Dark Saison
Brewery Vivant

Exploring the darker side of this summer classic, Brewery Vivant shows that the variation in the Farmhouse Ale is just alive today as it was centuries ago.

Pouring a dark and ruby-black hue with rusty, bark-like browns, Dark Saison releases a balmy sandy froth that carries a plethora of fruity and spicy scents to the nose. As hints of wine, wood, coffee and toast roll along in scent, the taste soon follows with a creamy and light sweetness of malted milk balls, steely caramel and a mild toasty sweetness.

With the sweetness soon giving way to the more toasty, coffee-like and woodsy flavors, a slightly earthier attitude emerges. This is the perfect springboard for the fruit and spice to come. Dark berry, grape, apple and currant leap right out, but with a quick rebuttal from fresh cracked peppercorn, vinous spice and wood spices provide balance and dryness in prep for a final impression of pepper and wine.

Medium bodied and trending dry, the woodsy, peppery and dry fruit character allows for a digestible taste and a bubbly texture with refreshing properties despite its darker impressions. Finishing both fruity and spicy, the spices eventually win out in a medium-length aftertaste.

Dark Saison from Brewery Vivant. Received on 17/3/21 from Brewery Vivant, Grand Rapids, MI. $ 13.77 (Including tax)/4-pack of 16 oz cans ($ 0.215/oz). At room temperature at store and stored at home at 42 degrees. Reviewed 8/4/21. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Undated can. Served at 53.4 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 57.9 degrees.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Medium Amber (SRM 12), clear.
Body – Ruby Brown (SRM 24), hazy. When rear-lite, same with the ruby being hazily apparent.
Head – Large (Maximum 4.2 cm, aggressive center pour), Dutch white, high density with an occasional rock, average retention, diminishing to a two mm crown with a thin partial cap.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 3.5 – Initially a bit of char and coffee, but the coffee quickly dies. No malt, no hops, no yeast.
Flavor – 3.5 – Malt backbone evident, no hops, no yeast. Pepper flavor but lacking any spiciness. No alcohol (5.7 % ABV, as marked on container) taste or aroma. No gastric warming occurs. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 3.5 – Medium, watery, soft but lively carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3 (After deducting 0.25 point for undated can) Very bland, like a flavorless saison. Either old peppercorns or old beer.