Southampton Abbey Single

Brewed by Southampton Publick House
Style: Belgian Ale
Southampton, New York USA

22oz bottle @Tampa Wkly Gathering-pours a white head and hazy straw color. Aroma is light malt, funky yeast, sulphury. Taste is light malt, funky yeast, sulphury/vinegar. Interesting.

Bottle. Poured a clear, light, golden color with a white head and decent lacing. Aroma is of citrus, peach, some spice and yeast. Flavor is soft bread, citrus, light spice, pretty well balanced. Light bodied and well carbonated. Finishes slightly acidic.

Bottled December 2008; Sampled March 2009
This seems to be pretty well carbonated as a reasonable pour into my large Tripel Karmeliet glass still produces four-fingers of pale, just off-white colored head that leaves quite a bit of lacing on the sides of my glass as it slowly recedes. The beer is a hazy, orangish straw color that shows more of the same, just brighter when held up to the light. The aroma is nice and rustic; a mix of bread like yeast notes, a touch of lemon zest, fresh grain aromatics, young ginger notes, some light herbal hops (more like a mix of wild flower notes with some herbal weed’ish notes). I really like the whole grain note that this beer has, it mixes with the yeast driven notes quite well and makes the aroma seem nourishing some how.

Light bodied and effervescent as it rolls across the tongue, this beer is quite dry and has a solid lightly herbal hop note as well as a touch of lemon zest character. The solid grain character is also in the flavor with a grassy grain character, a hearty cracker note and yeasty character that accentuates a fresh bread like character. This has a fair amount of hop character to it, which is definitely nice in a lighter beer like this; it has a solid bitterness that provides a crisp bite in the finish along with a peppery carbonic bite. While quite dry tasting overall the citrus hop notes accentuate a perceived sweetness in the middle and end of a sip. This seems to accentuate a note that reminds me a bit of pickled ginger, there is also an earthy white pepper note, some savory herbal notes (not quite sage or savory, but something). I really like how light bodied this is, it is not watery though as it does have some texture to it; this is a beer meant to quaff a couple liters of over a hot, sweltering summer afternoon.

Allowing the beer to warm up from its serving temperature of 50ºF / 10ºC really boost the complexity and flavor volume; this is quite the hearty beer for being so low in alcohol. I just love beers like this. Light, low alcohol, and Belgian inspired, these get me every time. This particular beer has a nice lush body to it compared to some of the others in a similar vein. This is a beer I would be happy to have lots and lots of on hand, it is just a really good libation to have a full glass of. Too soon my 22oz bottle of this beer is long gone, if I had another couple of these I would easily continue to consume these for the rest of the evening.

Bottle pours cloudy golden color with off white head. Aroma is biscuit and grass. Medium light mouthfeel with a lot of carbonation. Flavor is has some hop spice, lemon flavor, with a touch of subtle caramel malt sweetness. Finishes dry. This is an interesting brew. Thanks Mike!

Bomber courtesy of beerbill poured into a tulip. Pours a bright cloudy golden yellow with a big creamy white head that shows great staying power and leaves spotty lacing. The aroma is mainly dry bready malts and some German hops that lend a grassy smell to things. There is a hint of light fruits in the nose, but it’s really dominated by the light toasted malts. The taste takes things in a bit different direction as the first sip brings a slightly tart lemon flavor that comes in after the bready malts make their appearance. The finish has a bit of hop bitterness and some tartness from the lemon lingering as well. The mouthfeel is super crisp and very dry with tons of carbonation and, in a word, refreshing. This is an solid session ale from Southampton with an interesting lemony twist in the flavor that makes it a little bit unique. Extremely drinkable.

In short: A crisp, dry, tasty and very hoppy (noble/saaz) blonde ale. Exceptional session ale
How: Bottle 22oz (with gold foil and lame black-on-white label). Sent to me by MrChopin (as a bonus!!). What a killer bonus, thanks a lot Kevin.
The look: Partly cloudy blonde body topped by a white ring of foam
In long: Crisp biscuity pale malts with a flavour a crackers. A whole lot of dry grassy noble hops. Overall very dry but a little lemony twist adds a refreshing light tartness. Medium carbonation and pleasant crisp body. Doesn’t not have that “Belgian feel” to it. More like a tasty Golden/Blonde ale reminding me of my local Hopfenstark Blond tap version. 4.5%!!! incredible. Single, classy blonde, nice body, goes down easy. I wish I was a beer.

Courtesy TheCheeseMan. Slightly cloudy straw color, thin broken white head. Chalky, almost wit-like aroma, slightly floral. Taste is floral, yeasty, light with a slight dry finish. Nice.

22oz bottle from NYbeer
Hazy dark yellow color, it had a nice white, fluffy head. A little citrus in the nose, some mild spiciness and a light, light funkiness, very subded though. Slightly acidic, some lemon, pretty nice.