Southampton Cuvee des Fleurs

Big flower nose. Cloudy in appearance with no visibility through the glass. A hint of flowery flavors as it first hits your tongue. The finish reaveals a lot of spice. Long lasting linger.

#420- I hoped to do a Lagunitas but oh well. Bottled 750 dated 2005 via trade with kramer17801 (I think). Before I even open this bottle, I can see that the cork is pushed up about a eighth of an inch and the top seems to be mushroomed under the hold of the cage. When I removed the cage the cork shot up another quarter of an inch but stayed in the bottle- I’m guessing this one may have some carbonation. Pours a clear, light copper color with a huge, billowy white head. Lavender fills the room as I pour. The aroma is primarily lavender and chamomile with some spicy notes. thin flavor with a coating mouth feel. Tastes are floral and cinnamon. Champagne-like effervescence. Dry finish.

750ml bottle-handwritten #895 on label-pours a huge white foamy head with hazy gold color. Aroma is hops. Taste is hops, floral head balanced with malt, sweet. Good occasional beer.

2005 bottle vintage, Sampled January 2006
This is an absolutely ridiculously carbonated beer. I poured three tulip glasses of beer full to the brim and I was only able to pour about a 1/3rd of the bottle. The little tiny bit of beer at the bottom of my tulip is brilliantly clear, and an orangish-copper color. The head, as expected is voluminous, and slowly recedes in a frothy, collapsed rocky surface. The aroma is quite intriguing. It is much more noticeably than I was expecting; it is immediately noticeable as I am pouring the beer. It smells quite sweet and honey-like, but definitely a floral honey. As I go in for a deeper draught of the aroma, I get a slight astringent note that one would typically associate with wild flowers, but is also quite a typical characteristic of Belgian yeast. The aroma has notes that remind me of all sorts of things; I get notes of sweet-ginger, pepper, a spicy note that is similar to the fruity spicy note in a Habanero chile. Holy mackerel, the aroma is just absolutely fantastic, I can’t even describe everything that is going on, it is just awesome and needs to be experienced. I suppose I should get around to taking a sip of this heavenly aromatic brew.

The taste is quite sweet up front, in fact it is also devoid of carbonation; it was so explosively carbonated at first that almost all of the carbonation has disappeared. The description of honey is definitely an apt one for the taste as well. This sweetness is balanced by an astringent, sharp, bitter, almost weedy note that is much more appealing than I have described. The note definitely takes the place of hop-bitterness, but is quite a bit different. The astringent, bitter note lingers for quite some time in the mouth after the beer is gone. This in many ways reminds me of a Chinese dessert consisting of an unrefined-sugar sweetened, ginger infused water that is used to flavor a super soft, silken tofu; it is quite good. There is something of a green vegetal character here; almost like a red/yellow bell pepper, but better.

I am really enjoying this beer. If I had to complain I would say that this could really use some carbonation to it; the initial over-carbonation robbed this beer of any residual carbonation. Perhaps my next pour will have a bit more CO2. Ah yes, my second pour from the bottle is quite well carbonated, in fact almost a bit overly so. This high level of carbonation actually cuts the sweetness a bit, which is actually good. This beer is just getting better; the second pour is a bit more yeasty as well, which adds a grounded earthy note, as well as the typically bready-yeasty note. The carbonation also accentuates a sharp, spicy note that almost has some heat to it.

This beer is incredibly interesting, and quite tasty. I highly recommend this beer if you can get some, and if you can’t try harder because it is worth it. I really like how the various floral components balance in this beer; the honey sweet character is well balanced by the harder floral notes. This beer is certainly all about the flowers though: the yeast and malt character serve to perfectly accentuate the floral flavors. The malt helps to convey the honey-sweet nectar notes and the yeast helps to accentuate the spicy floral characteristics.

Tasted at Belgium Comes to Cooperstown, July 16, 2005. Lightly hazed blonde with a big beautiful white head. Sweet honey aroma with light coriander notes. Rich sweet honey with cloves and coriander, ginger and alcohol. Pleasantly rich saison.

Bottle sampled at Seattle gathering. Golden colored and fairly clear. Huge floral nose. Decent sized white head which leaves great lacing behind. Standing up well on its own after several heavier beers prior to this. Medium bodied. Soft floral flavor blend nicely with a citrusy presence. Very nicely done.<P> Bottle from Styles opened July ’06. Numbers stand. Damn, really nicely done.

Gushing to slightly hazy orange beer with huge, collapsing dense off-white head. Unbelievably perfumey (natural), flowery nose, with hints of hops and diverse citrusfruit. The flower aroma’s - as some honey, and also some pharmaceutical notes, dried plants, etc. - are unmistakable. This is just great. Rather fiery taste with honey, caramel, flowers, citrusfruit, pineapple, glue, higher alcohols and esters. Firm sourishness, with underneath some restsweetness. Slighty peppery, ginger-y, but no real bitterness. Fiery MF, some alcohol obvious. Superb realisation. What I like most about this, is its originality. Saison gets a new meaning here. Big thanks to BrianB.

On tap at David Copperfield’s, 74th Street and York Avenue, NYC. Hazy amber hued beer having an average white head with good lacing. Aroma of flowers and sweet malt. Medium bodied that starts with light sweet malt with notable flowers, honey and grape flavors and finishes dry and clean tasting. A complex beer of floral flavors. The waitress warned me that not everyone who ordered this particular beer had liked it and so she offered me a test sample. After trying the sample, I went for a full serving. This is a very interesting and tasty beer.