Saison de Pipaix

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

Serve in Tulip

Deep amber brown beer with a thick rocky tan head. Aroma of tart fruit, some apple skins, pears and a soft spiciness. Loads of damp, dank musty basement notes behind the fruitiness. Some bitter orange peel. Flavour is dank up front followed by a light tannic/tart fruitiness. Earthy and wet tasting. A bit of grapefruit peel character. The tartness picks up as it warms, as does the complexity. Lovely brew.

Bright golden with a huge creamy head. Unfortunately my first sample of this world famous saison has been bottled just few months ago. I’ve found it a bit immature. Strong farmhouse character, with hints of spices, above all star anise and pepper. Bit fruity and earthy, somewhat musty. Quite fruity flavour, nice dry finish after a nice medium bodied and right priclky mouthfeel. Wait for a vintage sample.

Bottle. Pours honey golden with thin foamy off-white head. Aroma is tart fruit, orange peel, damp earthy smells and leather. Lots of green apple in the flavor. Slightly sour with a ton of damp basement flavors and stale musty background. Mouthfeel is nearly flat, only a touch of carbonation. Dry finish with a touch of bitterness. Probably past it’s prime.

NIce saison, glight olden hue, frothy, medium carbonation, medium body, a little bit like cider, wish I remembered more but I do know I liked it.

750 ml. bottle pours a clear, bubbly orange/amber, producing a small, forhty, and quickly settling off white head. No question about the spicy aroma, but there is also some citrus and honey notes, and just a hint of funkiness. Medium body and carbonation, clean and dry on the palate. Flavor is an interesting combination of some light sourness, honey sweetness, and a soft spicy bitterness. Many nuances of aroma and flavor make this quite interesting. A very easy drinking, flavorful, and refreshing saison.

Finally, I’m rating this great beer that I’ve enjoyed often. Pours an effervescent light amber color with a small tan head that diminishes quickly. Big apple, toffee overtones, barnyard funk, and hints of orange zest in the nose. Tan lacing craves to conjoin, but ends up giving in to gravity. My taste buds flare up when this brew hits; granted, I have been fasting again today, so my mouth may be in shock. Flavors include more apple, caramel, very subtle ginger, more funky yeast than the aroma. Medium/full carbonation and body. Well-balanced flavor and mouthfeel. I never tire of this beer, even when I’m swallowing pieces of cork that are floating around.

UPDATED: OCT 30, 2007 Pours a hazy, orangey-amber with a white, creamy, average head with decent longevity and nice tight lacing. Nose is interesting for a saison; filled with citrus from bitter oranges, spicy and estery yeast, pie crust notes (ginger?), sufficient hops of earth and wet wood, and maybe some anise. Flavor is quite complex but not all that appealing; citrus notes of bitter oranges, and lemon peel, musty yeast, similar hop flavors as the nose, ginger, light pepper, faint anise, and an apple cidery note. Palate is light to medium, soft to lively, and fairly dry. Finish is quick, dry, a bit tart with the cider and hop notes lingering. The numerous spice notes add depth to this one, but the cidery notes kind of kill it. The hop notes almost become moldy-like (maybe the lichen?) by the finish. If nothing else, it is something different from others in the style.

Starts off clear orange body but becomes very cloudy by end of the bottle. Low carbonation, thin head crackling as it collapses. A lot of farmhouse character in the nose, like apple orchard. Bonus points for very unique taste, yeasty, mildly acidic, appley and winey. Really good stuff (way better than that dupont).