Hopfenstark Saison Station 7 (Bière aux Herbes)

Brewed by Hopfenstark
Style: Saison
L’Assomption, Canada

Serve in Tulip

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

Draught at Local Option, Chicago. Clear golden - white head. Peppery. Dryness. Apples. Fruity. Light malty. Citrus. Orange. Grainy. Flowery. Light zesty. Nice.

A hazy orange amber ale with a thin off white head. A pleasant fruity aroma with notes of strawberry, light herbal notes. In mouth, a sweetish candy sugar, light solvent, strawberries. Oily mouthfeel. Festival Bières et Saveurs, August 29 2008.

Tap at Saint Bock. Pale golden pour with a thin head. The aroma is soft and spicy. Lightly herbal with a touch of soft berry fruit. Lightly sweet but still a little bit lean on the palate. Fairly spicy aroma with a sort of gruit-like flavour. Soft Belgian malt sweetness. As it warms it integrates quite nicely. Spice and fruit. A nice saison - could be dryer.

First served and enjoyed at Bu au Festival Bière et Saveur 2008. Funky aroma. A great herbal malange of seven herbs that are difficult to tell apart or even guess, though I did get ginger. A lemony sourness mid-sip. Big malt behind the herbs cushioning the mouth. The second batch was also served and was smoother.

UPDATED: JAN 31, 2011 My Bottom Line:
Citrusy herbs are ably balanced throughout this spiced-up, lean half-Saison-half-Gruit, offering constant refreshment and intrigue.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam tops the cloudy beige.
-The chewy cereals provide enough sustenance for the thyme-like herbal bitterness.
-The prickly little bubbles uplift the slender mouthfeel and make this very drinkable.
-The spices are very well blended; it is nearly impossible to tell them apart. This sometimes feels and tastes like a Witbier.

Bottle, and from the tap at Festival Bières et Saveurs.

2010-12-11. Lightly hazy pastel yellow body with a small white head. 3+ Flavour has a sharp bitterness up front with a sort of dandelion/floral bitterness to it. 7+ Aroma is similar, grassy, notes of dandelion, hints of lemongrass. 7+ Smooth average bodied palate is pleasantly carbonated. 3+ Very enjoyable. Tap at Volo, Toronto

On tap at Volo
Aroma: citrus honey with slight farm funk, hints of gooseberry, wild flowers of meadow.7+
Appearance: bright haze on amber brew with medium white snowy cap.4-
Flavour and Palate: Fairly low carbonation , medium bodied. Citrus herbal blend is even more noticeable than in aroma. Grape sourness with hint of tart apple. Spice feel quiet mild. Refreshing and thirst quenching.

UPDATED: JAN 18, 2009 Bottle (750ml) Shared by GregClow with me, blankboy, garthicus and tupalev. Hazy orange, plenty of floaties, and an average lasting creamy off-white head. Incredibly dry and spicy/herbal aroma, with citrus zest and decent malty sweetness. The taste has so much happening - lemon sourness (big up-front hit of sourness, abates quickly), orange zest, grassy bitterness, spicy yeast, and a lingering acidity - note was "fucking awesome!" Lively mouthfeel, acidic, sticky, finishes sour and crisp (if that’s possible) - WANT MORE OF THIS.

In short: A fruity and very herbal/spicy Belgian ale. Ok in small quantity
How: Tap at Vices & Versa
The look: Murky dark dirty golden body topped by a small white head
In long: Nose of herbs and dried fruits. Taste is very fruity and very spicy. Fruity flavours include citrus, orange juice + orange peels, marmalade, dried bananas, pineapples, kiwis, grapefruits. Herbal spiciness is omnipresent and have of lots of spices one would use to make a spaghetti sauce with basil, thyme and more plus some coriander. Finish is all over the place with sweet fruit juice, dry herbal bitterness and a light tart acidity. Not much farmhouse/wild Saison sensation here, probably crushed by all those herbs and spices. Part of it reminded me of those traditional ales that use a bunch of herbs and no hops. The first half of my glass was ok because it is tasty, complex and different. By the second half of my glass however the over-the-top herbal nature of the beer was starting to annoy me. I don’t know how the third half of my glass could have tasted because of the stupid universe and its boring physic laws.

750, capped. Thanks ben and fred! Pours a murky dark amber with a dense and creamy whitish head. Big lemony peachy nose. Creamy medium body with lively carb. Pepper, lemon, and butterscotch on the mid palate. Long creamy lemon pepper finish.