Category Archives: Farmhouse Saison

Dupont Avec les Bons Voeux

Brewery: Brasserie Dupont
Country: Belgium
ABV: 9.5%
Style: Belgian Saison

Brewer Description: (from website) The Bons Voeux is a blond top fermentation beer with refermentation in the bottle. Since 1970, the brewery has been brewing a special beer to give as a new years present to their best clients. The name of this beer “Avec les bons Voeux de la Brasserie Dupont” means “With the best wishes of the Brewery Dupont.” Because of the increasing success, they started to commercialise this “cadeau” but kept the name. Although the demands were considerable, only a small quantity was brewed, so they had to make a reservation list, even months before new year. This Bons Voeux is coppery blond, has very fine hop aromas and tastes bitter, fruity and mild. Our selection of yeasts, in combination with a long during riping process, on a “dry hopping” base, are creating a typical and complex aroma and taste. A real refermentation in the bottle, which will continue for a long time in your cellar, result in a harmonious and well-balanced beer, full of unexpected and complex aromas.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.29
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle, 2016 cork, with a best before date of October 2021. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: It was a hazy golden straw orange colour with a just under two finger white head that had pretty good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Peach, honey, lemon, banana and clove with some pepper and herbally notes.
Taste: Honey, lemon, banana, clove, grass, pepper spice and yeast.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: A very nice cross between a Saison and a Tripel. It’s got the nice classic Belgian beer characteristics and the 9.5% ABV is surprisingly well hidden.

Amager x Prairie Tulsa Twister

Brewery: Amager Bryghus x Prairie Artisan Ales
Country: Denmark
ABV: 7.5%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: Batch no. 865

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Hopefully we don’t insult anybody by claiming that Oklahoma was quite a beer wasteland until just recently. Then, along came the brothers Healey, Colin and Chase, with guts, stamina and an awful lot of talent. And well, the rest is history… Prairie – originally a gypsy operation – soon became one of the most buzzed about craft breweries, not only in Oklahoma, not only in the US, but in the world. So when these dudes were invited to the Copenhagen Beer Celebration it was only natural for us to invite them to Amager also. And naturally the style chosen for our collaboration had to be a Farmhouse Saison, a style that Prairie has very much excelled at brewing. One of the Amager crew is still terribly ashamed of sleeping through a tornado warning at a motel room somewhere in Oklahoma years ago, so out of respect for the powers from above we named the beer “Tulsa Twister”. As loud and frightening as a twister is, as cool and laid back are the dudes from Prairie. We had a great day of brewing and friendship – we hope it shows in the beer.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.66
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 500ml bottle, batch no. 865 with a best before date of September 2017. Poured into a d’Achouffe tulip glass.
Appearance: A cloudy golden yellow orange colour with a big fluffy three finger white head that has great retention and left some thick lacing.
Aroma: Funky, tropical mango plus citrus orange and lemon.
Taste: Funky, grassy, hay, orange, lemon, floral and pepper spice.
Mouthfeel: Dry, light bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: An enjoyable collaboration between two great breweries. The pepper was perhaps a touch too overpowering, but its still a nice Saison to drink.

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Brekeriet Vendetta

Brewery: Brekeriet
Country: Sweden
ABV: 5%
Style: Belgian Saison

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Brekeriet Vendetta is a blond saison fermented and aged in Niepoort barrels with several wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria strains.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.08
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 750ml bottle with a best before date of 17th April 2017. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden orange colour with a one finger white head that had decent retention and leaves some nice lacing.
Aroma: Sour, funky, barnyard, brett and moist wood with lemon and orange citrus. But it’s all a little light.
Taste: Sour, tart, funky, oak, tangy, lemon, vinous, grape, peach and apricot.
Mouthfeel: Dry, light bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: A nice saison with good oak and fruitiness. Refreshing and easy to drink.

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Tamamura-Honten Harvest Summer Saison

Brewery: Tamamura-Honten
Country: Japan
ABV: 5.5%
Style: Belgian Saison

Brewer Description: See picture below since the description is in Japanese.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.66
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.5

Intro: A 330ml bottle, bottled in September 2016, poured into a d’Achouffe tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a slightly hazy golden orange amber colour with a slightly less than two finger off white head that dissipated over a minute but left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Biscuit malt, tropical peach and apricot, bubblegum, lemon tea and some mild funk.
Taste: Sweet peach/lemon tea, tangy, bubblegum, pine, grass, mint with a touch of spiciness and light bitterness on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Dry, light bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: It’s not what I was expecting, but it’s ok. Perhaps a bit too sweet for me, in that I definitely can’t have more than one bottle at a time (and in fact probably even prefer to share a bottle). Having said that, it would definitely be a refreshing beer during a hot summer.

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Dupont x Lost Abbey Deux Amis

Brewery: Brasserie Dupont x The Lost Abbey
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: Hops – Amarillo and Simcoe

Brewer Description: (from bottle) French for “two friends,” Deux Amis commemorates the ground-breaking collaboration between Belgium’s Brasserie Dupont and America’s Lost Abbey Brewery. It brings together two brewers who have long shared a mutual reverence – Olivier Dedeycker, the fourth-generation Master Brewer at Dupont and Tomme Arthur, the acclaimed Brew Master of Lost Abbey. Deux Amis has been brewed at Brasserie Dupont in Belgium and crafted using traditional methods the brewery has perfected over the past century. It receives its decidedly stateside flavor from the addition of American Amarillo and Simcoe hops. The result of this kinship is a dry, refreshing Old World Saison full of New World flavors.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.04
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A corked and caged 750ml bottle, 2016 cork with a best before date of May 2018. Poured into a d’Achouffe tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a cloudy golden orange colour with a huge three finger white head that had decent retention and left foamy sticky lacing.
Aroma: Strong Belgian yeast, clove, banana plus melon with a touch of lemon zest, orange and white pepper spice.
Taste: Lightly doughy, approaching overripe banana sweetness, clove, lemon zest, orange rind, honey, grass and pepper spice.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, medium to light bodied with lively moderate to high carbonation and a dry finish.
Overall: A good refreshing Saison that is easy to drink. Good stuff from two brewery/brewers that I like.

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