Saison Deluxe
Pours a cloudy dark orange golden colour, with a maassively crackly and frothy head of white foam. It's like great chunky clouds rising in sculpted pinnacles in the glass. Lacing is really excellent, and sits on the edges of the glass in clumps of beautiful webbing. Some sediment in the body but otherwise looks really nice. Really wild, hearty and boisterous. Huge funky notes on the nose - lilts of green apple, blue-veined cheese, and odd herbal notes of basil and capsicum. Some musty cellar characters as well. It's really nice - a suitable funk like some of the best Belgian examples - minimal acidity, but good barnyard. In fact, it's a rather different sort of aroma to what you usually get in a Saison, but I like the uniqueness. Taste is clear, but a little too phenolic. Sharp notes of acetone come through the centre of the palate, which is otherwise quite round and smooth. Again, little acidity, and the funkiness besides the musty phenols in quite absent. Marzipan. Finish is quite round - a little acidity would have finessed the whole into something greater. Mouthfeel is very crisp and enjoyable. I'm afraid I didn't like this as much as I feel I should have. I fear the slightly higher ABV may have harmed it - a saison feels like it should be a lighter style, not something that needs to be upped. Not bad, but I've had far, far better Saisons.