Great Lakes Brewing 25th Anniversary Belgian Saison

Brewed by Great Lakes Brewing (Ontario)
Style: Saison
Etobicoke, Canada

Serve in Tulip

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750 ml bottle from LCBO, served at cellar temperature in a tulip glass.

App.: Clear golden with a nice off-white head. Aroma: Esters, wheat, some citrus, some peppery, spicy notes, floral/perfumed, sweet-smelling, light minty herbals??, a bit yeasty, interesting and fairly true to style. Palate: Medium body, lively effervescence. Flav.: Plenty of esters, light sweet, floral honey, still fairly floral and perfumed with light citrus notes, wheat and yeasty notes, a bit of alcohol; dry with moderate bitterness and a long, complex finish with lots of esters, peppery herbal notes, a bit of alcohol and a fair bit of citrus.

Very competent.

Clear golden pour with a frothy white head and clinging lace. Spice clove, citrus flavour. Sweet bitter palette. Tangy with hint os honey.

Big 750ml brown bottle, cellared for half-a-year. Pours a hazy golden colour with a soapy head that disappears moderately and some streaky foam lacing is left. Lots of oranges in the nose and other citrus fruits. Soft Belgian Ale yeast and honey as well. Medium-light bodied and mostly wet. Mild peppery hop at first sip, with the citrus and cereal grain in the middle, finishing with the Belgian Ale yeast and notes of pepper and maple lingering. Nothing too crazy here, but a decent brew overall. For fans of witbier with a slight different approach.

In short: A semi-rustic blond ale with spiciness and herbal character.
How: Bottle 750ml, consumed relatively fresh 2 or 3 months after the beer release.
The look: Cloudy dark blond body topped by a persistent small white head.
In long: Nose is phenolic, a bit rustic, cereals, herbal hops, medicinal notes. Taste is grainy sugary pale malts, a bit fruity (usual array of Belgian blond ale fruity flavors), rustic notes going in the dusty rug direction, a bit spicy (white pepper, some herbs), crushed aspirins. Medium body, medium carbonation. Some nice flavors and some off-flavors and I found the combination of everything to be very drinkable even if a bit flawed. Nothing exceptional here but it is a beer and it is quite drinkable and I like to drink beer and if you see me doing something other than drinking beer then you can be certain that I’m thinking about a way to get out of this situation so I can drink a beer.

(750ml bottle from the LCBO) Poured a slightly hazy deep gold with a huge head of fairly large bubbles which lasted a while but left only light lacing. Aroma herbal, yeast that’s more bready than funky, grainy malt, little bit of citrus zest, spice. On the palate, grass and coriander comes through over the yeasty bread, lightly sweet at the start. Mid-palate on, dry and zesty with pepper, coriander, spices, light citrus, lingering grain and a light barnyard funk. Finishes herbal and fairly dry. Acidic and bright overall, with a medium-light body and extremely active carbonation that is high and sharp even for the style. This is a decent saison but, like No Chance for Miranda which seems to be the draft prototype for this, is not the most exciting beer.

[4647-20120812] Cask. Light yeasty fruit aroma has a bit of a leaf hint. Slightly hazy, light orange brown body with a quick foamy white head. Bitter yeasty grains flavour has a bit of a zing. Medium body. Interesting. (6/3/7/3/12) 3.1
(Festival @ Roundhouse, Toronto, ON)

Hazy gold pour with a monstrous head. After waiting a while for that to die down, I got some barnyard funk,yeast, coriander, grass and spice in the aroma. Tastes of grass, coriander, pepper, yeast, the bit of funk I got in the aroma wasn’t here sadly. fairly sweet for a Saison. Lighter body, good carbonation. I still wouldn’t turn it down on a hot august afternoon.

750 ml bottle. Pours a foggy whitish blonde with a nice, resilient white head, Smell is hoppy, coriander. Taste is extremely yeasty, bread, coriander, fruity (mostly citrus), sweetbread. Finish is a good, solid lemon bitterness, some floral hops, fruity. Body is medium to strong. Soft, creamy mouthfeel. Solid saison.

Bouteille 750ml. De couleur dorée et voilée. Nez de levures fruitées (agrumes) et épicées (léger de coriandre, notes de clou de girofle et de poivre doux) avec des notes sauvages, moyen de pain et de céréales sucrées, léger de houblon floral et herbeux (herbes fraîches) avec des notes de blé. Moyennement ronde en bouche avec un pétillement moyen-élevé ainsi qu’une texture aux faibles notes crémeuses. Goût de levures fruitées (agrumes et zestes, traces de pêches), épicées (coriandre, léger de poivre, traces de clou de girofle), légèrement sauvages et terreuses lors de l’entrée en bouche auquel se rajoute un goût de grains de céréales avec un moyen goût de pain frais, un léger goût de blé et de faibles notes de miel. Parallèlement, l’on retrouve une légère-moyenne amertume de houblon, d’abord floral puis graduellement plus herbeux (herbes fraîches) jusqu’en finale. Post-goût long-moyen et moyennement sec, légèrement amer de houblon floral et herbeux avec un goût de levures fruitées (zeste d’agrumes bien présents) et épicées.

pours hazy light yellow-grey-ish with a nice white head, some retention and lacing. citrus, herbal, wheat, tropical grassiness, light acidity, spiciness - peppery mouthfeel. hint of sweetness and booze. lively, light body, very nice herbal-citrusy finish. somewhat quaffable and good!