Heavyweight Saison de la Soeur Black

Formerly brewed at Heavyweight Brewing Company
Style: Saison
Ocean Township, New Jersey USA

Bottle shared with the Montreal crew on 11/6/2005. Pours a dark brown-black with some dark violet tinges to the body and a small, fizzling to cover, beige head. Only light, spotty lacing left on the glass. Aroma shows prunes, lightly sour/tart yeast and more dark fruits. Almost a bitter baker’s chocolate combined with roast and some dry, earthy notes. Rather muddled. I should think they would want to showcase the yeast, and a tart but clean dark fruitiness, as with Black Ghost or maybe focus on the malt and yeast. The malt seems to dry and lightly bitter though. The flavor begins very grapey. Concord grapes, tart prunes and a strong oiliness in texture combine to create a lacking mouthfeel, with flavors I don’t associate with Black Ghost (never had SPF 8). Little to no hoppiness apparent, with lightly bitter roast. As it warms, it is, fortunately, saved by some sweet caramel malt notes, but then seems to end lightly bready. Oily, lightly tart almost vinegar-like yeast notes are strong and too drying. Aerated, lightly bubbly texture, with a moderate malty sweet body. No alcohol apparency. Juicy and oily. Would probably come across more elegantly if the mouthfeel were less bubbly.

Yeah, it’s definately black. Solid black the whole way through. Uncontrollable head. So much head that I had to put the bottle in the bathroom sink even after I already poured a glass. Aroma is bready with a little dark chocolate and some roasted malt. The first thing that I taste is grape juice. Some subtle malt and yeast flavors but the grape flavor stays with me until the finish. Very interesting saison...quite enjoyable.

Totally opaque and jet black, with a grey-brown head.
Grapes, the usual bready, yeasty profile smells more like bagels with olive tapenade spread all over it. Weird...
Very gassy and has this acidity that for some reason I didn’t enjoy, it wasn’t balsamic, vinegary or tart, it tasted like those old square batteries you would stick your tongue on to see if they still had juice. Not much body either.

Black pepper vivacity dwells underneath the near-balsamic vinosity...Torrefied maltiness is efficacious within the attenuated body, and is carefully linked by star anise-like sweetness...Expansive effervescence gets in the way of the serene interplay of flavors, and most appear muted throughout because of this gassy zealousness...

750 bottle-shared with Drew on his visit to St Louis. This beer was a treat. pours deep brown with a sudsy tan head. Looks like a belgian porter if there were something along those lines. aroma of wood, dark chocolate, light sour funk (light barnyard), vineous qualities and a touch of herbal notes. flavors start lightly sour, then go into something that is very hard to describe-roast, chocolate, lemon, leather, with a vineous feel on the mouth. palate is fizzy, but thats the style here. some grassy notes start to come out as the beer warmed. some nice sour finish notes. Some nice candy notes emerge as the beer warmed that represented tottsie roll dot candies. A truely unique, tasty, and interesting beer. Thanks Hopdog!

They say this is modelled after Black Ghost but I find it more porter-like, personally. There are roasty elements here, along with peppercorns, and allspice, and dark chocolate, and arugula, and dates. Spritzy and kind of dry-feeling. Hints of coffee. Some funkiness down below, some leather notes and some sourness. Not really my style.

I sat on this rating for a while. Poured a deep brown with a brown head. Nose was yeast, and dark fruits. The taste is out there. I don’t care much for farm house, but it was a pleaser to taste this one. Quality.

750 from Dorwart. This little monster made a mess when the cap came off, quite a bit of it went down the drain. Dark brown with a HUGE head. The head was too big, if you ask me. A lot going on in the nose but the mustiness (as like any good saison) is the most noticeable. There’s also leather, toffee, chocolate and fig. Medium bodied with a dry and smooth finish. In fact, it’s not as dry and more smooth than I had expected. This plays well with every region of the tongue. A chocolate and malty sweetness greets the tongue in the front. It becomes slightly roastiness presents itself about midway. And a bretty and tart berry dryness hits the back of your throat. A very enjoyable and very drinkable brew. Thanks Jason for the bottle!