4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
2000 bottle. Great fruity aroma - apples, pears, green grapes, black pepper, straw, must, pale malt. Golden-amber color, clear, big off-white head. Slightly grainy maltiness, spicy - black pepper and clove, some bitterness in the finish. Medium body, high carbonation, very dry finish. The 5 years of age allowed the the flavors from all the crazy ingredients mellow and meld in this one. I don’t know what it would taste like fresh, but with age it is really nice.
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Clear orange-gold colour, OK head. Has the lemony aroma and nice yeasty bitterness of a gueuze (De Cam particularly.) Lemon pepper, nice apple cores à la Thorogoods and the aroma of picking tennis balls off the roof after hitting them up there in backyard cricket (though I’m not so sure I’d identify it as such if I didn’t know there was lichen in it.) Fresh, juicy, appley malt, mint leaves, ginger and the tartness leads nicely into the bitterness. Some pepper in the finish and a kind of chilli cider character. The spices are beautifully integrated, though I can’t help but think I identified certain flavours because I know they’re used in it. Really good stuff - I could drink it all night - but it didn’t blow me away like when I had it in Kortrijk.
3.8 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20
Bottle. Dark gold-amber. Large head diminishes quickly. Spice, orange peel, pepper, cork, well-rounded.
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Bottle, I have no idea about the date. Orange with no head, no carbonation in the body. Funky aroma, vinegar, citrus, apple, miscellaneous barnyard (close to a lambic). Sharp tart flavor, low on the malt, mostly dry finish. As far as saisons go, this is on the opposite end of the scale as Dupont, close to a lambic.
3.9 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20
UPDATED: AUG 16, 2005 1995... Poured a lightly hazy golden color with no head, but white bubbles on top that left no lacing on the glass. Aroma of citrus, brett, tropical fruits, barnyard, and light caramel. Taste of watermelon, grapes, strawberries, vanilla, hay, and finishes lightly tart.
1.3 AROMA 2/10 APPEARANCE 2/5 TASTE 3/10 PALATE 1/5 OVERALL 5/20
musty aroma of cork and green jolly ranchers. butter roll, apple vinegar and a damp musty cork flavor all over this one. leaves a dull chalky mouthfeel.
2.9 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 12/20
Bottle shared with HogTownHarry at Smokeless Joe -- 2004 vintage. Pours a cloudy amber with a spare white head. Both the aroma and flavour were sour which I was definitely not expecting. Also detected in the aroma and flavour were ginger, pepper and fruit. Not bad but the predominence of sourness makes this Saison not quite my thing.
3.4 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
UPDATED: AUG 24, 2005 Bottle shared with blankboy at Smokeless Joe. Poured clear gold with spare, quick-departing white head, no lacing. Aroma was quite sour (cooking wine), with pinapple, juniper, apple - bit of an earthy, herb garden tang mixed with some sweet malt fighting the sourness - a bit odd, but interesting. Flavour - well, started moderately sour, with some earthy tones, then BAM - black pepper - ginger, other spices, a bit of fruit. An astringent and watery mouthfeel, it had a surprisingly quick diminish and mild, pleasantly sour finish. It grew on me as we worked to the bottom of the warming big bottle - the sourness and strong pepper may not "blend" but it was memorable.
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