Saison Bruges
Upright Brewing Company

16oz can (no packaging date visible) into a tulip. Pours a brownish amber with a minimal head—looks more like a Diet Coke than a saison. Interesting.

Aroma is mostly sweet with some vague Belgian saison funk. Ripe banana, clove, spices.

Taste has an intriguing sweet and sour thing going on. Bready malt, vague spices. Not picking up much by way of cacao nibs, maybe a slight spicy heat.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, balanced. Drinkable.

Overall an interesting take on the saison—not very typical for the style but enjoyable nonetheless.

One of the better sours I've sampled as I'm generally not a fan of the style. Only mildly sour, with wine-like characteristics and a malty, chocolaty, dark beer core.

 

Bottle: Poured a deep brown color ale with a large light brown foamy head with OK retention and some light lacing. Aroma of tart notes with some black chocolate notes is OK and not as bad as it may sounds. Taste is a mix of dry roasted malt notes with some chocolate notes with strong tart notes. Body is about average with good carbonation. Not a big fan of dark sour beer but this one is enjoyable enough.

a dark saison with cocoa in it, and one of the coolest examples of the style i have known, festive for a new years celebration, and a beer of the finest overall quality, which is what i have come to know and expect from upright. i am so glad to have a small stream of their beers coming back into colorado now! i think this is insanely underrated here, the cocoa flavor is beautiful, the yeast is spicy and old world rustic, and there is enormous complexity to this, especially as it warms, but it also is bone dry, fluffy wheaty still, carbonated like crazy, and as drinkable as they come, the mouthfeel is as compelling as the mix of flavors. i have known these guys to make their saisons a bit more wild and funky, this one isnt really bretty at all, and there isnt even a trace of tartness to it at all, a cleaner yeast profile here but not the least bit less interesting. mild clove and white pepper notes along with subtle belgian esters mesh well with the added cocoa, which is raw and earthy and dry, as well as with the brown ale and abbey type malts in here, lots of layers to unpack, but also seamless in transition from one to the other, amazing depth here, and neat to have it so bubbly and airy with the big cold weather flavors. this was splendid beer, loved by all who tastes it, and a bottle i will look for again. these guys impress me every time, especially in the saison styles. way better than its ratings here!

 

 

 

750ml bottle - a cacao nib flavoured dark Saison, it would appear (and lacking the 's' in 'Bruges' on the label, FWIW).

This beer pours a murky, dark dishwater brown colour, with a teeming tower of puffy, finely foamy, and creamy beige head, which leaves some eroding limestone cave lace around the glass as it evenly subsides.

It smells of bittersweet chocolate, musty yeast, roasted, gritty and grainy wheaten malt, a weird spiciness, subtle black orchard fruity notes, and some mild earthy, leafy, and dead floral green hop bitters. The taste is toasted bready and crackery caramel malt, a sense of alterna-grain astringency, some clove and white pepper spiciness, a banana-forward mixed bowl of fruit, sort of muddled cocoa powder, and more weak leafy, earthy, and musty floral verdant hoppiness.

The carbonation is quite active in its poking and prodding frothiness, the body a decent middleweight, and sort of smooth, as the yeast does its normal dog and pony show to take things down a notch or so here. It finishes off-dry, the caramel and cocoa essences lingering on in the face of a still sassy yeasty and spicy counterpoint.

Overall, this is a pleasant enough flavoured Saison, the chocolate adding an extra bit of heft to the proceedings, while still retaining the attributes of the base brew, for better or for worse (pertinent words for me right now, for wholly different reasons). Interesting stuff, in the sense that it actually makes me more interested in a version of this style, for starters.

Nice, fluffy head. Dark color - near black. Not surprisingly, the smell has Belgian saison-like yeasty smells - a little burnt, a little fruity, and a little caramely. Taste is much the same, with more of the toasty qualities being revealed. Fairly light body, but a playful mouthfeel. Good but not amazing.

 

On tap at Upright. A saison with cocoa.

A dark cola brown with a thin, off white head with good retention and mild lacing, this looks solid. The nose is a great blend of grain, pils malt, a mild clove note, a little fennel, buckwheat, cocoa, and a wonderful, fresh saison yeast character. The cocoa is a great dusty, earthy, complementary aroma note. The palate opens grainy, earthy, mildly floral with a nice saison yeast character. Clean, fresh, week constructed with a soft palate that complements the cocoa nicely. Clove and mild bubblegum appear on the finish as well. Light in body, with a high but soft carbonation, the finish is a delicious blend of cocoa, soft hops and yeast. Delicious.