Sage
Propolis Brewing

Dark color typical of Belgian dark ale. Short-lived head. Nice poultry herb smell. Super sage dominated. No bitterness. Otherwise just generic malt. Maybe honey. A little effervescence. Some ethanol feeling. Rather disappointing, even for a dubbel.

really cool to see this in a can now, a dark wheat based brew done with sage, its unique, not as truly wild as a lot of their stuff, but clever on a number of levels, and i think overall its an awesome use of the sage, which plays better than expected with roasty dark malts. this has hints of molasses and raisin, light funk and belgian esters, more tartness as it warms but not really sour, and a surprising degree of bitterness, both from the herb and from the roast it seems. nuances of birch, gale, and very subtle belgian yeast. dry cocoa, cola, and fig. there is a smoothness to this, and it drinks slightly richer and stronger than it is, its so full feeling and bold tasting, and it has a long linger even without really being all that sweet. licorice and tea, generic earthy spiciness, the freshness of the sage set against an obvious maturity, seems like fall to me more than early spring, but this is interesting enough to almost be confusing. not as well carbonated as their best beers, but i dont mind the pace of this. weirder on the ferment as it warms, but not as funky as i generally expect from these guys. sage all through it, root beer, raisin, strange, almost healthful, delicious!

 

Bottle from 4/2014 batch. Severely overcarbonated, let erupt in sink for 30 minutes before attempting a pour. Huge head, flat body/mouthfeel. Nice herbal qualities in small doses almost reminded me of cola. Would not classify this beer as a dubbel.

 

Poured into a Propolis tulip. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, with little light transmission in the full glass. Fine one finger light brown head with great retention and lacing. Aroma of bready malt, dark stone fruit, saison style yeast and spicy sage. Flavor is very saison style, dry herbal spicing, milder dark stone fruit, very sage forward, adding flavor and almost astringent bitterness. Finishes with spicy sage, colve and and other bitter herbs. Medium bodied with pleasant active carbonation. I missed this first style bottled by Propolis last year and am glad to get a chance to try this current version brewed in the Spring. Although listed as a dubbel here and on the Propolis site, this feels more like a hybrid between a saison and a sahti, or other herbally bittered ales. It is quite dry, a bit tart and leaves a lingering bitter herbal aftertaste. Nicely done and unusual. It feels like the kind of herbal beverage that might have accompanied a ritual hundreds of years ago. Not sure I have tasted a sage dubbel with this one, but it delivers on a quite nice sage dominated herbal ale. Recommended for sage and bitter herb fans, but don't expect a traditional sweet dubbel.