Another one in this rapidly expanding Enigma series, at ZBF. Apparently intended as a strong-ish saison ’pimped’ with a very attractive quartet of fruity new hop varieties. Off-white, loosely structured, thin head quickly reduced to some loose bubbles, clear golden hue with deep amberish, warm glow to it. Aroma of baked sweet apples, gooseberries, honey, nectarine juice and passion fruit lemonade (the Galaxy?), camomile tea, pineapple and some faint DMS (cooked cabbage). Sweet, very apple-ish onset, peach and melon with a gooseberry sourish touch, grainy and very lightly caramelly malt middle with ongoing, honeyish sweetness of residual sugars on top of it, way too much so for a saison; this sweetness lasts till the end, insufficiently ’dried’ by the hops, which do release some retronasal fruit and (tropical) flower notes, but rather subtly so. I do not see what this beer has to do with saison: this is a classic Belgian strong blonde made modern with New World hops, which do not get the credit they deserve and remain understated. Like a thinner, softer, lighter, far less expressive and technically less accomplished relative of Musketeers’ Troubadour Magma or something in that neighborhood... I can see potential in this, but it will need finetuning - and most of all, get rid of the saison connotation, which will bring nothing but confusion to the more educated consumer.

Thank you for sharing German speaking RB Crew! Sampled bottled @ ZBF 2017. Clear golden orange with no head, odd. Nose is vegetable, weak, oily, corn, sugar, soap. Taste is vegetable oil, corn, sugar, too vegetable, oily,... Body is fizzy vegetable oil & soap,... Poor.

Bottle. Pours clear and golden orange with a fully gone head. Aroma is sweet, slight fruity. Sweet, fruity, light phenolic. Toasted and lingering fruity finish.

Sampled @ Zythos Bier Festival 2017. Klare dunkel goldene Farbe. Geruch mild hopfig, Karamell, würzig. Geschmack mild würzig malzig, karamellig,

Bottle. Clear golden color with no head. Aroma is phenols, spicy yeasts, a bit off. Taste is fruity, a bit off, sweet, some phenols. Medium carbonation. Meh.

At Zythos 2017. Pours clear golden. Aroma is rather hoppy, tropical fruit, clover, grass, candy malts. Body is medium, rather sweet, low bitterness, crisp carbonation, rather short but sweet palate. Okay.

Pours rather unclear, warm amber. Good white head. Smell is very weak, mild bitterness. Taste is sharp, rather intensly bitter, some lemon-zest as well. easy drinker. Not all so sure why they’d call this a saison. Seems more like what these days is called ’Belgian IPA’ ( I still think of those beers more as a Belgian ale ) IF they used saison yeast, which I assume they did? it barely shows in the taste. A decent beer though, but just like ragnarock not a great memorable one. I do want to note though that both beers had great artwork, this is something I really miss in the Belgian beer-scene, and I’m happy they ( as well as a minority of others) are changeing that. Hopefully, a real sexy beer will folow soon !