Haandbryggeriet Ardenne Blond

Brewed by Haandbryggeriet (Norway)
Style: Saison
Drammen, Norway

500ml bottle, batch 179, shared with Ross. Served chilled at Bar and Cigar, downtown Oslo. Loose, white head mostly disappearing over a cloudy orange body. A fairly fruity aroma greets you with sappy apples and sweet banana. Quite zesty taste with sappy fruits and emerging spicy hops towards a smooth bitter end. Clove spice on the palate. Well bodied. Perhaps a bit too sweet [22.01.2009].

50cl bottle at Beer Palace. Batch 87. It poured a dark orange colour with a suprisingly small head, but this could be because of the glass it was poured into. It has a fruity aroma that smells of malts and yeast. The flavour is dry and bitter and tastes of malts, wheats and peach. It has a very short and dry aftertaste.

June 14th, 08 Recived a case for my wedding. Fantastic fruity aroma, well balanced taste and nice dry finish. Lovely orange color as well

Clear orange of color with a white head. An aroma with notes of fruits, metallic, spice and sweet hints. A flavor with notes of fruits, spice, apples, sweets and a dry finish.

Hazy golden with a huge head, and the foam keeps growing out of the bottle a very long time after I poured the first glass. The aroma has notes of yeast, citrus and sweetness. The flavour is sweetish with notes of citrus, other fruits and candy sugar. The body is rather full and it’s quite pleasant.

½L bottle, expired "Summer 2007" and marked "Brew #9". Pours cloudy, murky darksih copper colour with enormous amounts of foam. Sweet, bready aroma. Some black sludge in the glass. Sweet, pleasantly spiced flavour.

Considering the style, Scores ranging from 1 to 5, 5 being the most intense
Appearance:
Body:   Clear(1)->Murky(5) : 4     Pale Yellow(1)->Copper(5) : 1     Still(1)->Volcanic Sparkling(5) : 3
Head:   None(1)->Large(5) : 3     Lasting: 3     Lacing : 3
Aroma:
Intensity : 4  
Yeast : 3   Bread : 3   Dough : XX   Esters : 2   Phenols : XX   Dusty : XX   Spicy : 3   Apple : XX   Banana : 2   Tropical Fruits : 2   Brett : XX   Barnyard : XX   Leather : XX   Wood : XX   Vinous : XX   Cheese : XX   DMS : XX   Diacetyl : XX Sulfur : XX
Malt : 2   Pilsner : 4   Pale : XX   Vienna : XX   Biscuity : XX   Toasty : XX   Hay : XX   Caramel : XX   Honey : XX   Cereals : 3   Grainy : 3   Wheat : 2
Hops : 3   Noble(1)->American(5) : 1   Leafy : XX   Perfume : XX   Orange : 2   Floral : 2   Lemon/Lime : XX   Herbal : XX   Grassy : XX   Piney : XX
Notes : Pepper : 2   Cloves : XX   Coriander : 3   Ginger : XX   Orange : 2   Earth : XX   Vanilla : XX   Oxidation : XX   Bubblegum : XX
Flavor:
Initial Flavor : Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 4   Finish Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 3   Sourness : 1   Acetic : XX   Lactic : XX   Bitterness : 2   Farmy : XX   Complex : XX   Length : XX
Palate:
Light(1)->Full(5) : 2   Flat(1)->Fizzy(5) : 3   Clean : XX   Sharp : XX   Watery : XX   Oily : XX   Chalk : XX   Astringent : XX   Alcohol : XX   Mineral : XX

Comments: A cleaner type of saison with a belgianesque yeastiness, but little farmy character and the small amount of coriander in there already feels like too much, mostly because the beer is not too dry. It is actually fairly sweet for what aims at being refreshing and the spice just furthermore detracts from that assumed objective.

Bottle. Frothy white excellent mostly deminishng. Orange colour. Moderae malty powerfull hoppy aroma. Light yeasty. Moderate bitter flavor. Moderate bitter average finish with strong anis and coriander notes. Oily palate but way too fizzy.