Saison De La Senne (2021)
(Batch of Saison de la Senne)
Brasserie de la Senne in Brussel / Bruxelles / Brussels, Brussels Capital Region, Belgium 🇧🇪
Farmhouse - Saison Special|
Score
7.72
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It's a Saison inspired by those brewed in Wallonia (mainly in the Hainaut region) and in a part of Flanders in the 19th century. Yvan has been studying the subject since 2004, when the book "Farmhouse Ales" was published, for which he wrote the chapter on the history of this style, which is so complicated to apprehend. The Saison de la Senne is somehow the liquid result of his research, uninterrupted since.
The Saisons were part of the broad family of the"Bières de Garde" (Keeping beers), barrel-aged and with a very long shelf life. They were often blended with an old sour beer with a vinous character, which would give it its typical flavor, sought after by the drinkers of the time. The sour beer could have been produced in the brewery itself, but sometimes, as is proven by old documents, the Saison brewers could buy it from the most famous brewers of sour beer at the time: the Lambic brewers. We have chosen this method, and brought Lambic from one of the most famous Lambic brewery in the world: our friends at Cantillon - whom we deeply thank!
The result is an extremely complex but at the same time very refreshing beer (which is characteristic of the style). It somehow resembles a hoppy gueuze with a distinct bitterness. Indeed, the Saisons were generously hopped for the well-known keeping properties of hops. Also, they were often dry-hopped, as is the case here. Saison de la Senne has been barrel-aged for three years before bottling.
Amber in color, its nose reminds one of Lambic, with notes of fallen apples, wood, leather, and the typical funky character of the Bretts. In the mouth, a soft tartness is present, quickly leading to dryness. The aromas of the nose are completed by those of rustic cereals (spelt and rye), quince, green gooseberries and a complex vinous character. The finish is bitter but perfectly in balance.
The Saisons were part of the broad family of the"Bières de Garde" (Keeping beers), barrel-aged and with a very long shelf life. They were often blended with an old sour beer with a vinous character, which would give it its typical flavor, sought after by the drinkers of the time. The sour beer could have been produced in the brewery itself, but sometimes, as is proven by old documents, the Saison brewers could buy it from the most famous brewers of sour beer at the time: the Lambic brewers. We have chosen this method, and brought Lambic from one of the most famous Lambic brewery in the world: our friends at Cantillon - whom we deeply thank!
The result is an extremely complex but at the same time very refreshing beer (which is characteristic of the style). It somehow resembles a hoppy gueuze with a distinct bitterness. Indeed, the Saisons were generously hopped for the well-known keeping properties of hops. Also, they were often dry-hopped, as is the case here. Saison de la Senne has been barrel-aged for three years before bottling.
Amber in color, its nose reminds one of Lambic, with notes of fallen apples, wood, leather, and the typical funky character of the Bretts. In the mouth, a soft tartness is present, quickly leading to dryness. The aromas of the nose are completed by those of rustic cereals (spelt and rye), quince, green gooseberries and a complex vinous character. The finish is bitter but perfectly in balance.
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7.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
330ml bottle. Tartish, funky and floral with loads of farmyardy notes. Quite refreshing and sour. Interesting.
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Nov 2021
at 16:09
7/10
Tried
from Bottle
on 17 Oct 2021
at 22:50
8.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
33cl bottle from Rob the Gourmets’ Market in Brussels. F: medium, white, average retention. C: gold, hazy. A: light orange, brett, fruity, barnyard, floral, citrus. T: nice connection of saison and lambic, light sour fruity, woody, orange peels softly, brett, light tannins, citrus, bit astringent, grapes, higher carbonation, great one, fully enjoyed.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Oct 2021
at 19:16
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Pours slightly hazed blonde. Medium sized, stable white head. Scent is raw grains, funky (lambic aroma is very recognizable) , robust, hay, somewhat of the typical modern saison phenols, but not nearly as much as those usually offer. Taste is full, very complex. First off, the recognizable cantillon funk. Quite heavy so. Indeed more bitter, but far more malty as well - compared to the cantillon lambic. Some woody notes. very intense, flavorfull beer. medium low to low sourness, more tart aroma's than actual sourness. Very well made indeed.
