Saison de Mai

I was really surprised by how little saison or farmhouse ale I saw in Belgium. Most of the beer-selling venues were focused on celebrating the Trappist and Abbey-style beers. When I asked Nasser at Beer Mania to recommend a saison, this is what he brought me, and it was OK. I left Belgium with the impression that we celebrate the idea of farmhouse brewing more in America (with both imports and craft brews) than is done in Belgium. I drank this in his store in Brussels. Color was amber, and the head was champagne-like. Aroma was sweet maltiness and floral with some toffee notes. Flavor was more toffee with some fruity component (raspberry?) that offered lots of sweetness. Oddly, I also got some chocolate...raspberry and chocolate are not flavors that saisons available in the US had led me to believe typically go in beers of this style, but there they were. Mouthfeel was a bit cloying and sticky, but not bad. I didn’t love this beer...it wasn’t what I expected from a saison, and the flavors present (raspberry, chocolate) didn’t really accentuate the other qualities of this beer. Still, I’d recommend it.

Bottle at home, from Utobeer. Alround rating: Sweet caramel biscuity malts, floural and balanced peppery hop, candy sugar. Taste is similar, it actually gushed everywhere but its turned out well carbonated.

Bottle. [thank you, Harrisoni]
Pours muddy, pale yellow with a giant, creamy, off-white head. Rock solid. Great aroma, lots of pepper, biscuity malts, citric, oranges and flowres. Lowish carbonation for the style, nice creaminess. Flavour is mil malty sweet with a touch of bretty funk, good oranges, vanilla. Great hoppy and peppery finish. Very nice.

Hazy golden with a nice white head. Fruity, floral, honey, little spiciness. Ends dry.

75CL bottle from the shop of microbrewery Alvinne. Hoppy and herbal aroma. Notes of fruitiness in the flavour. Slightly sweet with a dry hoppy finish. Very good beer.

ambrato lieve schiuma non abbondante buona persistenza not floreali leggermente citriche legggero fruttato in bocca un tocco di dolce poi floreale leggero amaro buon tenore alcolico

33cl, exclusive brew, from De Hopduvel Gent, complex, balanced, cloudy, good head, good brew

Bottle from Bier Mania, Brussels. Slightly hazy amber with a decent white head. Big grassy hop and herb aroma, with a touch of yeast. Flavour was slightly sweet, with some fruit, dandelion and burdock and honey, leading to a dry hop finish. Very enjoyable.