La Voie Maltée Grincheuse Orange

Robe blonde voilée surmontée d’une mousse blanche mince en dentelle qui persiste. Arômes de levures et d’agrumes. Saveurs de citron, de mandarine, de blé, de levures, de fumé et de pain.

Sampled on tap at Vices & Versa. Pours a cloudy orange color with a thin white head. Good aroma of flowers, fruits and caramel. The flavor is pleasant with its flowers, fruits and caramel but if you consider this a saison it’s too sweet and there’s no farmhouse character. The body is light with an oily texture and gentle carbonation. This is a good belgian strong ale, not a saison IMHO.

On tap at Vices & Versa, hazy yellow honey hue, with an off-white head, yeasty fruity nose of ripe apples, spicy cinnamon note, and a mild wineyness aroma follows through on a medium-bodied palate with a fruity winey acidic character, with some ripe apples fruitiness, hint of yeastiness, leading towards a mild fruity tart finish. Problem, problem here!

Draught pint at Vices et Versa with Olivier on 8/25/06.
Hazy, almost cloudy, opaque orange liquid has some slight rusty tints as well as bronze and brass. Off-white head is small and rather quickly recedes to a ring then nothing.
Before I even have the glass at nose level to take a sniff, highly fruity, moderately tart esters and phenols rush up to greet me. Almost brett-like and reminding me much so of Fantome saison. Further sniffing reveals a heavy mineralic nature from the yeast, almost dirty and chalky, but intertwined with biscuity and doughy malts so at to make it passable. The fruitiness is very lively and bright, being something like lime, peach, mangoe and apple. Some honey softens things as it warms, but the fruit esters recede somewhat and leave more yeastiness. Minimal hops, though they are notable, are lightly grassy/herbal, not overly bitter. Strong hard water-like character. If someone told me this was a Fantome-clone, based on the nose, I’d believe it.
The flavor encounters some problems on the finish, certainly, but before getting to that, there is a most delightful opening. The Fantome fruity-tartness is here, dry and intricate, being weaved about soft pils malt with that lovely hard, unforgiving calcium character. An almost orange marmalade-like note provides a light bitterness as the fruit slowly fades. Some grainy, biscuit malt character is glimpsed for a second but then a thick, cement-powder-like and dirty, dusty yeastiness hits hard on the end, giving the beer an abrupt finish. Certainly not an appropriate flavor. The mouthfeel is suitable for a saison, being somewhat watery on the end, but unfiltered and supportive, with low, but mildly tingly carbonation allowing easier drinking. It could be more engaging, for sure.
Some theorize that the brett-like influences are an infection, pointing especially to the dirty, bacterial finish, while others (myself included) feel it was intended by the brewer. I just don’t see how an infection would produce such pleasant and Fantome-esque character, though I will admit the finish is puzzling. There is a bit of fatty acid oiliness too, not sure where that fits in. Nonetheless, I give the brewer credit for producing a much truer Belgian/farmhouse ale than 99% of the other Quebec brewers. What an intrigue!

Slightly cloudy golden body with a short-lived white head. Fruity yeast character is dominant (orange, apricots, mangos). Then comes the finish where the hops and the fruity character of the beer are very well balanced to create a nice fruity bitterness. Really good when very cold. As it warms up the carbonation became too soft and the body too oily. I thought it was pretty good, and it makes sense that Mr Grumpy likes Miss Grumpy.