Saint Somewhere Lectio Divina

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

Nice color, not overly carbonated like many American beers tend to be. Cork fought to the end, but once started came out with a large pop. At 8%, it won’t be a lunch beer, but we enjoyed it with a plate of fruit and cheese for supper. Looking forward to the second brewing.

Bottle. Aroma of cinnamon, apple, peppery spices, lightly-sugared biscuit/toffee malt. Flavor keeps the apple-cinnamon going for me with a huge nougat character and finishes on the spice notes. Pretty dry, very smooth and drinkable. A unique, tasty treat.

750 ml. bottle, corked and caged, from Bottle Trek. The cork put a dent in the ceiling. The foam tried to escape the bottle. Hazy amberish color with a tan head that went up and down quite quickly. Aromas of cola, raisins, treacle, and light stone fruits. Medium plus body with creamy carbonation. Flavor matches the aroma. This stuff is really complex. I get a bit of chocolate towards the finish. Think there’s a lot of sugar, but it’s not sticky sweet. It’s not bitter, but there seems to be spice that offsets the sugar. It’s really good ale. I just had Fantome Black Ghost, and truly I think this is "better". MIght feel different on another day. Or not. Or to put it another way, who are these guys?

"Idiosyncratic" in spades. Topnotch "kicklectic" florida take on a Belgian new school micro, not really ever sour but with decent aftertaste-extending acidity but more citrus like, a short spike of under ripe tropical fruit...oh wait, I mean over ripe star fruit. Yeah. Rambling aside, I like this alot, it’s got "heart", the most elusive of beer qualities, pretty much in spades, right up there with Bink and La Rulles and maybe even....FANTOME AND/OR DOLLE. Yep.

Copper color with a thin head. Aroma of oranges, candi sugar and honey. Lots more orange in the flavor. Sweet malt base. Rounded out with caramel malt and a yeasty finish. Tasty fine.

Bottled shared buy notalush, I also have one in a trade from Beerlando. This brewer is really good and I cannot wait to keep drinking his stuff. It pours an orange-copper color, completely murky with no clarity. Aroma is dill (bastard Joe threw that in my head) or more like it’s smells are fresh herbs that are green yet rejuvenating. In general it s springtime on your nose with yeasty (dough sweetness) highlights. Taste is fresh and light sweetness of a Belgian Saison. Medium body but also very alive. It’s just so fun to drink. It’s awesome in its simplicity, nice spices with a strong saison.

Likely Batch 1; Sampled January 2008
Cork & cage where mis-sized for this bottle, but it pops out with a carbonated pop. Pours with an almost two-finger thick, light tan colored head. The beer is a hazy, reddish-orange tinted, amber color, which has a hazy, orangish copper hue to it when held up to the light. The aroma is a nice mix of tart / sweet fruit notes, crushed grain and yeast-derived spice character. Aromas of ripe, yet tart plums, starfruit and green apples are joined by spice notes of mature, dried ginger, cloves, touches of wild flowers and some grassy notes. The finish, if you dig for it has quite a substantial malt aroma of soda crackers, fresh cracked grain and an appetizing whole grain note. The aroma is quite fruit dominated, but it happens to be a nice mix of tart and sweet notes that makes it quite inviting.

The carbonation is perhaps on the low side for a Belgian ale, but it is still here and provides a soft prickle to the tongue. My first impression is that the beer is sweet and fruity tasting, especially in the finish. The carbonation provides a bit of a pepper-like carbonic bit, which melds nicely with the soft yeast spiciness; spice notes of clove, perhaps a touch of sweet, young ginger and hints of cardamom are what is most noticeable. The fruit flavors taste of ripe plums (tart & sweet, but more sweet than was in the aroma), raisins and fresh red grapes. This is quite light feeling; it has a low-medium heft to it that is perfectly dialed in for a Belgian-styled beer of this strength (at least to my palate). Such an easy drinking beer, but it still has a flavor presence that makes it a pleasure to drink. The second pour pics up a bit more sediment, which provides a nice yeasty / fermented bread-like character to the brew, while softening the fruit notes just a touch.

This is very different than any other Abbey ale I can remember having. It is much lighter, tastes more vibrantly of fresh fruit and just plain has a different flavor / malt profile. It is sort of somewhere between a Tripel and Dubbel in its malt profile (darker than a Tripel, but definitely lighter than a Dubbel); much more rounded malt character than a Tripel, but not nearly the dark, concentrated fruit character found in a Dubbel. It could certainly use a bit more carbonation (it is carbonated though), but it is a very interesting beer, that is also quite tasty. This beer does not bowl one over with it’s flavors, yet it is light, pretty darn easy drinking and has a ton of nuanced flavor components that just make this an enjoyable experience. This is definitely one of those beers that you have to sample a full serving of though; while good at first, it was not until I had worked my way through a third of the bottle that I really started to appreciate this beer. I can’t wait to sample more of these brews.

Looks like I liked this more than most. The bottle is from Capone’s. The pour is turbid medium coppery with off-white head. Aroma of funky yeast, candi sugary malt, fruit, and some peppery notes. Tastes fruity, with some cherry and peachy notes, fig, candi sugar, and funky spicy yeasty notes. Pretty rich, with notable complexity of palate, I’d buy this one again any day of the week.