The Bruery Saison de Lente

Brewed by The Bruery
Style: Saison
Placentia, California USA

Original review date 3/11/2009... Good to see Patrick’s stuff making the rounds amongst us Massholes finally. I celebrate the arrival by putting this fine effort into my trusty St. Bernie’s chalice... Pours a great citrus honey color - classic Saison look with bluish-thin head and yeast wisps up top. A little cloudiness and ample carbonation at speed of traffic flow. Ooohhh... ...that orange zest, hay & barnyard scent from the mild Brett is combined with lots of soft vanilla sweetness and light yeast electricity. Soft caramel with mild peppercorn spice. The whole is much larger than the sum of its parts, though. Put in some nice pininess to the hops and stewed wheat and warmth and this is really perfect. As I told several people, I wanna bury my nose in this chalice like Tony Montana did with the mountain of coke in "Scarface." This is really fucking outstanding. It all comes together on the palate...the mild Brett funkiness, the yeast and big stewy grain electricity, the soft coriander and orange peel with a tiny hint of ginger, and a softly austere piney hop presence (Styrian Goldings?). Classic Old World with just a bit of new world hoppiness to bridge the frontier. NOW I feel like Chairman Kaga as he snickers after chomping on the bell pepper in the intro to "Iron Chef." Palate feel is also classic Saison...a little funk, quite yeasty and spicy with a little citrus bent. Those piney hops put it all together in Beautiful Chemistry and the finish is the gift that keeps on giving. Classic example of style. I remembered that Patrick & Co. made some fine stuff from last fall’s Belgian Beer Fest but this is insane. Well-crafted, traditional enough to be strictly on point for style but enough of a twist to break new ground. This one floored me and the next day I went out and found a few more bottles. Outstanding.

750 ml bottle courtesy of Sparky27. Pour is hazed cloudy golden yellow with a one inch head that falls quick. Aroma of earthy, barnyard straw and slightly clove honey sweetness. Taste is grainy dusty, fresh cut hay, straw slight barnyard, the clove is there from the nose, but not really any of the sweetness that was present. Quite a bit of black pepper spice. Very dry finish. Palate is medium, high carbonation, extremely dry and dusty finish. Clean and quite drinkable. Thanks for this one Eric!

Draft. Pours a clear golden with a small white head. Mild hop entry gives way to a spiced honey and coriander, and a bread/yeast take over towards the end. An okay saison for the summer.

Bottle purchased at the Davis Food Co-Op. Funky, fruity, Brett aroma. Some citrus lemon is also in there. Some peppery spices present, too. Moderately hazy golden body with a smallish white head. Spicy, peppery, Bretty flavors present to start, before this becomes more dry and quite hoppy late. More bitter than I would expect. Almost too bitter and too dry for my tastes. I don’t know. Not a huge fan.

(750ml bottle) Large off-white head that mostly dissipates to a creamy topper that lasts for the entire glass. Murky apple cider body. Aroma is mild sweet, pepper, some herbal/straw, yeast, light flower. Taste is mild sweet, yeast, pepper, some herbal/straw. Light-medium body, some creaminess, acidity.

Thanks to WeeHeavySD for this bottle, poured into a tulip. Pours a slightly hazy golden with hints of orange and a huge fluffy white head that shows good retention and leaves nice bits of lacing along the sides. There are tons of lighter fruits in the nose, especially peaches, pear and maybe apples. Backing up the sweetness is a spicy yeast backbone with some cloves and pepper as well. There is an overall musty character to the whole thing with the brett just starting to come out. The taste has the same fruity blast up front, both the sweet peaches and pears as well more tropical varieties, definitely some lemons. The backbone is the Belgian yeast which lends a spiciness to the finish paired with the emerging funk from the brett, which is more just musty than funky right now. The mouthfeel is very effervescent with lots of carbonation and a dry earthy finish. An extremely drinkable saison with a very small brett presence that adds to the complexity. I imagine a little more time might make this even better.

pours a hazy bright golden brown with a soft wispy near white head. random spots of splotchy lacing stick around for a while. it smells really fruity...lots of lemons and peaches, straw, perfume-y flowers and dusty brett in the background (though i wasn’t expecting to get it in a beer so young?). the palate is quite spicy and has just a touch of pale malty sweetness. flavors include straw, lemon, flowers, fresh herbs, sulpher/barnyard and a brett filled dry finish. the aftertaste is of spicy brett and its dryness lingers. light to medium bodied with sudsy soft carbonation which gives it a rather watery mouth feel (at least moreso than i like). this is tasty... i can’t wait to see what happens to it over the next few years! 7/4/7/3/17/3.8

25 oz bottle, via WeeHeavySD. Pours a clear gold body on first pour with a billowy bright white head. Excellent retention due to the vigorous carbonation. Nice delicate floral nose with hay, light yeast, and very subtle spicing. Just a touch of farmhouse funk and light band-aids. The flavor is great subtle dry funkiness with just a very little perfumy spiciness. The malt shines nicely with the yeast due to the minimal spicing. Long lingering dry finish. Mouthfeel is walking the line between dry and sweet with a bit of a doughy clinginess on the back end. Great fizzy slightly prickly carbonation. Very very nice beer, the limited amount of spicing really let this beer shine. I liked the second yeastier pour even better.