French Saison
De Steeg Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

I'm not a big saison guy, but I actually liked this one. It's much higher alcohol that you'd expect, and they don't hide it either. It's strong, but it's tasty.

 

 

 

 

 

a bit of a strange beer, i definitely get the white labs french saison yeast, ive used it myself on occasion, but the alcohol strength is peculiar here, and the robustness of the herbal character is unique. pale hazy yellow wheat malt color with minimal head, certainly looks a bit flat. the nose is nice though, yeasty, with prominent grassy and herbal notes to the beer, fully integrated. the alcohol strength cannot be smelled or tasted, to their credit, but it can be felt, and seems to me unnecessary or not helpful or contributing much in a beer that is normally associated with session drinking. it definitely hurts the drinkability. how they accomplished such a light body in such a big beer is also a credit to the brewer, but something was missing in this beer overall for me. i liked the summery vibe and the forwardness of the yeast. it worked beautifully with local artisan herbed cream cheese on a buttery cracker, but on its own it was far less dynamic. this flat out needs more bubbles (pun intended). its boring in feel, and that hurts the overall experience, but the finish has some nice subtle spice to it, and i appreciate that this is something different.

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a light straw/golden body.

Lots of aromas come of this beer. There's some funky esters, light apricot citrus notes.

Def a big beer. Very complex. Lots of spice, light fruits. Get hints of alcohol in the flavor as well.

This is an awesome beer. The heat of the alcohol doesn't even bother me. All the flavors really pop.