Saint Somewhere Lectio Divina

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

courtesy of Chris Beers - pours a cloudy copper-brown colour under a huge foamy beige head; unclean aroma with notes of caramel, yeasts, brandy and undefined spices; medium to full malt body; fresh spicy and bready finish; quite long - interesting

750ml bottle-pours a foamy to rocky light tan head and hazy copper color. Aroma is yeasty, vinegar, earthy, medium malt, some caramel. Taste is medium malt-some caramel, yeasty, vinegar/tart, secondary earthy/copper/spice hops. Medium body. Interesting. Occasional.

750ml bottle courtesy of Dragonstout. Pours copper with a white head. Smells of cloves, bananas, citrus, caramel, molasses and spice. Tastes of spice, dry malt, caramel, some residual sugar. Well balanced and mellow with a clove like finish. Nice!

My Bottom Line:
The earthy yeast of a Belgian countryside barnyard swirls within juicy tangerines and their spicy peel in this undercarbonated but pleasantly dirty Belgian-style Strong Ale. Too bad about the bottle conditioning issue because they’ve got a most authentic libation here.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A wispy head surfs the cloudy orange sunlight.
-There is no alcohol appearance at all in the flavor profile.
-There was no pop upon uncorking, so the nearly flaccid carbonation was not much of a surprise.
-That yeast is definitely redolent of a Fantôme’s (or Blaugies’) flavorful, rural uncleanliness.
-That tangerine fruitiness proffers some honeyed suggestions.
-The body is healthily lean, but is sadly depreciated by the lack of carbonation.
-A few floral hops dance within, perfectly integrated.
-There is a lot of potential here for an authentic Belgian-style ale; I hope to get to try different batches of it later on to see if they’ve reached my high expectations for them.

Bottle. Thx Jason!

Bottle shared by someone (it was getting late). Deep amber beer with a thin white head. Aroma is honeyish, some herbal and earthy character. Surprisingly light malts. Flavour is quite soft and fruity, some nice herbal notes, light mint and soft spiciness. A touch of light gruit-like mintiness. Lingering herbal spiciness. Very similar house character to the saison, but doesn’t come across as characterful as that beer did.

750ml. Murky gold and amber colored body with a small and thin white head. Heavy apple and honey nose, with some spiced bread and cinnamon notes as well. Sweet and sticky apple cider malt flavor up front, with a strange plastic and resinous malt syrup flavor throughout. Finishes sweet and chewy, with a moderately strong yeast presence - honey, banana, fruit, some soggy bread, etc. Unique, but not fantastic.

This is my second beer from this brewery (both picked up at Pat’s Liquors in Porter, IN), and I’m being impressed. This one pours a slightly hazed chestnut body with a towering, firm ecru head. It has a fruity, sweet caramelish nose, some flowers held in the distance, and a touch of soapy yeast. Dangerously smooth to drink, light and nigh unto fluffy in the mouth, it tastes of toffee, orchard fruit, mild brown spices, thin molasses, and dark sugars with a moderate flamora. Nice enjoyable drink.

Copper to burnt orange in color. Diminished head of khaki bubbles with just a few on the rim and adrift in the middle of the glass. Musty fruit and grain in the aromas along with light oak, apple skins and hints of higher alcohols. Each pour gets a bit better looking with a little haze, a slightly darker hue and some better head retention. Mildly earthy caramel in the front. Light malt and caramel seem to float through into the middle. Fairly light palate for the heft with some nice soft effervescence. The deeper I get into this one, the more I feel like I’m dealing with s strong dubbel (not necessarily a bad thing). Yeast and attic dust seem to float in and out as well as some lime zest and resin. Rather funky brew with a significant amount of complexity. I’ll say this is one in which the whole seems better than the parts.