Soleya
BraufactuM

Copenhagen 10/9 2017. 35,5 cl bottle from Fakta. Drawing of harvest time in medieval Germany on the label.

Pours hazy yellow with white fluffy head. Settles as thin almost transparent layer of foam. Moderate lacing.

Aroma has light sweet fruitiness and sharp tart sourness. Like a lemonade made with unripe berries in a kitchen running short of sugar.

Soft carbonation and medium thick palate.

Flavor is lightly sweet followed by strong sour bitterness. Aftertaste is sour with light sweet notes.

Nice Saison - Sour but refreshing.

From rediscovered 2015 notes of a trip to Berlin....
L- Mid-amber, slightly cloudy.
S- Some orange over spicing.
T- Dry, dried fruit to very hopped and very dry. Dried fruits and little spice, hoppy finish.
F- Fresh, zesty, has oomph appropriate for it's 6.5%
O- Like other BF beers I've tried. Strong characteristics. Very interesting to try but not a session beer by any means. Intensely dry hopped flavour, not for everyone.
BB: 1-4-17. 355ml 6.5%

355 ml bottle, from Vinmonopolet, Nettbutikken. ABV is 6.5%. Pale golden colour, large white head. Distinct and pleasant aroma of spicy and peppery saison yeast, and spicy hops, followed by unripe bananas and ripe yellow plums. The flavour is dry and crisp, spicy and peppery, with a fairly distinct bitterness in the finish.

 

Cerveza con una pequeña cabeza espumosa que desaparece rápidamente. De cuerpo y carbonatación media. Aroma a lúpulo y plátano. En boca es ligeramente amargo con un final largo.

 

 

 

 

355 mL bottle from the LCBO; best before Mar 28 2019 and served slightly chilled.

Pours a clear golden-blonde colour, capped off with one finger of smooth, creamy white head that lasts beyond the ten minute mark. A full coat of lacing develops as it recedes at its infinitesimally slow pace; it's a fantastic-looking glass of beer, that's for sure. On the nose, I'm getting notes of underripe banana, yeast, clove spice and orchard fruit esters, underlain by a bready, wheaty sweetness and faint hints of white grape. Slightly peppery and phenolic; not too far off from a hefeweizen aroma-wise, actually... which I guess isn't much of a shock.

A pleasant Belgian-style quaffer that delivers everything I've come to expect from a farmhouse ale - perhaps a little hoppier than usual, though. Crackery, bready pale malt sweetness, together with grainy wheat notes, provide most of the flavour early on, with flavours of pear, melon and grape developing thereafter. The yeast and (dry) hops start to take over on the back end, with notes of clove and white pepper mingling together amidst lingering suggestions of lemon pith and stone fruit. Finishes fairly bitter for a saison, with a spicy aftertaste that quickly dries out. Medium in body, with moderate carbonation levels that provide a bit of a jolt to the brew's otherwise smooth, soft mouthfeel. Highly drinkable - perhaps even dangerously so, if it were in a larger format.

Final Grade: 4.12, an A-. BraufactuM's Soleya is not only the first German-made saison I've tried so far - it's also a very solid interpretation of the style. All of the prerequisites are here: a clean, robust pale malt/wheat backbone and a complex, interesting flavour profile driven not only by the yeast, but also by the Enigma dry hop treatment. Well worth looking into if you can find it fresh.

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a nice clear gold with a fluffy white head of two fingers. Head breaks rather quickly, leaving a nice cap and collar. Lacing is decent.

Smell is really nice for a Saison. Yeasty, spicy and peppery. I also get cloves and a bit of funk.

Taste brings much of the nose forward,but I found it a little less so. There is a bit of yeast,and it has the nice spices and peppery flavor, but it is also quite bitter. The bitterness is a little distracting.

Feel is light with active carbonation. Finish is dry and the bitterness mentioned in the taste lasts a long time.

Well,this is a good beer, but there are better saisons out there. I found the bitter detracted quite a bit from the other flavors.

330 ml bottle served cold in a goblet. An LCBO purchase for $3.25 CDN. Best before March 28, 2019.

Appearance - Pale golden colored beer, plenty of fluffy white head, a little haze and minimal visible carbonation. Retention is impressive lasting quite a few minutes.

Smell - Belgian style yeast, grassy notes with some lemon. There's a subtle candi sugar sweetness and a hint of peaches. A whisper of a caramel suggestion mixes in the equation.

Taste - Initially mildly bitter with some middling earthiness, hints of grass, subtle bit of peaches. Then moves more bitter with grape suggestions and a near champagne like quality. Quite bitter to close.

Mouthfeel - Soft and medium bodied, carbonation is expressive but not fizzy. Very dry finish.

Overall - A very solid saison, respecting the classics while providing a slightly hoppier and more bitter twist. Soleya is a keeper.

 

 

This is nice, mostly because it's refreshing to know that Germans are doing something other than what they have done for ages. I am not (was, but not for a while) a fan of German beer but this is finally different.
It pours nice with a head that half retains throughout. The nose is a bizarre ham and sausage combination, which is somewhat off-putting. It tastes decent but not saison in the Belgian style, which is what I enjoy. There is no funk and some bitterness but all in all, it is something you can have again, even if not sought out.