Daily Wages
Brasserie Saint James

 

 

Here's a local beer I should review before the place closes down. Pours a hazy yellow, kinda bright, the head on it out of the bottle is massive, and its good size on tap too, 1" or more. All kinds of shit popping off aroma wise, like a blend of saison and lager going on. I don't get anything in the way of a fruit connotation out of the aroma despite the commercial tugjob claims.

The taste is a bitter yet earthy saison. Kind of a mineral water like mouth feel given the big carbonation. Some citrus and hay creep into the development. Definitely has a dry finish to every sip. Seems like the entire beer is driven by the yeast, and that makes sense given the style. Usually seen on shelves for around $11 I believe. I rarely purchase unless I have a real hankering for a saison when I'm at Winco shopping.

Unknown vintage; drank 7/7/16 @ the Yarchives.

Cloudy yellow/orange appearance; champagne bubbles throughout.

A rough pour yielded a HUGE white head; strong, frothy lace.

Banana, orange citrus & black pepper notes in the nose.

Medium mouthfeel. Banana & faint soap flavors up front; dry black pepper notes on the finish.

Drinkable but instantly forgettable; can't say I'll track another one down.

Light, golden yellow body with a decent head; lively carbonation. Grassy, herbal, citrus aroma. Traditional saison funk with the taste; relatively light and mellow; peppery; phenolic. Medium body; coarse on the palate; crisp, dry finish.

This is a rather delicate flavored saison yet fully pleasing on nearly all accounts.

 

Look - Pale straw / light yellow color. Huge 3-4 finger head billowed up with a moderate pour. A bit hazy. Head recedes pretty quickly, but doesn't go flat... continues to produce bubbles / foam ring.
Smell - Grass, hay, spices, herbs, peppercorns, and biscuit. Some floral notes.
Taste - Tart fruit upfront. Heavy grass and herbs. Slight malt sweetness, then gets dry. Nice yeast and spice flavor. Decent sourness - but not too much. Slight pine/evergreen flavor.
Feel - Low-Medium body. Where it needs to be. Staying more active would have been better.
Overall - This is a great Saison / Farmhouse Ale. I like how prevalent the herb and spices are. Would get again.

Nearly clear golden brew. First pour was a lot of foam in the tall Saxo tulip, but it settles down to a lovely sudsy glassful. Lemony aroma with some grain. Creamy and smooth in the mouth. Light and frothy with an abundance of yeasty flavors. At first sip I thought there might be Brettanomyces, it has that distinct dry and peppery taste.

Not very sweet but pleasantly malty. There is some dried pear, and a touch of lime peel. Just enough funkification. Long aftertaste with pear and Cream of Wheat and a bitter touch. This is one of the better Saisons I've had lately. From the 750 ml bottle purchased at Grapevine Liquors in Denver.

 

Poured into a tulip. A clear golden-yellow color with effervescent bubbles and a large, rocky white head. Aromas of fresh pepper, lemongrass, dough, and floral hops. Really well-balanced and complex on the nose. The taste did not disappoint: delicate flavors including lavender, pepper, lemon, grass, earthy notes, limes, and oranges. There was a nice crackery dry malt presence. Mild funk was there as well. Beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i hear folks speaking negatively about these guys all the time, and i really dont know why. i have not had a ton of their beers, but the ones i have tried have been excellent, nice to see some of their stuff starting to show up around colorado a little bit. this is heady beer man, really good stuff. nothing at all to speak ill of. its bright in color, somewhere between sunflower and golden, with just a little haze and and over an inch of pure white head, thick and lasting and lacy. awesome. it smells great too, definitely bretty, this has some real funk to it, belgian yeast too it seems, farmy, notes of white wine and apricot to it, wheat driven on the malt side for sure, and interesting too, not the normal profile. the flavor is like that too, somehow different on the brett side of things, really pretty evolved, and a lot of fluffy wheat here, yummy! white grape and pear hints, slight floral honey sweetness, sweet citrus later on, drying wild yeast, mixed for sure, some belgian notes there, french saison, cleaner though, lots going on, layers of subtlety on the yeast front build into a rather complex overall profile. i absolutely loved this beer, highly charged and crisp in the finish, pleasant and drinkable forever. not sure the negative speak around these guys, is there some politics i dont know about? their beer has been great and this is really solid!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A wonderfully-made saison. The flavors a little brighter than a bottle shipped from Belgium, but all the right elements are there. The aroma is woody and a touch yeasty with a hint of lemon. The flavor expands with notes of apple and lavender amid white pepper and little farmhouse mustiness. The finish is dry and spicy. A friend complained of chalky astringency, but I like the aftertaste. There's a subtle bit of floral hops tucked in. Find this beer.

 

This beer is world class! Gold Medal Saison of the 2014 GABF! Dry, lightly spiced, a perfect balance of earth and citrus. Get your hands on it!