Expectant musty farmhouse funk and tart lemon-dried bittering bring Belgian-like sour ale nature to rocky beige-headed saffron-hazed medium body. Phenol raw-honeyed nectarine, pineapple, banana, and curacao orange fruiting receives resinous hop-dried barnyard-horsehide astringency. Too harshly metallic and weirdly herbal to capture crossover attention.
Tag Archives: saison
ITHACA COLD FRONT BELGIAN-STYLE AMBER ALE
Conflicted winter ’09 release closer to funky fungi-scented farmhouse ale than ‘saison yeast’-injected amber ale (with strangely off-colored tan-headed brown-bodied appearance). Leathery smoked salami snippet fades out rapidly as inadequate prune-date souring and perplexed brown sugared banana-clove trifle prove less fruity than Saison styling indicates. Leafy earthiness lambastes warbled spicing, resinous backdrop, and cigar ash hint.
VICTORY HELIOS
Pour slowly hazy golden summery saison or billowy foam will coat glass of moderate-bodied compost-scented Belgian-styled farmhouse ale. Fulsome carbolic spritz indulges black-peppered grassy-hopped bittering, nearly overwhelming candi-sugared lemony grapefruit tang glistening above creamy mildness and dry earthen floral nuance. Tart lemondrop finish lingers over tertiary peach, apricot, and green grape illusions.
THE BRUERY SAISON DE LENTE BELGIAN SAISON ALE
Reliant on fresh farmhouse brettanomyces, this busily complex tawny golden peculiarity brings musty earthen minerals to herbal-spiced fruit-dried acidity. Candy-caned lemon-bruised tartness secures leathery horse-blanketed alfalfa-rosemary-sage-wildflower illusions and dry-hopped twiggy twine tousle.
GREEN FLASH SAISON
AVERY TWELVE SAISON ALE
Quite elaborate sunny-yellowed pearly-headed citric seasonal celebrates 12th anniversary by letting unripe juniper,blueberry, and green apple adjuncts inform early white ale effervescence. In turbid midst, aromatic eucalyptus-peppermint freshness picks up jasmine, lavender, and chamomile accents. For brisk finish, grapefruit rind and orange pith persevere.
FANTOME SAISON D’EREZEE – HIVER
Expressive hazily copper artisanal farmhouse ale brings bold 8% alcohol jab to initial Granny Smith apple tartness, secondary green grape souring, and tertiary prune-fig dryness. Earthen mineral-grained pomegranate interlude lamentably whisked away by leathery cork aridity and dank cellar acridity. Fantome, like many fine Old World Belgian breweries, enjoys experimenting within the expanding boundaries of beer styling.
WEYERBACHER MUSE FARMHOUSE ALE
Unbalanced funky barnyard ale remains astringent as raw-grained earthiness and grassy hay parch drench off-putting rye-dried white-peppered lemongrass herbage to sour lemon finish. Wood-lacquered burnt rubber hint further ruins moderate-bodied saffron-hazed treachery. Better supplemental sugar malting needed.
(BALADIN) WAYAN SAISON STYLE ALE
FANTOME SAISON D’EREZEE – PRINTEMPS
Temporal white-wined Chardonnay dryness secures lasting green apple tartness and variable lemony grapefruit souring of straw-hazed dry-bodied Saison. Floral rose-saffron waft appends musty barnyard, horse blanket, and fresh-cut hay peripheral to black-peppered fruit-tannic finish. Shake up bottom yeast sediment to expose honeyed medicinal lushness.
YARDS SAISON BELGIAN STYLE ALE
Nondescript fizzy Seltzer lightweight needs better coriander-spiced orange peel thrust, deeper malt penetration. stiffer peppery hop sway, and tarter floral-dried lemon-apricot-grapefruit medley. Lazy, hazy, pale-toned session beer suffers further when horse-blanket mustiness lessens sweet banana nose and candied coriander-clove sensation. Belgian yeast influence indiscernible.
(BLAUGIES) DARBYSTE ALE
Brewed with complimentary (instead of dominant) fig juice, vinous viscous-coppered Belgian retains fluffy white head, clumped yeast sediment, and sharp cider tartness. Pungent grapefruit-dried tangerine-peach tang compels sulky sour grape acidity and cork-y herbal pinch to soak up honeyed malt sweetness. A bit too sudsy as an after dinner drink.

