Saison Rustique Var. Brett Drei
Brasserie Dunham

Bone dry, highly carbonated from Brett conditioning. Very brett forward.

a really pretty and delicate beer, but after letting this one sit in the bottle for awhile, i expected a much more developed brett profile, this is really clean and hardly funky, like it never really got started doing its thing and oddly even cleaner it seems than the base saison on its own, which was both surprising and a little disappointing at first, but as i got into drinking the beer, i realized how good this is and how i would be a fool to complain. the first three quarters of the bottle pour perfectly goldena and clear, looks like a good pilsener in the glass, a huge puffy pure white head, fine lace. the last little bit of it is murky and sedimented, but adds a little of the funk i was after when we incorporate it. i get pale pils malt first, even before the yeast, crackery and european and fresh. the yeast is floral but clean with a white wine french saison strain character, super refined, not rustic or funky at all really, but incredibly crisp in the finish, citrus zest and minerals there, only the faintest bretty fruitiness, more time in the bottle might help this get a little weirder, but it just doesnt seem all that rustic despite the name. i really like the clean bready malt base, and i like the tidy yeast character once i stop missing a more robust brett aspect. its really well made beer, the flavors just werent quite as i expected them to be. i still think this is one of the best breweries out there, and this is the type of beer they have impressed me with the most. i wish i got two of these so i could let one age a bit longer and wait for the brett to come along...

 

 

 

 

Bottle: Poured a hazy pale yellow color ale with a giant pure white foamy head with perfect retention. Aroma of dry Bretty notes with light fruity undertones and light hay notes also noticeable. Taste is a mix of light hay notes with some dry Brett notes with some fruity ester and some hoppy undertones. The Brett is already eating up some of the flavours from the hops but overall this a world-class saison with great balance and great drinkability.

 

 

 

 

Service: Bottle
Bottled on: Apr-28-2016 (Consumed in May or June at some point. I found this review in a random word document, I forgot to post it, I guess)


A:
Pours a hazy. milky straw with two fingers of white puff that eases down to a healthy skiff with a ring around the glass. Pretty good retention; rings of dripping lace. (4.25)

S:
Bright fruity mix of yeast and hops. Citrus zest, barnyard funk, flowers, doughy yeast underneath it all, vaguest hint of ham. (4)

T:
Bone dry. Very floral, honey suckle sweet initially then it dips into musty, funky dry bitterness for the finish. (4)

M:
Dry with medium-minus body and active carbonation, slight lingering funky finish (4)

O:
Pretty good version of a saison that I already really like.
The brett comes through and dries the saison out even more than usual. It verges on too much but never quite gets there. There is a nice fruity interplay between the yeast esters and the floral hop body. Smells better than it tastes. It tastes good enough, extremely dry, pollen bitterness. Straightforward. I'd have it again, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. (4)

A: Pours a pale yellow straw like color, completely hazy. The head is pure white, very Belgian like in texture. Retention is phenomenal, it just won't go away and it laces beautifully all the way. The bretts are at work and it shows.

S: The regular edition of the Saison Rustique is strong with rye flavors and they are still very much present here. You get a solid base of spicy rye with cardamom, pepper and mace. Some light sweetness is there in the back in the form on white sugar but nothing more in the malt flavors. The bretts are strong with smells of green apples and sour clementine. Although it does smell amazing, it is lighter in strength than expected.

T: Again, you're hit with a strong rye flavor in the form of cardamom and cloves more than anything. A little bit of dry bitterness that wasn't expected but is welcome. The sugar level is strong than the smell but not very high. You get red apples and orange peel like bitterness. The tartness is not as present as I expected but is slightly there but the brett adds more in the form of a dryness that is akin to the one in Orval.

F: Light and fluffy, but a bit too sticky for a Belgian. Quebec's Belgian style beers really are at disadvantage here because they can't have old strain of Belgian yeast like you can find in Dupont let's say.

O: This is a very solid beer for sure. I would have love a bit more tartness and a little less sugar in the taste, but all in all it's worth the price to try it.

 

 

 

 

Really light straw in color with lots of carbonation and quite a big white head.

Nice citrusy smell in the nose as well as herbal aromas, a little bit of leather from the brett but I expected a funkier aroma.

In the mouth the brett yeasts are really present as well as a nice fruitiness.

Strangely not lots of carbonation on the tongue, really easy to drink, would be nice starting point for people who don't know much about brett beers.