Dupont Avec les Bons Voeux

Brewed by Brasserie Dupont
Style: Saison
Tourpes-Leuze, Belgium

Bottle. Appearance is slightly cloudy gold color with a thick rather tenacious head with solid lacing. Aroma: Leafy, peppery, orange bark, earth, pepper, eucalyptus. Flavor is earthy, mild honey, herbal and some alcohol. The mouthfeel is awesome, sparkling at first, champagne-like turns into an oily, velvety full mouth sensation and a very dryyy finish.

750 mL bottle. Golden, slightly cloudy pour with a thick eggshell white head. Lots of carbonation. Aroma of pepper and yeast with that familiar barnyard presence. Great taste of bready yeast, sharp apples with a lingering finish.

Finally got around to trying a bottle of this, and I’m glad I did. Pours a light, cloudy honey amber with a large, off-white head. Extremely effervescent - drinks like a full-bodied champagne. The aroma and flavor are very bready and earthy (grassy), with some citrus rind, honey, and a bit of tart apple. Extremely dry, with a lingering bitterness. This is really nice.

Bottle: The aroma consists of yeast, floral notes, and faint lemon tartness. It pours a cloudy orange with lots of sediment and a large white head with great retention that leaves behind some clumps of lacing. The flavor starts with some sweet citrus notes and yeast. There is a faint lemon tartness in the background. The finish is lightly spicy with a hint of pepper and grass. Medium bodied with moderate soft carbonation.

750ml bottle. Pours a hazy golden orange color with a nice off white head leaving behind some nice lacework. Aroma is musty, funky, spice, grass and bready. Flavor is spicy, black pepper, earthy, funky, green apple, bready, a touch of yeastiness, with some honey and orange peel in the finish. This is a wonderful beer that I’ll look forward to each year at the holidays.

The Dupont Brasserie of Tourpes, Belgium is most renowned for their Saison Dupont, a Farmhouse Ale of epic proportions. Arguably the best Saison available in the world, I find that I cannot argue with that widely shared opinion, amateur and professional, for I myself also agree. The Dupont Brasserie also brews a few other year-round beers beside their traditional Saison, and that includes a yearly Christmas release called the Avec Les Bons Voeux.

She pours rather thick with a soft, hazy golden hue billowing into a creamy soft white head which shrinks slowly into randomly scattered pockets of bubbles. As I swirl her contents, she leaves both lace and a faint trace of tears along the sides of my glass, a testament to her thicker body. An orchard of oranges, mango, and honey greets my nose; and I’m talking fresh, real honey, not the over-processed artificially sweet store-bought kind. Anyone who has supped and savored fresh honey right off the honeycomb knows exactly what I am talking about. A soft background of hay and supple leather gives her a rightful earthy quality while more oranges and some tangerines keep her nose fresh. Floral notes add to the blooming orchard essence while herbs and some peppery spices add a little excitement and daring to her journey. One last aromatic embrace of rubber, leather, and dry earth draws me into her wet embrace. Effervescent and frothy with a rich, thicker and heavier palate in comparison to her year-round older sister. To clarify, the Avec Les Bons Voeux is still considered a Saison, but she is a heartier version of what is traditionally a sessionable brew. she is very bright on top of my tongue where the freshly plucked sweetness of honey, orange, and mango dance followed quickly by her next number which features a more earthy ballet of leather, dry earth and wood which lingers in a long, clean finish. Bright and sparkling, we laugh together as her sweet nature frolics with dry herbs, grass, and more earth as wisps of coriander and citric rinds whisper. Her dry finish compliments her body perfectly, keeping an excellent balance between sipping and quaffing as one would a standard Saison. As we spend more time together, she grows a deeper, muskier nature with more barnyard notes and a burgeoning presence of tart funk. Refreshing, to say the least. I can see how the Avec Les Bons Voeux from the Dupont Brasserie is going to be one of my yearly holiday traditions.

I’m not surprised in the least that she wowed and dazzled and wooed me to pieces. I expected nothing less from the Dupont Brasserie, and I look forward to seeing how the 2009 batch will hold true and diverge all at the same time. Just as every batch is Saison Dupont is a wee bit different, so too is the Avec Les Bons Voeux. I am thrilled I was able to savor a bottle this year, and look forward to next years, and maybe a mini lateral.

Golden orange color with huge white head, that keeps growing. Dusty aroma of grass, pale malt. Earthy, lightly sweet flavor with a bit of sourness. Effervescent mouthfeel with nice carbonation, very dry finish.

2006 bottle. golden with a creamy white head. aroma is winey sweet and estery. flavour is sweet and fruity with the classic belgian funkiness. not too light. a good refreshing beer with enough flavour to keep you interested. does not live up to the hype however...