Saison de Pipaix

Brewed by Brasserie à Vapeur
Style: Saison
Leuze-Pipaix, Belgium

Serve in Tulip

This was a truly beautiful beer. thick cheese cloth lacing with a hazy orange pour, but this just comes alive in the nose, with strong herbal and floral scents, a bit of garden spices, but very fresh. Just a bit of sour funkiness and wet blanket on the palate. Lots of fruits intertwined with a biscuity fruit glazed malt. This was highly enjoyable.

No idea of the age of this bottle, but everything about it is earthy and cellared, from the torn and faded label, to the corroded, moist cork that disintegrated and fell into the bottle when I opened it - hazy, peach-colored beer, with a soapy, lasting head - very musty and earthy aroma, with ginger, orange peel, anise, fairly strong tartness, faint biscuit-like character, some mild white wine-like tannins, and subtle background funkiness (very interesting aroma - I’ve been smelling the beer for five minutes now and haven’t taken a sip yet) - the flavor starts off with some interesting white wine character, moderate acidity, some tart, almost sour citrus character - afterwards, the spices settle on top of softly sweet malts and a biscuity character, and over time gradually impart a spiciness - however, the mild, earthy tartness always remains underneath, as does a very subtle funkiness - lots of wood/cork throughout - probably one of the most interesting flavor and aroma profiles I’ve encountered in a somewhat straightforward saison - I want to buy a case of this stuff and open one per year to watch how this develops.

Corked and capped 750. Hazy orange amber with a big white head. Lightly spiced nose, ginger and mild orange, somewhat woody and biscuity, mildly funky. Mildly dry. White sheet of lace. A bit of toastiness, particularly toward the bottom of the bottle. Nice stuff!

750ml bottle. found on clearance for 3.99! pours hazy glowing amber with white head. aroma is fruity and spicy, ginger, orange peel, anise, coriander, and red apple peel. flavors are sweet red apple, orange, pepper, ginger, and biscuit. a musky and almost sour, and slightly tangy finish. a light body with lively and sometimes fizzy carbonation. could use a bit bigger body. i’m not sure if others found that this smells and tastes like a fantome. i’m not sure if they are using their yeast but it sure tastes like it.

Bottle: Poured a copper amber with a white head. The aroma seems very skunky and old, at first I believe that I had a bad bottle. The taste was very clean and refreshing, there is balance between the citrus and spices that make this feel so balanced for a saison.

1995 Vintage Bottle PP Belgian Fest. Pour orange with a bright white ring. Nose is nice and slightly sour, sweet. Taste is tart and very nice, this was a big surprise. I likely.

750 ml bottle from 1995 opened March 2008

Cap opens with a faint puff of air; the beer pours like apple juice with just a bit of frothy lacing along the sides. Rich nose: musty, vinegary, almost that funky gueuze sharpness once we get near room temperature. Marvelous array of flavors: musty cellar, dry apple cider, touches of goat cheese, white wine with ample oak, dusty pasture, mouth-watering dryness on the finish. Quite a bit more sour than one might have expected, pushing lambic territory but without all of the acidic sharpness that one typically finds there. Very limited carbonation, but the beer is full and smooth on the palate, quite substantive for 6%.

What a great experience trying this beer with that sort of age on it. Wonderful to see what happens to it; it becomes wine-like in some ways while retaining my favorite characteristics of lambics and saisons. I’m so impressed by this one and wish I had a way to track down additional bottles.

don’t know when this was bottled. the only date i see on the bottle is 1785 so i’ll go with that. holds up surprisingly well for a beer this old.

pours clear amber, rocky off-white head, a bit of lacing. an oppressive peppery-musk dominates the nose. also the flavor. also the palate. fizzy mouth feel. the peppery-musk is reminicent of auntie’s perfume. although there is a lot going on in this brew, i found the spicy, muskiness to be offensive in this brew.