Malheur Brut Reserve

[gothbat]

I stumbled upon this stuff while browsing an online liquor store and was quite intrigued, especially since I'd been wanting some champagne ever since I started thinking about what champagne I was going to buy for New Years. Anyway, I picked it up at a local liquor store (at twice the price (pre-shipping) but hey, there was no shipping charge and I wanted it now...) and was quite surprised. It's not great but it's not bad either. For those unfamiliar this is a beer that is made using the same yeast and fermentation method as champagne. It definitely has a champagne taste in it, at first, but then it starts to get bitter. After I swallow it gets even more bitter and the sweetness and bitterness do not really balance. It was definitely an interesting beer, the up front champagne taste makes it pretty unique to me. Was it worth the $30 I paid? No, but I am glad I tried it. Has anyone else tried this stuff?

The bottle I saw online was selected and bottled to commemorate the late Michael Jackson however I just realized that the bottle pictured on the site is slightly different than mine. The label is the same but the foil on the neck looks similar but not the same. I guess I didn't get the one I was hoping for, perhaps this explains the disparity in price. I was happier when I thought $10 of my purchase was going to Parkinsons Disease research... :/