When I first encountered this beer, from tap somewhere in a beer pub in Ghent, it was still a seasonal rarity, but it became so succesful that nowadays it is easily available throughout Belgium and beyond the whole year; it has gained a wide following too, making it far from evident to rate it objectively... I bought a 75 cl bottle for this rating, but unfortunately the drinks center hasn’t kept it in optimal circumstances. Anyway: hazy, deep golden blonde beer with a ’mist’ of small yeast bits, under a very sticky and lacing, dense, snow white head, hops-enhanced and remaining remarkably stable in relation to the ABV, a feature often seen in the Dupont saison family. The aroma is unfortunately suffering from the dreaded lightstruck effect (ammonia-like stench from hops degeneration under the influence of light) at first, but I have Lady Luck on my side today, as it vanishes after the second pour from the bottle. I otherwise get ’rural’ hints of apple peel, Poire William, horse, wet hay, unripe peach, freshly cut grass, old cheese, ’jenever’, dust, white pepper, lime, soap, prosecco. Taste begins with a vivid yet dryish fruitiness (apple, redcurrant, green plum) accompanied by a residual white candi sugar sweetishness, sharp citrussy fraîcheur and a strong, sourish, minerally carbonation - the palate is immediately awakened. Then a bready, honeyish, full pale malt sweetness follows, with a tingling spicy, almost ’wild’ and somewhat ’funky’ yeastiness on top of it; the sourishness paired with the strong fizz have a drying, ’brut’ effect on the mouth cavity, but still leaving room for a noble, fruity sweetness. More minerals, yeastiness and lingering pale malts in the finish, where a grassy, herbal and earthy hop bitterness takes over, along with warming ’jenever’-like alcohol, resulting in a long, dry, appetizing ending in which bitter and sweet are in perfect harmony, as in most good tripel beers. This is undoubtedly a great apéritif and the perfect ’missing link’ between saison and tripel - as which Dupont intended it back in the seventies. Too bad for the lightstruck effect due to below optimal storage conditions in this particular bottle, but I had this beer dozens of times and I won’t take it into account for this rating. Differs a bit from batch to batch, like many of the classic ’artisanal’ Belgian saisons; this sample is quite sweet and fruity, others tend to be more bittering and sourish - making this beer all the more interesting. Has great ageing potential too but I haven’t yet had the patience to mature a couple of bottles in the cellar for more than a year. This has justly become a classic in the Belgian beer landscape, as Moinette’s big brother. Still love it, like most of Dupont’s beers and certainly all of their saison style beers. Always a pleasure to revisit this one - and I’ve been as objective as I could...

Bottle. Beermerchants.com. Slow gusher. Hazy gold. Thin, dense, lasting, sticky, white head. Toasty, sweet, lemon curd malts. Quite grainy. A little Belgian yeast character. Taste is fairly sweet, with a little dryness. Moderately bitter, lemon zest close. Fairly rich palate, albeit nicely zingy, and fresh. Doesn’t feel the ABV. Finishes lemon zest bitter. Some sweet in the close.

Litt tåkete gul farge med luftig hvitt skum. Lukter gjær, alkohol og noe syrlig. Alkoholen også litt fremtredende i smak. Det ødelgger litt. Syrlig i smak og også i avslutning.

Uklar gulbrun med høyt tykt skum. Kornete lukt med noe blomster. Syrlig litt besk blomsteraktig smak. Oljete. Lang besk ettersmak

375ml bottle at the Barley Cargo, Athens. Hazy yellow color with white head. Aroma is yeasty, fruity citrusy, dusty, malty spicy. Sweet and light bitter taste, citrusy fruity and yeasty. Medium oily body with average carbonation.