Saison de Pipaix

Brewed by Brasserie à Vapeur
Style: Saison
Leuze-Pipaix, Belgium

From A Bottle.Reddish orange in colour with no head,aroma is of fruit and yeast, taste has some sourness,wood and spices with a dry finish.

750ml botte. Brewed in 4/95, bottled in 9/95. Cap + cork, no problem with the cork, I used an Ah So. A little bit of gas was released along with the cork. The beer was served at 48° (9°C) in my NB worthy glass. This is a very aromatic beer even before I put my nose into the glass. When I do get my head down down there, I get aromas of orange peels, sourness, herbs, and a peppery spiciness. The nose is very inviting and has quite a bit of complexity. The beer pours a hazy light orange with yellowish and brownish highlights and a small hazy head, more haze than head. The mouthfeel is soft with an immediate slightly bitter, sour orange taste that is pronounced but not overwhelming, it dies down to a orange sweetness after a second. When the beer is swallowed, you get the herbal and peppery notes. The aftertaste is not very sour at all, it finishes clean, with a gentle fruitiness; It almost reminds me of an italian blood orange soda. As the beer warms, the lambic-type barnyard flavors become more pronounced. It adds an additional layer of flavor that accent the other flavors very well. This tastes like a beer that it is still very well within it’s prime.

1995 bottle. this has really turned out into a nice lambic and pretty much doenst resemble a saison at all at this point. It is still a really interesting and enjoyable beer though if you like sour beers like lambic. Pours a hazy deep gold with very light carbonation and thin head. Smells very lactic acid sour, with lots of must and some barnyard aromas. Also a good amount of sour and tart fruits in the smell as well as the flavor. Moderate to high lactic levels gives this a nice sourness and ends very tart and mostly dry. Perhaps the use of all the spices somehow contaminated the bottles into becoming sour?

1996 bottle. Nose is tart fruits, wheat, yeast, vinous, oak, slight raspberry. Bright and juicy. The first glass was a ruby orange with an off whilte head. Second glass was a significantly darker brown. This stuff glows. Bitter up front, oak, orange, wheat, lemon. This slightly oxidized (doesn’t detract), leather (odd here, but nice.) Highly carbonated, dry finish. Leave me wanting more. Thanks for the tip, Tim!

Bottled 07/1995 Pours a clear copper. The same hue as apple juice. Very still, a very thin head but none to speak of really. Smells of fruity green apples. Lightly spicy and some funky barnyard aromas. Tastes very cidery up front. Followed by lots of barnyard flavors. Spicy and sweet, very sweet and then quickly sours and the long brett finish takes over. It’s a bit thin but that doesn’t detract as much as you would think. A lingering sour apple aftertaste. Not too drinkable, alot of flavors and textures to get your head around. Still. enough to be interesting enough for me to try again.

(Bottle) Pours a cloudy amber body with a small white head. The bottle comes with the cap/cork combo. However, the cork is a piece of work (appeared half rotten and soaked, broke in three pieces when pierced). Aroma of mustiness, cheese, caramel, apple juice, and citrus. Flavor is sour and malty with some spices. Creamy, astringent finish. Causes some numbness to the tongue and cause palate fatigue.

Bottled 1995 Golden honey color, light long foamy head, the nose is one of a traditional lambic with tart, winey, vinous and acidity aromas follow through on a medium-bodied palate and developping flavors of traditional lambic, but less scharp and aggressive than lambic, but having the same characteristics of this one, being acidic, tart, vinous with a little note of sour apples, fininishing in a beautiful acidity. this beer has improved with the passing years, becoming an excellent alternative to lambic in my caes, dispate the fact of the oakeness aspect being not present in this beer because she is not ageing in oak barrels. Maybe she will have lost the essence of his specificity as a "bière de saison", since her spicy notes of ginger, pepper, coriander and curaçao have completely vanished but to rebourn under a devine elixir. The 95 vintage will have been a grand cru.

1995 "vintage". Golden-amber color with plenty of carbonation. Aroma is very spicy and shows a lot of the ginger along with the yeast and some malt. Flavor is powerful and classic, with ginger once again being the dominant element, followed by orange peel (seems more like tangerine peel), hops and grain. As with most any beer of this style there is a pleasant, crisp, dry tartness that clearly reflects its history. The mellow hops moderate this tart element to a point of pleasantness -- one of the key considerations for any beer of this type. Musty, yeasty, slightly salt-like finish. A nice saison!