Bière De Table
Brasserie Dunham

 

A solid saison, had on draft at Deep Ellem in Allston, Boston on 08.12.19.

Nice white head on top of a pale gold body. Crisp and refreshing taste with what felt like some Brett pushing the envelope, but could have been some spices. It definitely wasn't a "sweet" saison, it was more of a crisp ever so slightly tart saison where the tartness may have become a little more mild as it warmed a bit. The mouthfeel was surprisingly solid for a 4.3% beer. Very refreshing. Really enjoyed this.

 

 

Look: Corps couleur paille, petite mousse blanche, cloudy.
Au nez: Notes fermières, fruits de la passion, citronné, peppery, levure saison, petit funk. Houblons européens?
Au goût: Finale légèrement vretté et terreuse, belle amertume, ça goûte la levure saison/belge, foin.
Texture: Corps léger, effervescence élevée, sèche, overall se boit vraiment bien et est très complexe!

i may be biased because i love these guys and this might be my favorite type of beer to drink, but my goodness, this is way underrated here. i know its a small sample size, but this is as good as it gets in the session saison or mild belgian category, this is an all day beer, dessert island status for me, i cant believe folks havent been more impressed by it than this! its just lightly cloudy, incredibly heady from the tap, looks belgian with a tall airy layer on top, pale and earthy in color, simple and delicate looking, active. it smells softly funky, harvesty, agricultural, and unique. there are some light grassy and citrus hop notes, hay and lime zest to me, some white wine essence from the saison yeast, and perhaps the slightest wild element. i didnt expect it to have much hops to it, and while the bitterness is light, the citrusy botanical aspect of the hops contributes quite a lot here, still delicate and mellow, but its a nie wrinkle that gives some freshness to this. the grain base has a nice body for how low the alcohol is, some raw wheat likely in here, all very dry at the end, but not without some structure. great carbonation, it pops like champagne on the palate, cleansing and leaving my palate begging for more after each pull. a neat yeast mix, seemingly a french type saison strain at work with a less developed belgian and some light brett, its expertly refind and i find myself wanting to drink this keg dry...

1L howler from Sherbrooke Liquor store - thanks, fellow shopper, for informing me that this wasn't any good after you quickly sampled it, but I'll make my own discernment.

This beer pours a hazy, pale golden straw colour, with four fingers of puffy, chunky, and somewhat fizzy bone-white head, which leaves some layered sudsy cirrus cloud pattern lace around the glass as it quickly blows off.

It smells of bready and doughy cereal malt, some muddled tropical fruitiness, subtle earthy yeast, a mild horsey funkiness, damp banana chips, and very tame leafy, herbal, and floral noble hop bitters. The taste is gritty and grainy pale malt, a still hard to differentiate exotic fruity essence, fading genial (I can't believe that I am writing this) funk, some earthy Belgian yeastiness, and more understated leafy, musty, and dead floral Old World hoppiness.

The carbonation is fairly benign in its ennui-stricken frothiness, the body a so-so medium weight, and generally smooth, with nothing in particular getting uppity at the moment here. It finishes trending dry, the yeast and crackery malt holding court.

Overall - this is a well-made approximation of what I would imagine an old-school day-drinking beer to be. Malty, fruity, yeasty (filtration, say what?), and under-proof. Oh, and still rather pleasant to put back.

 

Bottle: Poured a slightly hazy light yellow color ale with a large white foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of light cereal notes with some tart notes also discernible. Taste is a mix of dry cereal notes with some tart notes. Body is about average for style with good carbonation. This is not the most complex beer but still pretty drinkable.

 

Poors a very hazy pale yellow color with nice foam and lacing. The smell is incredible. There is some fruits, sweet cherries, bananas, but this is all very subtle. The saison yeast is piercing through. The taste is amazyngly smooth, very dry, but with an explosion of the typical spyciness of the saison yeast. The aftertaste feels like you just took a mouthful of different orchard fruits with a hint of citrus. Very refreshing, perfect carbonation and perfect body. It's hard not to chug the whole bottle at once.