Heavyweight Saison de la Soeur Spicy

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

I have really liked every beer in this saison line so far, and this is no exception - in fact, this may be my favorite of the groups - pours a murky golden color with slight copper tint and creamy, white head - lasting, sticky lace - citrus and herbs dominate the aroma, with grain and caramel malt far in the background to make things interesting - mildly roasty flavor, with the caramel malt making a larger appearance than I thought it would - apple, pear, cinnimon, nutmeg and various, unidentifiable herbs and spices - these, coupled with the soft carbonation make it a pleasure on the palate - supposedly, the brewers started making these saisons because of their love of brewers like Fantome, and I would rank these (especially this one) right up there with their wonderful beers.

Rating #100 for this one. 750ml. via kp. Shared at HSBG. Pour is a cloudy amber/orange with fizzy white head. Aromas of apples, slight spice, and sweet malts. Flavor is very mellow and smooth. Drank like apple juice with carbonation. Tart apples, sweet malts, and more fruit throughout. Awesome beer. Big thanks to kp again for hookin it up with this gem.

Foggy bronze. Sustained lily pad of foam sticks to the glass. Musty, herbal aromas with green raisins and caramelized peaches. Muted nuttiness and toasted husk whiffs. Lightly worty, as well. Dense, but fluffy, carbonation. Delightfully chewy, densely layered with a slippery fruitiness and spice enhanced dryness. Substantial caramelized malt frames the succulent fruitiness while taking on a sassy licorice, musty yeast snap as things evolve. Juicy passionfruit attaches itself to the toffee glazed nutty sweetness, which is brilliantly restrained at colder temperatures. Pervasive gritty, musty yeast character underlies the fruitiness and softens the awakening sweetness, throughout. Although the sweetness elevates as it warms, an ample dose of minty alcohol resets the palate with a cleansing sweep. Finishes light on its feet despite the resilient malt push, as musty yeast highlights earthy licorice, peppered caramel, and sweet, sappy wort notes. Shew. Talk about a full spectrum of flavors. The alcohol could be a bit more restrained, but this is so solid, overall – It’s well attenuated/moistly full in the mouth; touts a complex yeast character; and the malts are refined yet equally rustic. Another mind stirring, beautifully bizarre Heavyweight concoction.

Unripe fruit, somewhat tart, doughy yeast and herbal, haylike hops in the nose. Opaque, cloudy, dark copper-brown with generous and lasting, off white head that recedes very slowly to a thick cover. Unripe banana, icing sugar marzipan, hay, leafy tobacco, honey flavour all blend together well with moderate bitterness and some sharper spices in the aftertaste. A cedar-like woodiness emerges as it warms. Medium body with soft bubbled, subdued but very present carbonation. Bottle enjoyed at Spuyten Duyvil in Brooklyn with Olivier_MTL and Rastacouere.

This one completes the 4 OTOP SDLSs for me. The pour is turbid dull orangy with a 3-finger off-white head. The aroma is biscuity malty, with some spicy florals, barnyard, honey, and fruit. The flavor is floral and spicy up front, with a solid caramel malty base exuding itself at mid-palate, followed up by some barnyardy cobwebby honey, apricots, and black pepper. Medium, lively, smooth palate.

- Dark rust color, with a large head. Papaya, mango, basil, apple, strawberries and rhubarb, with obvious spicing, but nothing is dominant. The subtle spice doesn’t cover up the Belgiany fruity notes in the nose. Flavor is again, very enjoyable, with obvious yet not overpowering spice. Perhaps a hint of orange peel, but every other spice seems pretty tame and hidden. The heavyweight saison yeast is pretty special imho, not your typical lame saison strain used by other American brewers. These saisons are very special.

Courtesy of Pailhead. Slightly cloudy, light orange in color, with minimal white head, fades to film rather quickly. Aroma has a big musty/yeasty character to it. Maybe grass, slight skunk, and faint herbs and spice. Flavor has nice yeasty, zesty, fruit up front (guessing orange, hard to pinpoint though)with a malt background to balance it out. Lots of white pepper in a very dry finish. Fine saison IMO.

Bottle at Spuyten Duyvil. Mostly diminishing white head covers the hazy dark reddish orange body. Appealing indeed spicy nose. Hard to explain. It has that cookieish maltiness to form a foundation for disparate strawy, herbal and hay dryish parts that evolves in a hoppy, soapy, banana touched environment. Generous honeysuckle, lime, mint, sage, perfume whiffs. They’re all pleasant single-picked and it feels very vibrant despite the relative chaos. Soft, smooth palate, bubble gummy sweetness, perfumey spicy bitterness is of moderate to high intensity. Sweet, tart and bitter, all at once. I wonder if it would lose its excellent dynamism or moreso gain some cohesion with a few months of relaxing, but it is very lively and interesting as it is, I’d love to experiment with a few extra bottles. A good time.