanship than Bud and Coors, they weren't exactly cutting-edge craft brews. On a boat tour of the Saint Lawrence River near Quebec City, we ordered a local favorite -- La Fin du Monde.

Our Nebraska taste buds weren't ready for the complex Belgian-style triple. As my dad said, "It tasted sharp." I thought it tasted spicy and almost spoiled.

It tasted, well, like the end of the world.

La Fin du Monde translates literally as, "The end of the world." I still think it tastes that way -- but with a twist. It's a beer you want to taste at the end because it's so complex and rich it puts others to shame.

The beer pours a light gold with a delicate head. It smells yeasty -- almost like elaborate spices. It tastes the same. The yeast strains are so intricate, your tastes buds are almost overloaded. Your head spins trying to figure our what's going on. Then, quickly, the experience is over. The taste ends crisply, leaving you refreshed. You go back for more. Then the 9 percent alcohol hits you. And that's always a good thing.

I eventually did become a more enlightened beer drinker. After getting into Americanized imperial stouts and IPAs, I moved on to Belgian-style beers. Belgians are a trip, and that journey took me back to La Fin du Monde.

I grabbed a bottle at the wonderful Omaha beer store Beertopia this week. I brought it home to my dad. He laughed when he saw it -- both out of the Quebec memory and out of nervousness that I'd make him drink it. I had since broken him in on Belgians a bit, so I thought he might like it. I coaxed him into it.

He took a drink and nodded. "It's good," he said. "Real good."

I guess that trip to Quebec years ago is still giving us some culture.


The details:
Name: La Fin du Monde
Brewer: Unibroue
Beer Advocate rank: 91
Style: Belgian-style triple
Alcohol: 9 percent
Cost: $8 for a 750 ml bottle
My Grade: A
Skinny: If the world were ending, this is one of the last beers I'd want to drink. It's golden in color, packs a spicy, yeasty finish and boasts a nice 9-percent alcohol punch. Perfect for sipping in the summer or early fall. In terms of triples, it ranks only behind Westmalle in my book.