Bière de Coupage Quintessence Blend (2025)
Brasserie de la Senne

Poured from 330mL bottle into my 8th Wonder chalice. Best by 4/3/30.

Appearance: rich amber-orange hue with a little bit of haze and a thick head of frothy ivory foam.

Smell: lightly sour over a toasty, slightly bready maltiness, and a moderate sweetness. Not quite the sweetness of "malt candy", but I think it's balanced and quite delightful.

Taste: a nice blend of funk with just a little bit of sourness; I like that the sour is not over the top. Hops are grassy and perhaps even a little minty in character. This one is really working for me.

Mouthfeel: somewhat light body with a big carbonation and a pretty good creaminess.

Overall: I am really liking this beer: rustic, not too sweet, not too sour -- balanced and very drinkable.

3/29/26 - (Home) (Chicago, Illinois) Bottle Notes: Purchased at store temperature from Beer on the Wall on December 10, 2025 for $9.68 including tax. Brasserie De La Senne Brussels and Cantillon beer blended with Cantillon Lambic for the Quintessence 2025. Dreve Anna Bock Anna Bochdreef 19 - 21. 11.2 oz bottle, best before April 3, 2030, released in 2025, 6.2% ABV. Imported by Lime Ventures, Concord, California.

Appearance: Full pour into a large tulip yields a near clear orange bronze base, heavy sustained carbonation and a creamy full tan white head which leaves clumpy lacing and generous cover after receding. 4.25

Aroma: Funky and tart, Brett, lemon and citrus, Backed by floral and lemon grass notes. Bold and beautiful. 4.5

Taste: Consistent with the aroma though malty to start, caramel, with Brett, lemon and citrus still there. Getting the floral as well. 4.25

Mouthfeel: Very gentle but still alive carbonation, lightly dry, sweet but consistent with style expectations. Everything blends well, drinks really light and easy, wanted to gulp at first with enjoyment but slowed down to enjoy the ride. Funky lemon and citrus finish. 4.25

Overall: Really fun collaboration from these two great longtime favorites. Well executed blend, flavors shine in every aspect. A bit pricey with tariffs and the exporter, but worth it for a fun occasional splurge. Would order and pay a ten again without hesitation, 4.25

 

 

 

 

11.2oz bottle served in a tulip glass. Best Before Date on the side of the bottle: 03 Apr 30. Good for 5 years - wow!

Appearance: Slow pour leaving the sediment behind yielded a mostly clear medium amber colored beer. The very thin white head that formed upon pouring disappeared completely after a minute or so, with no lacing at all that formed as I drank the beer down. Nice color - disappointing foam/head.

Smell: Tart/sour note, some sour fruits, but not unpleasant. Not getting much else though.

Taste: Very interesting - I'm getting noble hops, pilsner-like malt, some tart fruits, a bit of sour all blended together. In a way, definitely a blend of two beers.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, light carbonation, a bit of that sour/acidic note at the back of the throat. Dry finish.

Overall / Drinkability: Interesting and a slow sipping beer to try and figure out what all is going on, but not something I'd want more of in an evening. Not sure I'd call it a Saison though given the sour notes from the blended Lambic.

 

From Good Times Oakland, best by April 3rd 2030.

Pours a hazy dark amber, nice head of foam, good retention and lacing.

The smell is notes of Brett, fruity tartness, some ascetic sourness.

The taste is fruity tartness, yeasty, ascetic sourness, tasty Brett.

Medium bodied with lively carbonation, I would drink this again.

 

 

Pours a hazy golden color with a slight head and lacing
Aroma has malt, yeast and floral hints
Taste has malt, yeast and floral flavors
A light bodied very well carbonated crisp beer
A good Saison

Delicately hazy orange-amber with a short but persistent khaki foam head.

A nose of funky, grapefruity lambic transitions to a palate that blends in light oak with semi-bitter, nearly green, almost dry hop characteristics within an expanding froth that almost gives mulled cider.

Quite refreshing, though low in acid it at times gives suggestions apricot balsamic before finishing cleanly semi-dry.

an unbelievable gift from one of my oldest beer friends, i think this came from etre gourmet, not sure it ever came to the states via normal channels, so feeling special to be cracking this to kick off the weekend here, and its a delight to drink, blended with two year old cantillon lambic, pretty heady! this de la senne stuff is always so unassuming, and truly for those who are in the know, love their work! a deeper color than i expected here, tarnished penny copper but still bright, and with a fast rising and slow falling inch plus of rather rich lathered white head, good carbonation throughout, pretty beer. the aroma is a little toasty with the malt, bitter and brett bruxy to me, very de la senne even in front of the obvious lambic part of this, i like it being malty, it smells well mature, light peppery saison yeast esters in play too, high minerality, light oxidation, wet animal, and some amount of winey oak, more sweetness as the temperature comes up. the flavor is great too, i am surprised by the early onset bitterness, which seems more with the brett than from hops somehow, funky and drying through all this grain, love the presence of both the higher malt character and also the fast finish, way cool. farmy and rustic, more of the lambic weirdness now, the oxidation isnt out of place here, aged hops apparent, red apple and apple cider, cedar wood, sauternes, dried apricot, graphite and basalt, really complex in terms of the ferment, and i do get the contributions of both breweries in this blend, which rules. layers upon layers to unpack here, peppery and tart, i get a little something different each sip. very cool project, thankful for the homie who sent this my way, very distinctive and special!

There's really no style of beer that allows for such an array of flavor and character, and it's that leeway that de la Senne brewers test when they team up with Cantillon sour ale makers for a tangy and funky collaboration.

The Quintessence Blend of Biere de Coupage hits the glass with a bubbly and frothy, foggy and deep copper with a billowing honeycomb froth. As the peppery, fruity and earthen scent of toasted cereal, weathered woods and leather rise to the nose, the first sip leans in with a brisk and steely caramel flavor laced with dry toast and a sprinkle of candied sweetness. Fruit flavors of crabapple, leathery lemons and limes, grapefruit and wine decorate the peripheries before the session turns distinctly tart with an arid finish of vinous oak, peppery grasses, funk and fauna.

Light, dry and effortless on the palate, the use of Cantillon beer pushes the anniversary saison into the most sour corner of saison making and challenging the notion of where the limits to saison reside.

 

Bottled and possibly conditioned in brown glass and purchased as a carry out at 2025s CAMRA Stockport beer & cider festival
Pours a slightly hazed amber body with rather handsome white head
Aroma is sour Belgian candy
Flavour is brett sour, slick oil

 

 

Poured at Quintessence. Pours a slightly opaque orange. Really interesting. The nose has something I can't seem to put my finger on. A bit of mushroom and potato. The taste is surprisingly subtle. Not really funky, which I would expect.