Les Quatre Saisons: Saison aux Baies Amères (Chokecherry)
Left Hand Brewing Company

Les Quatre Saisons: Saison aux Baies Amères (Chokecherry)Les Quatre Saisons: Saison aux Baies Amères (Chokecherry)
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From:
Left Hand Brewing Company
 
Colorado, United States
Style:
Saison
ABV:
6.8%
Score:
85
Avg:
3.76 | pDev: 8.24%
Reviews:
25
Ratings:
78
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Dec 01, 2020
Added:
Mar 19, 2017
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  18
Dry and crisp farmhouse-style ale. Mild tartness with bitter Colorado chokecherries.

IBU: 10

MALT: Malted Barley, Rye, Wheat, Rolled Oats
OTHER: Colorado Chokecherries, Chokeberry Juice
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by sweemzander:
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Rated by sweemzander from Illinois

4/5  rDev +6.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Aug 24, 2017
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.5 by Urk1127 from New Jersey

Dec 01, 2020
Photo of woodychandler
Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania

3.94/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
It is back to/on The CANQuest (tm) fora bit as I CANduct CANother short brewery horizontal! This end of this adventure will segue nicely into a couple more horizontals & all in furtherance of TheCANQuest (tm). It's all very exciting!

From the CAN: "Les Quatre Saisons[:] Saison aux Baies Amères (Chokecherry)"; "Employee Owned. Righteously Independent (tm)"; "Brewed on the banks of the mighty St. Vrain"; "Est. 1993"; "Saison Ale brewed with chokeberry juice and with Chokecherries added"; "Dry and crisp farmhouse-style ale. Mild tartness with Colorado chokecherries."; "10 IBU"; "Ingredients: Rocky Mountain water, Malted Barley, Rye, Wheat, Rolled Oats, Chokecherry Juice, Chokecherries, Hops, Yeast".

Being as that it was a Saison, I did some in-CAN agitation before I Crack!ed open the vent. I followed with an inverted C-Line Glug into the awaiting goblet. This led to the creation of two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, pinkish-white head that resembled freshly-spun cotton CANdy before finally falling away to wisps. Color was a slightly-hazy pinkish-Amber (SRM =N/A), akin to pink lemonade. Nose had a pronounced tartness, not the usual funkiness of a Saison, but more towards the tartness of a Wild Ale. Interesting. Mouthfeel was thin-to-medium, not watery, but not far beyond it. The taste was MUCH better than the nose had led me to expect. Its tartness was very mild, its funkiness was likewise perceptible, but mild & it all put me in mind of pomegranate juice! Wholly unexpected. Back to the brewery: "Dry and crisp farmhouse-style ale. Mild tartness with bitter Colorado chokecherries." Mild is right! Bitter? Hardly. Finish, however, was as advertised - dry, crisp & very refreshing. I CAN kind of understand why this one was disCANtinued - it wouldn't be much to a Saison lover's liking & it would only be a novelty for others. Hmm. YMMV.
Apr 28, 2020
 
Rated: 3.75 by Karibourgeois from Texas

Feb 19, 2019
 
Rated: 3.37 by Corkykab from New Jersey

Feb 03, 2019
 
Rated: 3.83 by n2pux from Texas

Jan 26, 2019
 
Rated: 4.07 by Abstractspirit from Rhode Island

Oct 16, 2018
 
Rated: 3.72 by nickfl from Florida

Sep 25, 2018
 
Rated: 3.61 by Commandophile from Illinois

Sep 14, 2018
 
Rated: 3.75 by Elicoleman from Colorado

Aug 12, 2018
 
Rated: 4.09 by QuakeAttack from California

Aug 11, 2018
 
Rated: 3.83 by mrcraft from California

Aug 04, 2018
Photo of Cthulhusquid
Reviewed by Cthulhusquid from Washington

4.43/5  rDev +17.8%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
Look: One finger white head, pinkish-orange body.

Smell: See below.

Taste : Belgian yeast, grains, a note of vinous fruits, mild barnyard.

