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Updated Review 05/09
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Delighted to find a bottle of this marked down from $6.49 to $3.99. Why not take a chance?
Carbonation is still great which was my first worry. Nice lace.
The beer still drinks with a degree of peppery harshness, AND reamins bitter just like four years agao, AND remains at the edge of the Saison category, but now it has developed a real, distinct and delicious lemon note.
Light spice, light acid and a touch of funk, it finishes with herbal sweetness.
Delicious, this has definitely benefitted over time for me. Scores adjusted accordingly.
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Original review 09/05, original scores; 4, 3.5, 3.5, 3.0, 3.0.
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Very good looker, a lovely golden yellow color with a nice, if not huge head that lingers a little and gives some lacing. Not enough head for the style, I look for really white and billowing head.
Aroma is muted bananas and pronounced cloves.
There is some real (and unexpected) quite severe bitterness about this. It seems out of style and out of character.
Mouthfeel is OK, but the bitterness creeps into the finish and creates a bit of an edge.
Drinkability is lowered by the bitterness and subtracts from the “enjoyability”.
Not a bad beer, but not a great saison.