Southampton Cuvee des Fleurs

Bottle: pours a cloudy medium hay gold color large white head with a soapy lacing, good head retention. Aroma is very herbal and spicey nice peepry that i love, earthy gingery aroma, nice flower and a touch of honey. Flavor is quite a bit of spice. Peppery and herbal good sweetness like honey. Very dry in the finish with just a little warming.

Poured a hazy yellow. As I poured I could smell a floral sweet aroma. At first I thought it was abrasive, but it ended up really growing on me. Nose is Fresh cut flowers, honey, pepper, lavender, spicy saison yeast. Flavor is sweet, fresh flowers, bitter flower petals, mild toasted grain, sweet caramel and peppery spices. I was really skeptical about this one from the description, but damn this was good.

Bottle courtesy of tampabrew. Pours a hazy lemon yellow with one finger white head that settles slowly. Aroma is sweet and floral with notes of honey, flowers, spice, light brett, fresh grass. Flavor is sweet and floral with notes of honey, spice, floral esters, light pepper, hints of rosewater. Medium body with a pleasing sweet finish.

Had this at GABF, personally recommended by Phil Markowski, who has been known to brew a decent beer or two. This is one of the best saisons I’ve ever had, and it backs up it’s frou-frou sounding name. Pours slightly hazy orangish-copper with a large whitish head. Aroma is lots of flowers and spices, really interesting, as well as yeast, sweet malt, and pepper. Flavor is spicy, floral, and complex. Unconventional flowers like lavender, marigold, and chamomile stand out. Also some nice floral hops, pepper, pale, malt, earth, and spices. Fairly sweet beer. Body is medium and palate is somewhat dry and peppery with lively carbonation. Another great beer from Southampton.

Draft @ Capones: Poured a straw color with a nice head. The aroma was straw, flowers and yeast. The flavor was a typical saison, earthy, grassy, spices, and a touch of bitters. Overall, an excellent beer for its style.

Rose, thistle, lavender on the nose...obviously this beer aptly named. The appearance, like many saisons, is a cloudy orange/yellow, fluffy white head. The flavor is very sweet, flowers, ginger, candy sugar, spices and pepper. The spiciness and the flowers come togther to form a bittering which comes out toward the back of the mouth, and is left on the palate when the beer is gone. Thin/medium mouthfeel, lots of carbonation. Probably one of the most enjoyable saisons I’ve had.

9/28/09 notes: 2009 GABF, Friday. I keep wanting to like Southampton’s stuff, but it always falls short somehow. Great name for this beer, though. Nose is herbal, perfumy smooth-sweet, not too much funk. Flavors are disappointingly one-sided, settling for a sweet blend of bubble gum, sweet pear and peach. I just didn’t get anything to balance those flavors, especially for this mature beer style.

Bottle cork and caged from BFC, thanks Jake! Cork explosion! Monster head on this bad boy... Nice light orange color. Light grassy, flower and yeasty nose. Taste is sweet flower with a touch of lavender...Lovely. But it still carries the good saison characteristics....dry, yeasty, light bitterness, and some spices. Texture is light, fluffy with a good carbonation level. Overalll a very unique and enjoyable beer. Thanks jake for the brew!