Feel : Medium body and carbonation, balanced finish.
Jul 29, 2018
 
Rated: 3.91 by fisherbray from Florida

Jul 19, 2018
Photo of Ninjakillzu
Reviewed by Ninjakillzu from Washington

4.67/5  rDev +24.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
Poured into a Pint Defiance tulip. The body is a reddish orange hue, with a finger white head. Aromas consist of apple, cherry, straw, and cereal. Flavors are the same. The feel is medium bodied with high carbonation.
Jul 11, 2018
Photo of Lone_Freighter
Reviewed by Lone_Freighter from Vermont

4/5  rDev +6.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured into a tulip, the appearance was a glossy pink color with a fair transparency about it. Carbonation could be seen rising at a moderate pace. Several pours didn't allow any head to form. Just a wisp of concave lace slides with the sips.
The aroma definitely has genuine chokecherries up front, sweet with a sly tartness adequately melding with strong saison qualities such as hay, grass, touch of barnyard, coriander then semi-doughy to Belgian bready/yeastiness.
The flavor meshes finely from the chokecherries to the saison sweet Belgian yeasty to doughiness flowing into each other nicely. Mild saison aftertaste with some chokecherries melding pretty nice.
The mouthfeel was between light and medium bodied with a fine sessionability about it. Carbonation was a bit lower than I thought but I wasn't too bothered by that. ABV felt good. Finish was moderately sweet with a touch sour then a little bit of tart with the chokecherries.
Overall, though not normally a fan of Left Hand's lighter beers, I believe they did a good job of taking a saison and adding chokecherries to it. And this actually worked.
Jun 19, 2018
 
Rated: 3.79 by UCLABrewN84 from California

Jun 10, 2018
 
Rated: 3.93 by MeIquiades from Illinois

Jun 09, 2018
 
Rated: 3.75 by ShawnL from Wisconsin

Jun 03, 2018
Photo of NeroFiddled
Reviewed by NeroFiddled from Pennsylvania

4.03/5  rDev +7.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Left Hand Brewing Company "Saison Au Baies Amères"
1 pint can, "BEST BY: 11/22/2018" and sampled on 05/31/2018
$3.49 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: I've never tasted a chokecherry so searched the internet and learned one of tow things, either they're delicious and you can use them to make jam and so forth, or they can kill you or harm you severely - thank you internet writers! So here goes... it's mostly clear, and straw gold with a pinkish sheen although it appears much more pinkish in the full glass. The white head doesn't seem that pink at all though, nor does it seem to have very good retention. The aroma is sweetish and fruity with just a hint of earthiness to it but I'm not sure how much of that is due to the malt and yeast or the addition of chokecherries. Regardless, it's not bright, but it's clean and pleasant and welcoming. On to the flavor... wow, that's nice! Again, I'm not sure what the chokecherry is doing but there is what I perceive to be a sweet cranberry or cherry flavor to it although I might be just imagining that as saison yeast can give off a lot of fruitiness. And it's sweetish to be sure, but that's coming from the malt I imagine as I'm not finding a lot of bitterness to it, maybe 15 IBUs or so, and maybe even less, but at the same time it's not cloyingly sweet, there's just enough. Maybe it could be a little more zesty though. Or may it's just out a lot of it's original carbonation by now though. I's call it medium-light in body, perhaps light-medium if you want to look at it more on the light side, and gently crisp. It's not that acidic, which is fine, but a touch more might help to balance it a bit although I like it as it is. The grainy and just lightly caramelish malt is clear but I'm not finding a lot of hops. It's somewhat floral though, so maybe it is? I'm not sure what's what really - I may need to investigate these chokecherries more closely. So have I missed anything? Haha, I just looked at the label - 10 IBUs, at least I was close. And it's made with chokecherries and chokecherry juice which is interesting. I would certainly buy this again, and I think I'll actually make a note and seek it out. It's a nice spring or summer beer, and to be honest, I could enjoy one of these in the dead of winter as well. At the very least, unless you're familiar with chokecherries it's worth checking out.
Review# 6,041
May 31, 2018
Les Quatre Saisons: Saison aux Baies Amères (Chokecherry) from Left Hand Brewing Company
Beer rating: 85 out of 100 with 78 ratings