I seem to recall that when I was a teenager, it was considered a special treat to drink Canadian beer (usually Molson, though I preferred Moosehead). Barbecues, block parties, and other special events sponsored by parents would always find the coolers stocked with those familiar green bottles. And we made it a point to indulge ourselves, despite the characteristic skunkiness particular to Molson, and the incredible gastric distress that would follow the next morning.

These days, however, Canadian beer seems to have fallen off the radar screen. I can’t remember the last time I drank a Molson, or even saw a Moosehead. And perhaps that’s just as well.

But recently I was introduced to a new breed of beer from the Great White North that has me very excited. La Fin du Monde (French for "The End of the World") is brewed in Quebec by a relatively new (circa 1991) brewery called Unibroue.

La Fin du Monde weighs in at a hefty 9% alcohol by volume (nearly the equivalent of wine!), which may account for Unibroue’s socially responsible tag line, "Drink less, drink better." And like Morretti La Rossa, La Fin is a great example of a strong beer that uses alcohol to its flavorful advantage, as opposed to hoping you’ll simply get too plastered to taste the beer.

Of course, there’s more to this beer than its giddy booziness. La Fin du Monde is apparently one of the premiere examples of increasingly popular Belgian Trappist-style ales that are being brewed in North America. (I was unaware of this movement until reading about it in my "research.") This beer is triple fermented--twice before bottling, and a dose of yeast in the bottle for a third round—which gives it a very original, complex flavor in addition to some serious alcoholic muscle. What’s more, the beer is filtered only to the point of "partial clarification," which gives it a somewhat cloudy, yet nicely golden appearance in the glass. Unibroue claims it takes eight weeks to brew their beer, as opposed to 10-20 days for typical mass-produced swill.

I’ve had mixed experiences with la Fin’s taste. The first time I had it was in a restaurant, and the beer had some time to "breathe" and warm up a bit before I drank it. Plus, it was accompanied by food. It tasted spectacular—a little bit sweet, almost fruity, and very rich and full-bodied. I was hooked. When I picked up my own 4-pack at the local distributor, however, I drank it quite cold and quickly poured, without food. My first impression this time was that it smelled like strong cider, and the alcohol seemed to overwhelm the other flavors (like a beer with a shot poured into it). As it sat and warmed a little, though, all the great characteristics I remembered from the restaurant emerged again. Whew!

After doing some research on Unibroue’s website, I came across some information that was not only astounding, but supports the contention most of us have held for so long anyway—that beer is actually good for you. Here are some examples of what Unibroue says about their beer:

• Partial clarification/filtering helps the beer retain ingredients that are high in protein. Forget that soy protein smoothie—crack open a brew!
  
• The yeast used in bottle-fermentation (known to brewers as "lees" and previously referred to by me as "veg-a-mite") is an excellent source of B vitamins. Toss those Flinstones chewables, and crack open a beer!
  
• Triple fermentation and partial clarification make La Fin du Monde more shelf stable and less prone to skunking due to shifts in temperature. In fact, Unibroue states that their beer can hang around for 10 YEARS and that the flavor will be "reminiscent of Port." Cheesum crow!
  

Unibroue has a dozen beers in their product line, and I’d be interested in trying the others. In the meantime, I recommend you pick up some La Fin du Monde for yourself (a 4-pack goes for about $7.50), and remember to let it settle and warm a little before drinking. Try it with food, too. It just may change your mind aboot the beer those canucks are brewin’, eh!

Beer Menu: Pick One Abita Amber Abita Purple Haze Abita Turbo Dog Alaskan Amber Anchor Liberty Ale Anchor Steam Anheuser World Select Aventinus Dunkel Weizenbock Bass Ale Beamish Irish Stout Beck's Oktoberfest Bitburger Boddington's Pub Ale Breckenridge Avalanche Ale Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout Brooklyn Pilsner B to the E Bud Light Budweiser Caffrey's Irish Ale Carta Blanca Coors Light Corona Extra DeGroen's Dunkles DeGroen's Weizen Dos Equis Fat Tire Amber Ale Flying Dog Doggie Style Pale Ale Fuller's 1845 Ale Grant's Lazy Days Guinness Stout Hard Core Hard Cider Harp Lager Heineken Special Dark Hoegaarden Imperial JW Dundee's Honey Brown Killian's Irish Red La Fin du Monde Michelob Winter Sampler Pack Michelob Ultra Modelo Especial Moretti La Rossa Murphy's Irish Red Negra Modelo New Amsterdam Black & Tan North Coast Old No. 38 Ommegang Otter Creek Copper Ale Pabst Blue Ribbon Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen Paulaner Salvator Doppelbock Penn Dark Lager Penn Pilsner Pete's Wicked Oktoberfest Pete's Wicked Strawberry Blonde Pete's Wicked Summer Brew Pete's Wicked Winter Brew Pilsner-Urquell Presidente Pyramid IPA Rolling Rock Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat Samuel Adams Cream Stout Samuel Adams Octoberfest Samuel Adams Pale Ale Samuel Adams Spring Ale Samuel Adams Summer Ale Samuel Adams Weiss Beer Samuel Adams Winter Classics Sapporo Shiner Bock Shiner Summer Stock Shiner Winter Ale Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Singha Spaten Oktoberfest St. Arnold Christmas Ale St. Arnold Spring Bock Superior Tecate Tequiza Trippel Belgian Style Ale Woodchuck Granny Smith Cider Young's Oatmeal Stout Young's Old Nick Barleywine Ale Yuengling