Saison De La Senne (2021)
(Batch of Saison de la Senne)
Brasserie de la Senne in 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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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
8.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 8.5
330 ml bottle from Etre Gourmet, bottled 26 Mar 21. Orange, medium hazy body, with a big, frothy, lacing, white head.
Smells beautiful of the typical Cantillon funk, white grapes, lemon candy, apricot, some apple, moderate wood, some dough. Tastes also amazing, quite similar, a bit more tannic and wooden.
Medium, a bit creamy mouthfeel, with a quite lively carbonation. Finishes perfect, smooth, complex, tannic, wooden, vinous, quite dry, funky, citric, with grapes, stone fruits, apple.
I love this! This is the perfect blend of two of my favorite breweries, the Cantillon lambic providing the characteristic, rustic funk notes, while it has the perfect balance and crispness I love DLS for. The barrel aging is so well integrated, leading to beautiful, moderate wooden notes. Overall this is so smooth and drinkable that you could easily overlook how complex this is at the same time. Addictive! Score: 9 / 4 / 9 / 5 / 17
Smells beautiful of the typical Cantillon funk, white grapes, lemon candy, apricot, some apple, moderate wood, some dough. Tastes also amazing, quite similar, a bit more tannic and wooden.
Medium, a bit creamy mouthfeel, with a quite lively carbonation. Finishes perfect, smooth, complex, tannic, wooden, vinous, quite dry, funky, citric, with grapes, stone fruits, apple.
I love this! This is the perfect blend of two of my favorite breweries, the Cantillon lambic providing the characteristic, rustic funk notes, while it has the perfect balance and crispness I love DLS for. The barrel aging is so well integrated, leading to beautiful, moderate wooden notes. Overall this is so smooth and drinkable that you could easily overlook how complex this is at the same time. Addictive! Score: 9 / 4 / 9 / 5 / 17
Tried
from Bottle
on 03 Sep 2021
at 19:15