Major Tom
Brasserie de la Senne

 

 

Honey gold, hazy and very very fizzy with a monstrous white head.

Aroma is very floral and ridiculously dry. Super double intense Brett, along with dry rosehips and potpourri.

Tastes good. Not quite as outstanding as the aroma, owing to the intense fizziness muting much of the middle. Brett up front, as intense as you've ever tasted, then fizz, then intense flowers and peppery yeast.

Definitely worth trying.

 

Poured into a Gulden Draak tulip. Pours a rather hazy golden amber with a massive, rocky white head with good retention and thick lacing; a bit of a gusher on opening. Aroma of lightly grainy malt, brett, lemon, lightly floral. Flavor is grainy saison malt, brett, lemon, straw, clove; somewhat medicinal. Finishes very dry with fleeting mixed stone fruit notes. Medium bodied with sharp carbonation. This is one bretty saison and potentially more than I bargained for. The initial taste seemed quite dry and bitterly funky, but interesting flavors opened up into the dry finish. Both tartness and acidity are subdued, which made this an aggressive brett farmhouse I could understand. This much funk in a tart ale would have not been to my taste. I'm impressed that this saison has pulled me a little further along the road to understanding this more aggressive style of funky saison. Interesting and enjoyable.

 

Bottle from the 2017 batch, purchased at Market of Choice.

Clear until the carbonation churns the Brett up, this beer is a golden yellow with a dense, white head that's pretty enormous. The nose! Pure Brett joy! Raw funk, earth, hay, mild clove, mild bandaid, along with a great base saison with honey, grains of paradise, mild hibiscus, a little white peppercorn. Straw malt and a little lemon are present. The blend of hay and barnyard, with a little clove, is just outstanding. On the palate, this beer has a wonderful combination of pineapple, barnyard, hay, earth and funk. Next, the more aggressive Brett notes follow - clove, a little medicinal bandaid/iodine - complementing the initial delicate notes. Honey, mild dough, a little melon with the alcohol complementing the pineapple and barnyard notes particularly well. Light in body, highly carbonated, this beer finishes bone dry, Brett heavy and just brilliant. Excellent.

 

this beer is incredible, and its another highly bretty funky mature saison from these guys, who have seriously become one of my favorites in these styles. as long as they keep making beer, i am going to keep buying it, they never ever let me down. this is a wonderful expression of brett, a strain that seems unique to them, farmy and rustic, drying and almost dusty, things like hay and leather and white cake to it, its barny and weird, but its as good as any, lightly bitter and even medicinal at temperature, a beautiful strain or mix of brett here, really resonates with me. its a slightly stronger saison in abv, but in look and texture its impossibly delicate. a very pale but glowing soft yellow color, wispy white headed almost lighter than white, clearish white, and lasting. some noble type hop bitterness on this is nice with the brett, not a lot of hop flavor, but it gives this a crazy crispness, so dry and drinkable, refreshing as heck for how flavorful it is, and the funkiness keeps coming back, its nuts. my mouth waters for it even though its not even tart at all, i love that the acidity has been kept out of this, the brett is not at all compromised. straw and raw wheat and perhaps a bit of rye spice, its earthy and simple at its base, but its just right, all in service of the brett. this tastes like it could have come from monks, traditional and absurdly well refined, carbonation is raging here, so fairly priced too. i cant get enough from these guys right now, this is up there with their very best beers to date!