Saint Somewhere Lectio Divina

Brewed by Saint Somewhere Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Tarpon Springs, Florida USA

Bottle, on a sailboat. Murky brown color. Thick foamy head. Sour fruit aromas. Ditto with the body which is packed with fermented tropical and orchard fruits, mulling spices, as well as some meat flavors. Quite nice and very unusual as St. Somewhere beers are wont to be. A nice beer for the boat!

Overall this is a very good beer. It pours an amber/orange color with a warming cinnamon and apple/pear aroma. Good Belgian taste to it, but the carbonation was a bit lacking. It had virtually no head, even when I poured very aggressively. I have never been disappointed by a St. Somewhere brew, though.

Finding this brewery and this beer has made my need to return to Belgium a bit less urgent. It’s clean, just dry enough, has a tiny edge of funk that I personally find very desirable. These guys are the closest decent brewery to my refrigerator. I’m going to do my best to get their product on the shelves of one of our local packey’s.

750 ml bottle...poured golden orange w/ a slightly off-white head. Aromas of citrus and spices...Flavors of pears, yeast, white grapes, a touch of peach, a tiny bit of citrus, and some spices. The spices linger on the back of the palate as does a sweetness. The beer has a nice dry bite to it. Very tasty Florida brewed Belgian Strong.

(750ml bottle) Pours a cloudy burnt orange body with a small white head. Aroma of apple, caramel, dough, and light herbs. Flavor of apple, floral hops, orange peel, earthiness, alcohol, and herbs with a disappointingly low level of carbonation in the mouthfeel.

4-6-08 bottle shared at tasting
Thick orange brown in color with a nice ivory beige head. Smell is lemon and some funky malt as well. Light and thin flavor that reminds me of watered down duck sauce. Thin and unenjoyable.

750 ml. bottle. Cloudy dark orange/amber with a foamy to frothy head which collapsed with no lacing. Bready aroma with mild spice, yeast and fruit notes (pear/banana). Flavor of cake/quickbread malts, sweet and fruity but balanced well with a peppery spice finish. Full bodied with fine carbonation. Nice complexity and balance.

Cask at Redlight. Redish Amber, fantastic looking beer really. Foamy lasting white head. Aroma of tart fruit, malt and wood. This is wierd tasting and I suspect its cause of it being on cask. With no carbonation its just entirely to sweet and cloying on the palate. Its got alot of complexity for sure and its a nice combination of sour and traditional abbey ale flavors but I suspect I’ll like this alot more out of the bottle. I’d probably thing twice before trying another belgian on cask, it just doesn’t seem to be suited to the style. Belgians rely heavily on good carbonation to counteract the complex sweetness. Here its just too much. I’ll be rerating this soon from the bottle.