Lost Abbey Brouwers Imagination Series Saison (w/ brett)

Brewed by Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
Style: Saison
San Marcos, California USA

Bottle. Thanks to derkruk. Pours very cloudy orange, with a thick, sticky white head. Nose is mild brett, yeast. A dry, delicate saison, not fantastically complex, but lovely and utterly classic.

Essence of leather, saddlebags, horse, and barnyard funk will not induce oohs and ahhs of delight from many, but there are a select few who understand this refined sensory delight. Both the brewer and the quaffer owe a debt of thanks to the Brettanomyces yeast strain and its family of Bretty bugs who can turn an ordinary beer into all of the afore mentioned pleasures. I first stumbled upon this delight a few years ago, largely by accident, when I brought home my first bottle of Orval, and thus in one fell swoop both my Trappist and Brettanomyces cherry was popped. Ever since, my passion for beers highlighting Brettanomyces has been insatiable, so I was extremely pleased to be able to try the Brouwers Imagination 2008, a Saison with Brettanomyces from the Lost Abbey line of Port Brewing. Bring it.

She poured cloudy with no visible dregs and a color resembling dirty New York taxi cabs. A bit of foam puffs with some playful swirling but settles down almost immediately afterwards. On the other hand, an explosion of aged, dry, funked cheeses of at least a dozen verities floors my senses. Waxy cheese rinds and soft, slightly rotten citric skins join the mix while in the distance a barnyard looms, old and dusty with worn saddlebags and horsey esters a permanent fixture of her worn visage. Heavenly. As I sup greedily of my captive bounty, I am surprised by how clean and delicate her palate is in comparison to her robust nose. In fact, her nose and her palate seem to be at odds with each other. As I dive deeper to investigate the cause for this discrepancy, faint notes of soft creamy cheeses spritzed with lemon and key lime help to liven up the party. While the fresh cheeses shine in the forefront, the older, more dry and aged funky cheeses linger in the back, hanging long into the finish. Despite my initial impressions, she isn’t as dry as I would have expected, though right near the end, dryness starts to settle in with leather and barnyard esters. And then poof, my Brouwers Imagination 2008 Saison with Brettanomyces was gone.

Overall, I was rather underwhelmed by this particular take on a Saison with Brettanomyces. Considering Port Brewing’s Lost Abbey line, its lackluster impression is a bit disappointing. It was alright, but I certainly wouldn’t go out of my way to try it again. The nose on the other hand, I could smell all day long and never get tired of it.

Peppery spicy aroma, slightly hazy gold. Small white head. More white pepper and awesomeness, finishes pillowy and soft. Gentle with the brett.

Thanks to Beerlando. Pours a thick and cloudy golden color. Aroma of lemons, grains and spices. Flavors are sweet with a good amount of spice. Very good.

Bottled. A hazy golden beer with a thin white head. The aroma is sweet with strong notes of spices and medium notes of lemon. The flavor is very sweet and rather spicy - among them coriander, combined with notes of lemon and other frutis, leading to a dry spicy finish where the citrus note lingers. Is it Simcoe and Amarillo hops?

25 oz bottle, via 5000. Pours a clear bright yellow gold on first pour with a nice large fizzy white head that’s being constantly fed by the active visible carbonation. The nose is actually pretty clean and soft, I was expecting a lot more farmhouse funkiness than this. Really just a touch of brett present in the aroma, which is mostly pale malt, a little grassy and hay-like notes, and some earthy yeastiness. The flavor is malt driven, crusty bread and cereal grains with lighter accents of yeast influence like pepper and tropical fruits. Just a touch of lightly funky brett comes out late in the finish. Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied with a bit of a clingy doughy stickiness, nice fizzy effervescent carbonation cuts it well though. Overall, certainly a decent brew, but it’s maybe just a little too young to be the complex bretty beast that I wanted. This might be really good some day down the road.

750 ml corked and caged bottle courtesy of bvc. 2008 Version. Pour is cloudy golden yellow with a fluffy three inch head which is quite lasting. Pretty lacing is left on the glass. I drank this outside on a sunny early evening and it captured the lighting perfect. Pretty beer. Aroma of grainy maltiness. A little bit of yeasty earthy spiciness behind that. Pretty muted nose. Taste is pretty big maltiness, cereal notes, some dry grassy Brett near the back. Nice cloves and pepper in the back / finish. Palate is medium, drying, fairly flat - low carbonation. This was an odd one though, it looked great, but smelled so so. Tasted really nice, but the palate was pretty flat. Overall net, is a nice drinkable beer, though quite short of special.

Shared by Rciesla. Thanks broski. Not a whole hell of a lot going on here. Faint hints of pineapple from the anamoulus. Pleasant hop character. Subdued maltiness. Nothing not to like, but nothing to make it stand out in my eyes.