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Saison Athene
Saint Somewhere Brewing Company
- From:
- Saint Somewhere Brewing Company
- Florida, United States
- Style:
- Saison
- ABV:
- 7.5%
- Score:
- 88
- Avg:
- 3.93 | pDev: 12.21%
- Reviews:
- 300
- Ratings:
- 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.
Ratings by Cavery:
Reviewed by Cavery from California
4/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
2009 bottle extra compliments of MarkWise in a recent RateBeer trade. He warned me about the cork, and man he was right. I think my cat will now run every time I get a beer out of the cellar.
A: Small half finger foams over a partly cloudy baked apple colored body. A subdued color pattern that looks like an aged citrus rind. Old, but not quite rustic. Pear like yellows meet old citrus oranges in a visual that reminds me of old paintings of fruit bowls.
S: The seasonings in this beer really mix with the yeast to give it a smell of apple sauce/pear sauce. There's a faint note in the beer that makes me think of hot teas that have been cooled. There's definitely a faint herb in here; after consulting the bottle it's obviously the remnants of the rosemary. Really thought his smells like pear sauce with fresh spices, flaking of cinnamon.
T: lightly peppery Aurugula that at first made me think pepper, but it's definitely too green to be ground pepper. Little bit of cucumber behind the prickling of herbs and spices. The rosemary comes off pickled, almost dill like. The floral aspect of the beer comes through behind the spices. Reminds me a bit of creosote branches.
M: Quite effervescent, especially considering the age. The beer has a really nice dryness that lets the flavor go just long enough before cleaning it up with a vacuum of peppery feels. A nice thin glaze from the alcohol makes for a fancier feeling saison.
O: This is a very easy beer to drink a couple glasses of, but there's definitely a fatigue factor from the effervescent feel and the peppery floral finish. You end up feeling like you are drinking a very well oak treated perfume. This is a very nice drying saison, but after a couple glasses I can't help but feel like this beer tastes like a great many organic shampoos. Be sure to share this one, and you will enjoy it that much more.
Oct 25, 2011A: Small half finger foams over a partly cloudy baked apple colored body. A subdued color pattern that looks like an aged citrus rind. Old, but not quite rustic. Pear like yellows meet old citrus oranges in a visual that reminds me of old paintings of fruit bowls.
S: The seasonings in this beer really mix with the yeast to give it a smell of apple sauce/pear sauce. There's a faint note in the beer that makes me think of hot teas that have been cooled. There's definitely a faint herb in here; after consulting the bottle it's obviously the remnants of the rosemary. Really thought his smells like pear sauce with fresh spices, flaking of cinnamon.
T: lightly peppery Aurugula that at first made me think pepper, but it's definitely too green to be ground pepper. Little bit of cucumber behind the prickling of herbs and spices. The rosemary comes off pickled, almost dill like. The floral aspect of the beer comes through behind the spices. Reminds me a bit of creosote branches.
M: Quite effervescent, especially considering the age. The beer has a really nice dryness that lets the flavor go just long enough before cleaning it up with a vacuum of peppery feels. A nice thin glaze from the alcohol makes for a fancier feeling saison.
O: This is a very easy beer to drink a couple glasses of, but there's definitely a fatigue factor from the effervescent feel and the peppery floral finish. You end up feeling like you are drinking a very well oak treated perfume. This is a very nice drying saison, but after a couple glasses I can't help but feel like this beer tastes like a great many organic shampoos. Be sure to share this one, and you will enjoy it that much more.
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by macrosmatic from Florida
4.02/5 rDev +2.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
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, 2020A: 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.
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
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, 2019Reviewed 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
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, 2016Pours 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).
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
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, 2015S: 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.
Saison Athene from Saint Somewhere Brewing Company
Beer rating:
88 out of
100 with
463 ratings
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