Tried
on 03 Oct 2021
at 12:33
8.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Draught Very good and dense white head over yellow-orange beer, fine pearling. Bretts and lambic jumping out of the glass - some saison! Farmyard, horseblanket, floral as marigolds or lillies. Bitter - leather - herbs - vegetable. And lots of farmyard, yet different from lambic. With the food served (smoked eel), a hint of toasted vegetables appearing. Tart, dry-out effect, going towards astringency, well carbonated. Excellent, les gars! Very good balance between the basic beer and the lambic! At Brewers Kitchen, Antwerpen
Tried
from Draft
on 03 Oct 2021
at 07:05
8/10
Hazy golden with a big and fluffy white head. Aroma of grapefruit, wood, funk and hay. Dry, malty and spicy flavour with Cantillon funk and a nice tart finish.
Tried
from Can
on 01 Oct 2021
at 20:43
9/10
“Dessert”. Amazing beer! Love the tartness and funk. Noble hop (I presume) bitterness is on point and adds some grassy dewlike complexity. Just so Damn good and i suspect it can get even better with time!
Tried
from Bottle
on 18 Sep 2021
at 00:07
8.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
15/IX/21 - 33cl bottle @ DOK Brewing Company (Gent), BB: n/a (2021-1093)
Little cloudy blond to gold beer, small creamy dense white head, pretty stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: very nice, fruity, some oranges, bit oxidized, funky, lots of brett, floral notes, very nice, complex yet balanced. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: very nice, very fruity, juicy, peaches and apricots, very nice, little bitter, zesty, gentle acidity, good! Aftertaste: dry, little bitter, zesty, lemony, bit soapy, very nice beer!
Little cloudy blond to gold beer, small creamy dense white head, pretty stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: very nice, fruity, some oranges, bit oxidized, funky, lots of brett, floral notes, very nice, complex yet balanced. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: very nice, very fruity, juicy, peaches and apricots, very nice, little bitter, zesty, gentle acidity, good! Aftertaste: dry, little bitter, zesty, lemony, bit soapy, very nice beer!
Tried
from Bottle
at
Dok Brewing Company
on 15 Sep 2021
at 20:40
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle @ Etre Gourmet. Pours hazy deep dark golden with a white head. Sesame, wood, funk, honey, flowers, grass and bread. Young lambic. Wet wood, sesame and toffee in the far finish. Crisp and dry. Excited to revisit in 6 months. A little young.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Sep 2021
at 18:20
8.1/10
—
Appearance 9
Aroma 8
Flavor 7.5
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Senne's attempt at recreating 19th-century style saison, blended with (Cantillon) lambic and oak aged - two practices that were indeed not uncommon in those days, though I doubt that they were applied to saison in particular, at least I never heard it... Light gusher, but nothing to be worried about. Very thick and foamy, egg-white, rocky, very stable head remaining thick and dense for a long time, lacing in thick patches over a misty 'old gold' beer with ochre tinge and strong swirls of fine-bubbled sparkling rushing through the mist. Aroma of sour grapes, fresh mugwort, green apple, stale urine, overripe cucumber, farmland, dandelion, green hogweed leaves, bread crust, moldy lemons, unripe peach, hay, sweat. Crisp onset, tart like unripe white grapes and green apples but with a sweetish, peachy core, even a very light touch of banana; finely but enthusiastically tingling carb, adding a refreshing minerality and accentuating the sour aspect. Supple body, a bready and cereally malt core dried by a layered lambic sourness, lactic with lemony edges yet nowhere truly acidic; the fact that they used old lambic adds to a kind of 'noble', old dry sherry-like aspect lurking in the background, but the sheer freshness of the saison itself, the bready malts and eventually the leafy, wormwoody, drying hop bitterness keeps prevailing. Woody tannins are noticeable but remain fairly soft, so that apart from that ongoing layer of lambic (even with a slight urine-like funkiness retronasally), it is the hops that get to shine in the finishing stage, with lasting 'dark green' bitterness and 'noble' character. Remains juicy too, thanks to the sheer fruitiness of the lambic. Utterly refreshing indeed - even if barrel ageing and 'coupage' with lambic were probably uncommon in the original saisons Senne refers to, these elements have in any case been used very cleverly and sophisticatedly here, in a sense that they constitute an important part of the drying, refreshing character of the beer without pushing themselves to the foreground too much. Then again, "Brett eats everything" as they say, so the Bretty effects that are already very clear here, will probably only increase in strength later on - still, because of the hoppy character, I would recommend drinking this young. Very intelligently designed saison - it apparently takes an accomplished Belgian brewery à la Senne to pull this off.
Tried
on 07 Sep 2021
at 12:03