7.1

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Saison from a historical brewery in Jette, in the northwestern part of Brussels, which had been active from 1911 to 1970 but has recently been revived by its heirs. What makes this project interesting, is the fact that Taymans was a lambic and geuze producer, and that the new generation of Taymans brewers intends to revive that tradition as well - so the lambic hype will be continued with another one to come soon. Meanwhile we can enjoy some top-fermented Taymans beers like this saison, primarily created to fund the lambic department of this company, I presume. Frothy, pillowy, irregular but very densely moussy, shred-lacing, off-white head, settling on a hazy peach blonde beer with pale beige-ish tinge, turning murky and 'dirty' ochre-hued in the end. Aroma of unripe peach, bread crust, apricot, green pear, raw turnip, bitter honey, damp earth, clove, old dried orange peel, damp straw, moist white pepper, sweetclover, freshly cut lawn, vague hints of yellow bell pepper, young mugwort leaves, wet clay, birch leaves in spring and potato peel. Crisp, dryish onset, unripe apricot, green pear and a dash of apple peel, some light sweetishness within but restrainedly so, lively carbonated in a minerally, but nowhere harsh way; supple bready maltiness, cereally and dry, with strong minerality (rainwater-ish) continuing, even a little bit metallic in the end but in a seemingly quite natural way. Some light wheat slickness and sourishness underneath, growing towards a yeasty-spicy and grassy-hoppy finish combining impressions of bitter plant roots, white pepper, clove and straw, with some fruitiness and breadiness lingering - the latter even becoming quite powdery-yeasty in the end. All the while, this clear minerally 'zing' remains. Drinkable, yet overly yeasty and feeling a tad amateurish, to be honest; pleasant spicy and minerally elements though, dry and earthy, so all things considered, I guess this indeed qualifies as a classically styled saison. Could do with a somewhat cleaner yeast profile and perhaps more breadiness and hoppiness, but in any case decent enough to remain curious about what this family is going to achieve in the much more challenging - and discriminate - lambic field... In any case, in my love for traditional (and less traditional) lambic beers, I am glad I could help a tiny bit by buying a bottle of this - but when Taymans geuze indeed rises from the dead some day, I will be in the front row to witness it.