La Moneuse

Brewed by Brasserie de Blaugies
Style: Saison
Dour-Blaugies, Belgium

Serve in Tulip

UPDATED: JUL 9, 2008 2005 bottle. Pours a hazy orange with sediment and a massive, fluffy, rocky, white head; settles to a moderate and creamy head with some nice lace. Nose is nice, pleasant, and balanced but a bit faint; full of orange and lemon peels, musty-funky yeast, lightly floral and spicy hops, lightly spicy alcohol of black pepper, and hints at honey and pears. Flavor is similar but ends a bit abruptly; lots of oranges and citrus peels, estery pear notes, a backing musty yeast note, moderate bitterness from the hops bringing some spice notes and light earthy herbs (rosemary?), faint notes of honey and grains. Nice balance of tart fruits, hop bitterness, and spice/herb notes with an "enticing" mustiness backing. Palate is dry, lively, a bit creamy, and medium. Finishes very quickly with bitter flavors of the spicy hops, similar herbs, and still the must notes. One of the most balanced saisons I’ve had and without so much "barnyardy" notes. Flavor ends pretty quickly which was the only aspect i didn’t like so much. Probabaly the best I’ve tried of this solid, yet not great, style.

Bottle Hazy, orange body. Creamy, rocky head. Excellent lace. Very lovely looks. Aroma of oranges, yest, hops, but not very well pronounced. Moderately bitter, lightly sweet flavour: some caramel with some citrus. Very nice balance. I love it. Solid and refined beer.

0.375 l bottle. Amber to brown color with thick head and lots of floaties. Dry, woody, meaty and perfumed aroma with notes of vanilla. Grainy and peculiarly spicy flavor with notes of cumin, vanilla, mint, pepper, wood and meat broth. Very artisanal and musty.

UPDATED: FEB 10, 2008 75cL bottle, from old notes. Big ole gusher of a bottle, cloudy orange in color with huge rocky foam, great retention and lacing. Aroma is fresh peaches with lots of peppery yeastiness. Flavor has lots of big pale malts, earthy hoppiness and absolutely fantastic yeast notes. Mouthfeel is about silk once the carbonation dies down, nice almost tart finish also.

Re-rate on 1/27/08 at Pittsburgh gathering, exact same score, exact same distribution of scores, creepy. Bottle seemed to be a bit fresher and had less tart notes and more of a nice mix of bubble gum and hops in the finish. Thanks to yinzer for sharing.

Caged corked 750 ml. green bottle, I have (2.005) on the short cork, so I’ll assume that is the vintage date, sampled in a tulip glass. Yeast sediment is visible in the bottom. Poured an orange amber hued golden with a large frothy white head that slowly settled into a thin lacing. The laced sticking is light and yeast sediment made into the glass, for me, a near perfect saison appearance. Aromatic nose, earthy spiced yeast, the mustiness is light, clove and pepper, herbal leafy hops, lemons and green pears. The alcohol is well hidden, not noticeable at all. The light body is firm from the active carbonation, smooth, but not soft in the palate. The yeast is prominent in the taste, earthy, peppery and slightly musty. Clove, coriander and aniseedy spices come through in the middle. Sweet pale malts that are mildly grainy with touches of white sugar. Like in the nose, soft pear and squeezed lemon fruitiness. Herbal spicy hops providing a brisk, cutting bitterness. Finishes semi-dry, a mix of pale malts and spice with the yeast tastes lingering in the palate. The alcohol is not noticeable to any degree, making this a little dangerous, an easy quaffer. An excellent saison, if you haven’t checked this brewery’s website, I would recommended it. Contains a brief description, but the explanations for how or whom their ales are named after is informative, this one is darkly humorous.

2005 750ml bottle. Cork is straining the wire cage, it wants out and I will be all to happy to oblige. Served in my NB snifter. Aroma is really nice, it is floral, earthy, and yeasty, with pears, honey, and black pepper. Huge four fingered head sits atop a hazy golden orange beer. Taste, initially, is subtle malt, lemon, spice, and yeast followed by a very strong earthy & spicy flavor. The finish is moderately bitter and mildly tart with some alcohol and black pepper coming through. The lingering flavor is musty, like a damp old shed. This beer has the mild corked flavor that was talked about in Farmhouse Ales. I find it enjoyable, but it lacks some of the drinkability that find in other saisons.

Golden orange-amber in colour, white coloured head, excellent retention and lacing, suspended sediment. The aroma is very bretty, some barnyard, citrus, musty, yeasty with lots of black pepper. The flavour is lemony, yeasty, more brett, herbal and floral hops, pepper spice. Spicy mouthfeel, medium body, high carbonation. Finishes long, dry and spicy. A very easy to remove cork, almost came out without any help. A very lively beer, lots of foam kept coming out of the bottle. An excellent Saison.

750ml bottle from the <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/new-york target=blank>Premier Gourmet in Buffalo, New York for $8.99.
Purchased on August 20, 2007 and opened on September 1, 2007.
Cork reads 2004.

Bottled at Stockholm Beer Festival. Cloudy golden, rich airy head. Minerally and orangey. Densely malty with balanced sweetness. Complex with some indistinct spicynessMinerals and hops dry it out towards the finish. A beer with a balance and richness out of the ordinary.