Saison Imperiale

Brewed by De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Saison
Lochristi - Hijfte, Belgium

Serve in Tulip

I think a lot of the people rating this had a different beer than I did - this was quite good. Pours dark bronze with a medium sized off-white head. Aroma is spicy with slight sourness (lambic-ish) and grapes. There is also some vinious and earthy qualities. Flavor starts out with earthy wooden flavors mixed with a plum / apricot flavor. Finish has some spicy hops and viniousness traits coming out. It is medium / full bodied with semi-sharp carbonation. As it warms anise starts coming into the picture and passion fruit and hop element are more in front. Very nice saison.

750 ml bottle purchased at BevMo. Honey, hoppy, dry, malty aroma. A faint metallic aroma is also present with a lightly floral nose. Seems lacking in terms of the pungency of the aroma. Quite dark for a Saison. Mildly hazy orangey-amber hued body with a smallish off-white head. Floral, sweet, malty start. Becomes mildly dry in the middle. Fruity, berry-like flavors to finish with some more floral notes. I am unsure what to think of this?

Not your typical saison, but it was still an enjoyable beer. Taste was much more funky than a typical saison, as I detected no pepper or spice in the beer but got a lot of funk. When I smelled the beer the first thing I thought of was Victory WildDevil. The beer is very drinkable, but if you are looking for a standard saison, you need to keep looking.

Bottle from SL. The pour was amber-orange in color, some haze, weak head and quite pop upon opening. The aroma was strong oranges, peaches, light fruits, bret, faint funk, some citrus sour type notes - phenolic and wild spicing: not present? The flavor followed, really a quite nice Belgian Strong Ale, but not a lot of saison character, short of some funk. Lots of darker fruits, cherries, malts, some funk in the finish, bret elements. Really enjoyed this as a sour/funk type of a twist to the BSA family of brews, but Saison? Nah. And, that was ok. Good stuff!

Translucent red-orange body, thick buff head. Herbal aroma, spicy, with strong notes of pineapple juice. Toasty body with bitter spices, sweet breads, potpourri, and pineappley notes that are emphasized in the finish. Alcohol is apparent but not cloying. Somewhere between unidimensional and complex.

From the 750ml cork and wired bottle it pours a slightly cloudy golden amber color with a substantial head that is white and creamy, it slowly fades leaving a fine velum like coating on the glass. Nose is rich in malt, sweet with a sour musky tone, spicy and citrus like in its crispness, start is nicely malted, and sweet with a tangy bite at the back, top is light to medium in feel. Finish has a biting acidity, the hops present and accounted for; tart dry aftertaste lingers long on the palate, a fine drinking beer and certainly a credit to the style. (Note): after decanting the beer, the pour was completely cloudy golden amber, with the dregs increasing the musty sour aroma.

Bottle shared with a bunch of folks at DougShoemaker’s Decemberfest 2006 - courtesy of IPFreely. Reddish-orange with a small white head. Aroma and flavour are both quite sweet, with notes of tropical fruit and yeast. Finishes with some nice drying bitterness. Not too bad...

Dark amber pour with a rocky white head and drippy lace. Fruity aroma almost spoiled fruit . Sour up fruit with a tease of leather. This is a very underrated beer