Trois Dames Saison Houblon

Brewed by Trois Dames
Style: Saison
Sainte-Croix, Switzerland

Bottled, thanks Bov! Cloudy golden, airy head. Perfumy hoppy spicy nose. Lies rounded, lively and spritzy in the mouth. Estery flavour of winegum mixed cith citric hops. Intensive but in superb balance. Combines a perfect saison with an IPA, kind of what many Belgian brewers been trying to do, but this art is now perfected in Switzerland instead.

Bottled (Thanks Bov!). Golden colour, huge white head. Aroma is huge hoppyness, tropical fruits and some barnyard. Flavour is grassy and fruity hops with some barnyard. Aftertaste is mainly grassy and barnyardy.

Bottled 75 cl (BB 10/2008)
Orange color, huge cloudy white head. Very fresh piney and fruity aroma - huge nose. Propably American hops are used. Very crisp carbonation. Now flavor has saison-like barnyard, but mainly this brew is very hoppy - very IPA-like. Also grain, pineapple and resin. Nice mix of Belgian Saison and American IPA. One of the better Swiss beers.

A dense albeit not tall white head remains as a lasting cover over the opaque light amber body. Strongly fruity, ester laden nose where surprising white cranberries, blueberries, strawberries meet straighter citrus from the hops. It is rare indeed that a yeast byproduct takes the shape of berries. Not as attenuated as I’d expected, this contains soft cerealic, bready, angel cake undertones over which whipped cream and developed fruits would make it feel like a shortcake were it not for the hops. About these hops, they displays less brightness than I would have thought, bringing on orange, soft earth and flowery notions, but just diplomatic bitterness which, while drying out the finish, does not reach anything close to an IPA level. I guess one might call it relatively complex, but it did not have the characteristics that make me fall in love with a beer such as an inherent sense of freshness and a crisp, tight mouthfeel that enhances the global brightness. Still, if I had not put high expectations on that one, I would have been pretty satisfied indeed, as it remains a complex, not too pretentious, characterful beer.

Bottle thanks to some swiss chap that brought some awsome bottles to a random tasting at the rake. Alround rating: Citrusy, very grassy hop, lightly tart, minerally water it seems, dry, loads of yeast, far too much yeast infact.

sampled at the Solothurner Biertage 2007 - cloudy dark orange colour with a solid creamy foam and a nice lace; very aromatic hoppiness, grapefruity, perfumy with notes of cream; medium-bodied, robust late bitterness, very dry and bitter, long finish - a wonderful beer

Second tasting, of many bottles this time, in 2009; obviously, a different batch:
The hops are much more subdued and the juicy fruitiness provided by the yeast profile dominates the silky body. The spiciness of the hops, the expressive yeast, the iron twang, the quenching tartness and the inherent rusticity of it all makes it an amazingly authentic Saison. This is not anything like the Saison/IPA hybrid it was two years ago though...

FIrst tasting, in 2007:
My Bottom Line:
A tantalizing grassy, herbal perfume flies alongside juicy oranges into a heavenly world of fluffiness and freshness. This is a beautifully drinkable dry-hopped Swiss Saison which matches some of the great ones you can find in Belgium.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam covers the cloudy orange.
-The fruity yeast apport works wonderfully with the chosen hoppiness.
-Finish is lengthy, and moderately bitter; a very pleasant continuation of what the aroma had announced.
-An underlying citrusy tartness seems to emanate from the fruitiness.
-The combination of festive hoppiness, fruity and spicy hoppiness, comfortable carbonation, and lean body create an immensely refreshing experience.

Bottle at the Mondial de la Bière.

A golden IPA with a thick creamy white head. A pleasant cereal and grassy hops in aroma, with wild herbs. In mouth, a very pleasant creamy ale with light notes of cloves and good hops. Medium bodied. Tasted at Mondiale 2007.