Lost Abbey Ne Goeien Saison

Formerly brewed at Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
Style: Saison
San Marcos, California USA

Courtesy mgumby10. Pours a bright yellow color with a small, foamy white head that leaves patches of lacing behind. The aroma is full of citrus fruit and spices. Orange peel, lemon, and bananas make themselves known to go with some corriander and other spices along with some blegian yeast. The flavor shows the same citrus fruit blended with the yeast and spices. Some subtle floral hops add bitterness to the background to go with some slightly sweet malts. Medium bodied and dry on the palate and very easy to drink. The finish is of the spices and floral hops and leaves a nice bitterness behind. This is another good one from Lost Abbey and a well crafted Saison as well.

A softly vigorous pour produces a three-finger thick, pale, just barely tanned, off-white colored head. As the head slowly recedes it leaves a light lacing pattern on the sides of the glass and falls in a textured, mesa-forming manner. The beer is a hazy, pale honey color that shows a light, gold, bright straw color when held up to the light. The aroma has a nice grassy herbal hop and malt component to it that is bound by a bright citrus note that is a cross between lemon and bergamot. A musty, yeasty aroma is also found here, though this seems to dissipate somewhat quickly. Spicy notes of lemon pepper, young ginger and a hint of something earthy (a mix of clove and coriander).

Dry tasting up front, but a spicy citrus note accentuates a soft sweetness as the beer flows across the tongue. The beer is fairly light, definitely quaffable, but has a body to it that almost seems contributed by a tannic hop component. Speaking of hops, this is definitely a hoppy Saison; a nice, substantial, biting bitterness that hits the tongue fairly early in a sip and continues to linger after the beer has slid down my throat and there is an expressive, floral hop flavor here that reminds me of lightly sweetened lemon zest, a touch of lemon basil and a palate coating, sort of menthol like, perhaps a touch of rosemary-like turpenes, almost tannic hop character really boosts the hop components here. Yeast-derived flavors are here (as they should be with a Saison), but they play a slightly secondary role to the vibrant hop character; still, flavors of clove, earthy coriander, estery ginger and fruity notes of green apple and some ripe pear.

Definitely a nice example of a hoppy Saison; I can get both my hop fix and my Saison-funk fix at the same time with this beer (even though at this point the hop character is a bit more dominant the yeast characteristics). I definitely like that this has achieved the necessary dryness that a Saison really needs to hit so that it remains eminently quaffable.

Purchased: South Bay Drugs, Imperial Beach CA

Bottle. Cloudy yellow with some orange tinges; nice white head. Nice, slightly sweet malt, banana, and light spice aroma. Flavor is the same, sweet bananas, light spices, with some citric / lemony earthiness creeping in as well. Some light resinous hops in the finish. Really nice mouthfeel, soft and full. I like it because it isn’t too overpowering but still tastes real good.

Bottle poured a cloudy yellow, with a average head. Taste was dry with a hint of bannanas along with yeast. an ok saison.

Bottle from swolf, thanks! Cloudy yellow/orange in color, small head. Aroma of bananas and yeasty. Taste is very dry... Light spices, earthy, bananas and yeasty. Texture and carbonation are average. So is the beer. Just a little to dry for my liking.

Bottle: Pours a cloudy light golden with a strong white head. Nice elegant nose of softly sweet, doughy malt base, honey notes, mild spices (white pepper, coriander) Has a silky mouthfeel. Flavor is softly malty with light, bready dough and mildly perfumy lemon peel. There’s a late, nondescript peppery character into the finish. An easy going and well crafted Saison.

750ml from mashmaster - thanks, Tom! I’d say that this brew certainly lives up to its translated name. A pale yellow beer, cloudy and yeasty as appropriate to style. Strong estery aroma, with some mild citrus and hints of spice. Really a solid saison all the way around, with a rustic, dry finish that’s pleasingly bitter in the manner of Dupont. High praise, and well earned.

From bottle at Lost Abbey before RBSG on 08/02/2008. Cloudy golden orange body with a small creamy white head. Citrus and spice aroma. Spicy floral flavor, light fruit hints. Medium body with moderately high carbonation.