La Moneuse

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

Serve in Tulip

Golden in color with a nice white head. Malty fruity aroma. Musty. Flavor is hoppy and fruity. Slight hop note. Complex beer. Finish is malty and hoppy. Good stuff.

The cork explodes from the bottle as soon as the cage is loosened, pouring forth quite a bit of ’gunsmoke’ vapors. Very efferevecent beer, the bubbles start climbing up the neck of the bottle as I sit and watch the vapors rise. Once poured, the bubbles stop trying to climb out of the bottle, but in the glass it is 10% beer and 90% foam. It takes a good long time to reduce as it is continually being added to from the bottom by lots of streams of bubbles. The head is thick and creamy, and colored light beige. Great head retention, fantastic lacing. Tart and funky aroma with hay, citrus, and barnyard. The flavor is tart and yet also has a little carmelly sweetness. Nice mixture of flavors, a little funky but less so than the aroma suggested. Hops are bitter and herbal with hay and lime flavors. Medium bodied (more so than I expected), lively carbonation, and very refreshing.

WOW! somebody said that this was explosive! darn right it is! The cork blew right off when I tempted with the wire, the wire broke and the cork flew (lucky not to kill someone) and a huge amount of foam came flying out of the bottle. I´ve never ever seen something like this before! Huge head, cloudy dark orange color. The aroma is very similar to Saison Dupont, very much outhouse-ish, corn, acres, house animals... even my grandmother who is closing down on her 90´s was intrigued by this and took a sniff of the glass and found the aroma exceptional! I trully agree but there is nothing new in the aroma, after having sampled Dupont and Fantome, oranges stand out by far, and this idea of a barn attic. Taste is very orangey again, some dryness but not overpowering, wheaty, malty, acid, hoppy ... everything you would want in a saison. A really powerful saison and a soul stirring brew. AJ Moneuse would be proud of this

Lively and effervescent. Upon opening the bottle, the head poured out profusely. The color is a rose gold, very clear and full of bubbles. Head is off white, rocky and full and the lacing is nice and clingy. Aroma is fresh, grassy and tart with hints of citrus fruits. Light to medium bodied and effervescent with a tart beginning, fruity middle and a dry wine like finish. Flavor sweetens and mouthfeel becomes more creamy as it warms. A good beer and an interesting representation of the style

UPDATED: OCT 16, 2004 Sampled at Stillen, Genieter in Mechelen, Belgium. Orange. Pungent and punchy nose. Very fruity with notes of orange, grape, coriander and tangerine. Simply exquisite. Soft, round and rather light-bodied, but fitting for the style and fitting for this beer. Flavor profile mainly consists of dried fruits (banana, apricots and peaches) with a hint of caramel and toffee on the finish. I loved this. I think I may go to the brewery next summer.

UPDATED: MAY 13, 2007 Rerate: Wow, this is perfect in the aroma, unbelievable. Spicy. Earthy. A great beer and now my fave over the Special Winter for sure. Original: Absolutely I agree this is more a saison than BSA. And ecrvich is right; these beers are works of art; they have a funky ethereal house character that stirs my soul. This one is similarly herbal and bitter as the Special Noel, but with less of those components; instead this offers cotton-cndy silkiness and a good bit more sweetness than the winter seasonal; yet still very well balanced. Bitter, sweet and challenging - light and the easiest to drink 8% beer I’ve ever had!

Head is initially huge, frothy, off-white, mostly lasting. Body is murky medium amber, dense tiny and small particles, bottle conditioned. Aroma is moderately yeasty (barnyard, cobwebs), moderately hoppy (grass, herbs, lemon), moderately malty (toasted light bread, caramel, cookie), with notes of honey, clove, apple, cinnamon, pepper, apricot, and cask wood. Flavor is moderately sweet, moderately bitter, moderately acidic. Finish is lightly sweet, moderately bitter, moderately acidic. Medium body, creamy texture, lively carbonation, lightly alcoholic. Sheesh. I’m slowly but surely falling in love with this brewer. Another SOLID entry from Blaugies...well-hidden alcohol, rustic farmy aromas, nice brisk tartness that complements the bitterness well here, and great malt character. Deceptively quaffable, and only gets better as it warms. There’s something inexplicably genuine and honest about their beer that warms me from the first whiff I take.

Nice light spice aroma. Orangeish. This is good right away. Lots of spices, grows as it goes. Flavor is very unprepossessing and excellent.