Saison Du Swamp With Brettanomyces | Swamp Head Brewery
Brewed by:
Swamp Head Brewery
Florida, United States
swamphead.com
Style: Saison / Farmhouse Ale
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 7.00%
Availability: Limited (brewed once)
Notes / Commercial Description:
No notes at this time.
Added by macrosmatic on 07-08-2013
This beer is retired; no longer brewed.
View: Beers | Place Reviews | Events
Ratings: 90 | Reviews: 11
Reviews by petermethot:
4.25/5 rDev +1.2%
petermethot, Mar 16, 2014
More User Reviews:
3.18/5 rDev -24.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
750 mL bottle poured into a snifter.
Appearance - Hazy light orange. Decent white head. Medium collar.
Smell - Hmm. Citrus and vegetables. Odd. More citrus than vegetable, but it's still there. Apples. A hint of brett.
Taste - Again it's got a lot of citrus and apple. Very fruity. Some vegetable notes though. Grainy. Pale malt in the finish. I don't get a ton of brett.
Mouthfeel - Medium bodied. Medium carbonation.
Overall - I had an old bottle of the regular version of this and it was a brett monster. I'd be interested in aging this. Maybe those weird flavors will pass.
583 characters
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
750 mL bottle poured into a snifter.
Appearance - Hazy light orange. Decent white head. Medium collar.
Smell - Hmm. Citrus and vegetables. Odd. More citrus than vegetable, but it's still there. Apples. A hint of brett.
Taste - Again it's got a lot of citrus and apple. Very fruity. Some vegetable notes though. Grainy. Pale malt in the finish. I don't get a ton of brett.
Mouthfeel - Medium bodied. Medium carbonation.
Overall - I had an old bottle of the regular version of this and it was a brett monster. I'd be interested in aging this. Maybe those weird flavors will pass.
583 characters
4.51/5 rDev +7.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5
Straight pour from a 750ml/25.4oz pry-off bottle to an oversized wineglass (Jester King stemware). This is a bottle from the original release in 2013, and it’s been in good care ever since purchase nearly two years ago. It’s been refrigerated for a couple of weeks now, so it’s had time to settle nicely.
Appearance (3.75): First off, this is a bit of a foamer—and if I reckon, it was two years ago, too. The head piles up two fingers of crackly white foam, capping a hazy golden body with orange highlights. It looks a lot like passion fruit juice, actually. Not a lot of lacing to speak of, and it leaves just a thin collar at the edge of the glass. It all dissipates as time goes on, leaving just the orange-gold body. It started beautifully, and ended average-ish.
Smell (4.5): Passion fruit, sweet limeade, a modest, funky twang on the back end, and a subtle, musty layer of barnyard underneath it all. If I’m not mistaken, this has got a lot of Brett C all over it, along with a nice, solid base of American-style saison—wheat malt, light coriander, tangerine, rustic country bread, this smells fantastic.
Taste (4.5): It deviates from the aroma in that it’s not as sweet as all that tropical fruit would suggest, but it picks up that funky twang and turns it into a full-blown, citrusy bite. Not bitter like citrus rinds, but tart and funky like orangeade stuffed with edible flowers. A little chamomile, maybe? Dry, floury biscuits in the malt character—but this beer is bone-dry. In place of any substantial malt body, the brett’s developed a nice base of musty, bucolic funk. Grassy, floral bitterness in the finish melds with the bretty twang that’s developed over time, and in the end it makes for a dynamic, multi-faceted saison. This is outstanding.
Mouthfeel (5.0): Carbonation is very active, covering all surfaces with a blanket of fine, tingly bubbles that sticks closely until the wash out, where it foams up easily and turns a modest sip into a satisfying swallow. The body is about spot-on for medium-weight, but its dryness belies any heft or slickness that might accompany a beer of this size. As a result, this is insanely easy to drink.
Overall (4.5): I reaaaaaaaaaaally like this beer. I had it fresh two years ago, but I was camping in the mountains of North Carolina and wasn’t about to sit down and write detailed tasting notes. Back then, it was fruitier and a little clearer, if I recall, but the base beer was already a year old at that time. I liked it slightly better back then, but fortunately, it’s aged extremely well and still tastes fantastic. This is a beautiful beer—easily one of my top-five in 2013, and easily one of my all-time favorites still today—and I hope Swamp Head continues to make it, even if only sporadically, for the foreseeable future.
2,831 characters
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5
Straight pour from a 750ml/25.4oz pry-off bottle to an oversized wineglass (Jester King stemware). This is a bottle from the original release in 2013, and it’s been in good care ever since purchase nearly two years ago. It’s been refrigerated for a couple of weeks now, so it’s had time to settle nicely.
Appearance (3.75): First off, this is a bit of a foamer—and if I reckon, it was two years ago, too. The head piles up two fingers of crackly white foam, capping a hazy golden body with orange highlights. It looks a lot like passion fruit juice, actually. Not a lot of lacing to speak of, and it leaves just a thin collar at the edge of the glass. It all dissipates as time goes on, leaving just the orange-gold body. It started beautifully, and ended average-ish.
Smell (4.5): Passion fruit, sweet limeade, a modest, funky twang on the back end, and a subtle, musty layer of barnyard underneath it all. If I’m not mistaken, this has got a lot of Brett C all over it, along with a nice, solid base of American-style saison—wheat malt, light coriander, tangerine, rustic country bread, this smells fantastic.
Taste (4.5): It deviates from the aroma in that it’s not as sweet as all that tropical fruit would suggest, but it picks up that funky twang and turns it into a full-blown, citrusy bite. Not bitter like citrus rinds, but tart and funky like orangeade stuffed with edible flowers. A little chamomile, maybe? Dry, floury biscuits in the malt character—but this beer is bone-dry. In place of any substantial malt body, the brett’s developed a nice base of musty, bucolic funk. Grassy, floral bitterness in the finish melds with the bretty twang that’s developed over time, and in the end it makes for a dynamic, multi-faceted saison. This is outstanding.
Mouthfeel (5.0): Carbonation is very active, covering all surfaces with a blanket of fine, tingly bubbles that sticks closely until the wash out, where it foams up easily and turns a modest sip into a satisfying swallow. The body is about spot-on for medium-weight, but its dryness belies any heft or slickness that might accompany a beer of this size. As a result, this is insanely easy to drink.
Overall (4.5): I reaaaaaaaaaaally like this beer. I had it fresh two years ago, but I was camping in the mountains of North Carolina and wasn’t about to sit down and write detailed tasting notes. Back then, it was fruitier and a little clearer, if I recall, but the base beer was already a year old at that time. I liked it slightly better back then, but fortunately, it’s aged extremely well and still tastes fantastic. This is a beautiful beer—easily one of my top-five in 2013, and easily one of my all-time favorites still today—and I hope Swamp Head continues to make it, even if only sporadically, for the foreseeable future.
2,831 characters
4.57/5 rDev +8.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Hazy golden apricot draft pour with white head. Funky and tart nose and first sip. Sweet and spicy finish. Quite nice.
118 characters
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Hazy golden apricot draft pour with white head. Funky and tart nose and first sip. Sweet and spicy finish. Quite nice.
118 characters
Saison Du Swamp With Brettanomyces from Swamp Head Brewery
4.2
out of 5
based on 90 ratings.