Hemen Eta Han
Brasserie Dunham

October 2018: On tap at Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Hazy pale golden colour, white head. Aroma and flavour of "spicy" saison yeast and herbal hops, can't detect the blackberries. A hint of oak, moderate bitterness. A good beer anyhow.

Stunning! Pours slightly misty gold with a generous white head. Aroma combines typical saison fruits and clove with funk. Flavour: complex, bready funky, tart. Some citrus - lemon and lime - huge deprh and complexity. Surprisingly fairly light bodied although the flavour lingers.

Got in a BIF from TheDoctor. 750 ml bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 6/7/2018. Pours fairly hazy pale golden yellow color with a 2 finger fairly dense and fluffy white head with awesome retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Thick foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big lightly tart lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, citrus peel/zest, peach, pear, pineapple, melon, red/green apple, white grape/wine, berries, peppercorn, hay, straw, herbal, floral, grass, cork, oak, wheat, cracker, white bread, light leathery/musty funk, and yeast/oak earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of fruity/funky/spicy yeast, pale/wheat malts, oak barrel, and light-moderate earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of big lightly tart lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, citrus peel/zest, peach, pear, pineapple, melon, red/green apple, white grape/wine, berries, peppercorn, hay, straw, herbal, floral, grass, cork, oak, wheat, cracker, white bread, light leathery/musty funk, and yeast/oak earthiness. Moderate peppery yeast spiciness; light herbal/floral/grassy bitterness, and Brett tang/tartness on the finish. Lingering notes of lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, citrus peel/zest, peach, pear, pineapple, melon, red/green apple, white grape/wine, berries, peppercorn, hay, straw, herbal, floral, grass, cork, oak, wheat, cracker, white bread, light leathery/musty funk, and yeast/oak earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky/spicy yeast, pale/wheat malts, oak barrel, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; with an awesome malt/spiciness balance, and no astringent flavors after the finish. Moderately crisp/clean finishing. Moderate increasing dryness from lingering bitter/tart/spiciness, and carbonation. High carbonation and light-medium body; with a very smooth, moderately bready/grainy/sticky, and lightly acidic/tangy/tannic balanced mouthfeel that is fantastic. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5.2%. Overall this is a fantastic Brett saison! All around outstanding complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky/spicy yeast, pale/wheat malts, oak barrel, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; very smooth, crisp, clean, and refreshing to drink with the moderately spicy/drying finish. Very flavorful and not watery for the ABV. Very well rounded Brett/Saison yeast complexity; nice pale/wheat malt backbone, and oak barrel/earthy hop presence. A highly enjoyable offering, and amazing style example.

From the American-market 1 pt 9.4 fl oz bottle, undated as best I can tell. Served in a tulip.

Pours a crystal clear, luminescent, pale honey-yellow with a big white, meringue-like cap of froth. Retention is apparently infinite.

A sweet, flowery, fruity nose like rosewater and lemon merengue pie.

Taste is very much in line with the nose, lemon merengue, sweet hay and berries, chamomile tea with honey. Not particularly sweet but what sweetness there is is accentuated by the unexpected absence of any kind of funk or tartness. Bright, creamy, herby, lemony goodness from start to finish.

Feel is creamy-slick, fluffy-smooth and medium bodied with bright carbonation.

Overall, a delicious, atypical saison. There is, incidentally, very little indication that this beer was aged in a barrel other than the merest echo of a faint, oaky aftertaste long after the last sip is taken so they probably could have saved themselves the trouble. It's terrific as is and I can't think a stronger barrel would have improved it anyway.

Bottle: Poured a clear orangey/amber color ale with a large white foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of tart notes with some oak presence and funky notes is quite enticing. Taste is a nice mix of tart notes with subtle blackberries, some funky notes with oak presence and a vinous finish with funky ester. Body is about average for style with good carbonation. Another solid saison from this fine brewery with great mix of drinkability and complexity.

 

On tap at the Vermont Tap House, Williston, VT.
This was poured into a tulip.
The appearrance was a dark bronzed orange to copper color with a sly bar pour's kind of slim white head. Barely any lace.
The aroma had a wonderful blend of rustic farmhouse smells wrapping around sweet herbal and grassy spunk. Basement funk melds with blackberries, blueberries, and black raspberries. Light hay and a touch of wheat.
The flavor moderately leans towards the sweet side but seems to bring in a semi-string herbal side that seems to push some of that berry sweetness further back. Light aftertaste of herbal sweet character, light berries, and some hay to grassy effects.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied with a fair sessionability about it. Carbonation felt fine. ABV felt on par. Very mobile along my tongue, smooth more or less. Grassy to berry and semi-herbal sort of finish.
Overall, pretty sure this is a saison and a very well done one. Looking forward to trying more from this brewery.

Moderate pour yields a full one inch white head over a slightly hazy golden body with some sticky lacing. Head dissipates down to 1/8 inch after a few minutes and stays there. Very nice nose of classic funk; slight citrus, slight herb and spice. Wonderful complex saison flavors including all the bells and whistles of some of my favorite farmhouse ales: funk, flavor, and feel! Very nice and overall, I am so glad I ordered a case of this. Cheers!

 

a really solid mixed fermentation saison, one of the things i think dunham does best, and an interesting collaboration with this spanish operation i dont know much about. its always exciting to have new beers from these guys, they just seem to kill it at whatever they do, and since visiting their place last summer and getting some context on what they are all about, i have actively sought this stuff out. this is pretty mellow on the funkiness, at least as much classic saison yeast going on as there is brett, with just a light acidic twang too, subtle all around, but complex at the same time, which is something i love in this style. because of the mild yeast complexion, the soft layers of grain are more apparent in this, giving it a neat rustic, late summer, old world charm. wheat for sure, white and puffy in here, maybe some spelt too, it has that earthy bready spiciness in a small amount in the middle, and some pils type barley, european and a little dusty and crackery, the perfect base really, dry and cerealy but with some structure. minimal hops at the end. carbonation is on point, and this is at once an easy drinker and a beer that warrants some contemplation. beautiful beer, especially this time of year!

 

From La tienda de la cerveza. In Teku glass. Playing Avernum 2. Didnt find the barreling, just a correct dry saison at an exorbitant price, but nothing mindblowing nor special

Serving: Bottle
Bottled: Dec-16-2017 (Consumed Mar-26-2018)


A:
Pours a slightly hazy chamomile tea color
with a billowing, rocky white head. Very good retention; streaky, swooping lacing. (4.25)

S:
Lemony herbs, hay, earthy funk, dusty wood, light spice. (4.25)

T:
Holy smokes! A rustic ride through earthy, musty, grassy, herbal, peppery, vaguely tart, bone-dry fluff. (4.5)

M:
Light-plus body with puffy, biting carbonation and a Death Valley finish. (4.5)

O:
An excellent saison in my humble opinion.
It pours with a suitably majestic head and champagne-like carbonation. The aroma and flavor are a blend of tart, earthy and funky elements. The smell is very inviting and gives a hint of what's to come. The flavor is just an all-around excellently balanced union of everything that makes saisons some of my favorite beers. It starts earthy and progressively add more mossy funk to the mix before plfinishing with just a profile of tartness.
Genuinely a pleasure to drink, excellent example of the style and also an excellent take on it. I plan to promptly seek out another bottle of two for the summer months. (4.5)