Saison Athene
Saint Somewhere Brewing Company

Saison AtheneSaison Athene
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From:
Saint Somewhere Brewing Company
 
Florida, United States
Style:
Saison
ABV:
7.5%
Score:
88
Avg:
3.93 | pDev: 12.21%
Reviews:
300
Ratings:
463
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Mar 30, 2020
Added:
Aug 29, 2007
Wants:
  25
Gots:
  31
Saison Athene is a bottle conditioned Saison brewed with chamomile, fresh rosemary and black pepper. A dose of wild yeast at bottling adds to the complexity.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Photo of macrosmatic
Reviewed by macrosmatic from Florida

4.02/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Reviewed from (long-standing) notes. This particular 2012 vintage corked & caged 750 mL bottle was purchased locally on 5/28/12, and kept in the cellar until January 2018. Poured into an El Catador Barrel-Aged glass.

A: Not much cork “pop” left at this point, but here we are. Pours a lightly hazy bright gold with only some larger bubbles rising to the surface then disappearing. Minimal head. Other than the low carbonation, this looks beautiful.

S: Citric lemony tartness, basement and barnyard funk up front. Light lactic tart as well. I'm assuming Brettanomyces, and perhaps Lactobacillus as well. Cracker malts, and still some mild grassy and citrus hops. A bit of dry vinous character, and an impression of woody dryness (though I don’t think this is barrel-aged). Despite being more than years old, I’m not getting any oxidation, at least on the nose.

T: Funky and lightly tart and vinous. Barnyard and musty hay and a touch of basement and old-book-vanilla funk. Light lactic tart and cracker malts. Some lemon citric acid and grassy and herbal hops. A light white wine vinous character joins in as the beer finishes pretty dry with a lingering funk. No oxidation here either.

M: A light body, and low alcohol presence. The carbonation sensation is very low – it does detract at this point, but I have no reason to believe that it was packaged like this. So I won't ding it too much for the loss of carbonation during aging.

O: This is nicely funky at this point. But I’m not certain if the increase in funk makes up for the loss of the hop bite and carbonation (as far as my enjoyment). But a more-than-solid lightly tart, balanced funky saison for sure.
Mar 30, 2020
Photo of REVZEB
Reviewed by REVZEB from Illinois

3.79/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
2015 vintage bottle. The smell is the clear star of this beer, aromatic and bright in the nose. Chamomile, rosemary, black pepper, wild yeast, biscuit malt, other spices, potpourri, orange zest and lemon zest. Taste is not as vibrant, very thin with then the soapy revenge of grandma's cabinets in the finish. Feel is a bit funky, has heat and sharpness from the spices. This one is a bit all over with high highs and low lows
Apr 18, 2019
 
Rated: 4.02 by Grackos from Florida

Dec 28, 2017
 
Rated: 4.04 by mltobin from Connecticut

Oct 13, 2017
 
Rated: 4.25 by Zach136 from Georgia

Apr 23, 2017
 
Rated: 4.78 by chiefbender from Georgia

Apr 19, 2017
 
Rated: 3.36 by Satorn from Florida

Apr 14, 2017
 
Rated: 3.84 by scottspencer from Indiana

Oct 30, 2016
 
Rated: 4.09 by bb-magic from Florida

Oct 29, 2016
 
Rated: 3.92 by dbrauneis from North Carolina

Sep 04, 2016
 
Rated: 4.03 by Jodio from Texas

Jul 04, 2016
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Reviewed by cjgiant from District of Columbia

4.14/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Bottle with cork dated 2015:
Pours a slightly dirty yellow gold. Slow pouring still takes multiple tips to fill a glass as the cloud of foam billows on each pour. It does settle fairly quickly each refill, though. Long term is a thin but full layer of white bubbles.

Opening threw a tart funk in my face, increased during the pours. Didn't expect this, and eventually I started noticing it less and less as I drank the beer. But hay and barnyard classic notes remained. Light funk and maybe just a smidge of tartness still lingered.

Taste was a surprise in a relative sense with the beer being very dry, earthy and hay-like, with a little peppery twinge at the end. Some barnyard funk started growing in the middle midway through my glass. A dried herb flavor grew more in my impression as leading into the peppery dry ending. Occasionally I get a little unsweet peach note, but I'm tying to figure where that lightly tart funk from this nose is. Carbonation was nice, not overbearing at all. Light and dry feel.

Confusion early, but I ended up liking this beer fairly well. Reminded me in very generic terms of a Saison DuPont style of saison, dry, crisp, earthy. Also reminded me a little of the seasoning additions of the DFH herbed saisons (the base saison is different, however).
Jun 23, 2016
 
Rated: 3.75 by Hohnbaum from Kansas

May 13, 2016
 
Rated: 3.69 by jaydoc from Kansas

May 13, 2016
 
Rated: 3.99 by Inglewood from Illinois

Mar 24, 2016
 
Rated: 4.25 by Kmat10 from Canada (AB)

Mar 09, 2016
 
Rated: 3.49 by OneSickPuppy from Wisconsin

Jan 23, 2016
Photo of Invinciblejets
Reviewed by Invinciblejets from South Carolina

3.67/5  rDev -6.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
L: Cork started to self eject as I twisted the cage off then proceeded to gush out bigtime ..... Poured with a nice orange juice like color with a thick shaving cream foam head.

S: Hay, spices, pepper, very mild funk.....some lemon.

T: A dry spice taste like sage or something some hay some pepper and a chemical like taste..

F: Super sparkly and dry maybe a bit powdery...

O: A bit too carbonated way too much spice and not enough funk. Didn't really do it for me at all.
Dec 06, 2015
 
Rated: 4.5 by nathanmiller from New York

Nov 14, 2015
 
Rated: 3.96 by BeerOps from Illinois

Sep 03, 2015
Saison Athene from Saint Somewhere Brewing Company
Beer rating: 88 out of 100 with 463 ratings