Notes on beers brewed by
330 mL bottle. Chestnut brown color with lovely, red highlights on the pour. Nose is malty as one might expect from a Brasserie de Silly beer, but not at all consistent with a (contemporary) beer that has "saison" on the label. Tastes are very malty as one would expect for the brewery, but for a saison? I don't know what the history of saisons is (at least not in all of its glory), but this beer is clearly not in-line with anything contemporary within the style. Plenty of toffee and caramel,...
It's impossible not to make a comparison between this beer and the 2018 Chardonnay version of this beer, especially when the other one was consumed and reviewed just a few days ago. The same base beer, and also in wine-barrels, I'd expect similar things, and indeed that's what we get. Notable changes here are the fact that the beer is a year younger (2019 versus 2018), and Pinot Noir is the grape. Given that I think that the Pinot Noir is going to mesh more with the underlying Scotch Ale...
Corked and caged. Moderate pop on opening. Pour has the requisite chestnut brown and is pretty. Head is moderate, not especially well retained, doesn't give much lace, but at least gives a nice film on the surface of the beer. At 10.0 % and at this age, I'm OK with that. There is some oxidation in the nose at this point. Shame, I'd liked to have gotten to this earlier, but that wasn't to be. Tastes have the base Scotch Ale well rounded, and a barrel note that is less discernible specifically...
12 oz single from Hop City, Atlanta, GA, USA. Kraig tried to talk me out of this, but I KNEW that I would like it and I was glad that I went with my gut on this one. The beer pours a hazed, peach/pinkish color with a better than expected head. There is even a tiny bit of lace and some half decent retention! Nose has a slightly medicinal acidity. The taste is that of a lightly sweetened grapefruit with lots of decent fruit flavor. The beer drinks incredibly easily and is really refreshing....
Additional notes: 11/12/22 (pictured) 330 mL bottle. Still relatively thin for the style IMO. There's still something that sits oddly in the combo for me, not quite hitting the mark and leaving me a little dissatisfied. All the notes below from 13 years ago still apply. Original notes: 04/25/2009 $10 for the 750 mL corked and caged, black foiled bottle from Bruisin' Ales in Asheville, NC, USA. Pops open with a small amount of brownish foam. This one is poured into the L'Abbaye Brasserie des...