33 cl, bottle. BBE: none ??

330 ml bottle, from Vinmonopolet, Nettbutikken. ABV is 8.0%. Dark red colour, pale and huge pink head. Aroma of sour cherries, cherry kernels and marzipan. Sweet flavour with the same elements, also distinct bittering hops, wormwood-like in the aftertaste. .

330ml bottle. Pours a cloudy orange amber with a medium, foamy, long lasting, beige head that leaves soapy curtains of lace. Aroma of bready caramel malt, red apple skin, Belgian yeast and herbal hops. Sweet flavour of bready caramel malt, candi sugar, plum, Belgian yeast and spicy hops in a dry, mild bitter, warming booze finish. Full body with a sticky texture and soft carbonation. A little sweet and boozy, but still decent.

330ml bottle. Pours a hazy orange gold with lots of floaties and a large, frothy, long lasting, beige head that leaves thick curtains of soapy lace. Mild aroma of bready pale malt, Belgian yeast, lemon and herbal hops. Sweet flavour of caramel malt, grapefruit, Belgian yeast, herbal and spicy hops in a dry, bitter finish. Medium body with an oily texture and average carbonation. Just ok.

330ml bottle. Pours a hazy orange amber with a small, foamy, long lasting, beige head that leaves soapy curtains of lace. Sweet aroma of bready caramel malt, saison yeast, plum and floral hops. Sweet flavour of bready caramel malt, brown sugar, plum, red apple, saison yeast and floral hops in a dry, mild bitter finish. Light to medium body with a sticky texture and soft carbonation. Not really your traditional Saison, more of a Belgian Amber.

Organic (and somewhat paler) version of Saison Silly, one of the oldtime classics in the genre, in spite of being overshadowed by Saison Dupont, Saison de Pipaix and others; sampled from a 75 cl bottle bought at an organic shop in Bassilly. Snow white, dense, thick, irregularly edged, cobweb-lacing, firm head on a hazy peach blonde beer with beige-ish tinge. Odd and clearly already oxidised aroma of cold French fries, moist paprika powder, fried tomato peel or tomato concentrate, raw turnip, coriander, beetroot, clove, fried carrot, autumn leaves, nutmeg, cold potato soup, green coffee, tea. Restrainedly fruity onset, more 'rooty' and low in sweetness, touch apple peel perhaps, vague unripe apricot, supple fluffy mouthfeel, medium carbonated; soft bready backbone spiced with coriander seed, oddly showing a green coffee bean-like flavour in the end, where clove-like phenols also appear. Firmly drying finish with a good dose of floral hops but also a lot of yeasty earthiness, the latter behaving also in a fruity, almost honeyish kind of way (but I guess this is an oxidation effect again). Ends yeasty, fruity but balanced yet a bit crude and earthy as well; this sample was already a bit oxidised too so my rating may not be entirely representative here, but this 'village saison' was an interesting one after all. Not sure if it is an improvement on the original Silly Saison, though - but I better not compare, as I have not had the original in more than a decade so it probably is not the same anymore either.

330 ml can. Pours a slightly hazy amber with light head. Aromas of corn syrup, sweet grainy malts with some vegetal notes. Flavors follow same; a bit crisper and without the vegetal notes.

Light hoppy beer and one of the more recent additions to Silly's range, tasted in a fine dining restaurant located at around one hundred and fifty yards away from the brewery, as an accompaniment to one of the courses. Thick and foamy, egg-white, membrane-like lacing, firm head on a misty 'old golden' robe with pale apricot tinge. Aroma of old dried orange peel (rather than the vivid fresh citrusiness one expects from the intended genre), lemon cake, grass, unripe mango, worn-out synthetic bath sponge, wet gravel, sweetclover, minerals, old pizza crust, clove. Spritzy onset, quite low in sweetness so it seems the brewery deliberately attempted to keep it clean (and meet IPA expectations), some pear and peach notes still, minerally carb, smooth cereally pale maltiness bittered by the hops, behaving in a peppery, grassy, floral way with dried citrus zest impressions - yet failing to deliver the full-on New World hoppiness experience even in a basic sense. Old jute bag and wet synthetic textile aromas dominate retronasally instead of New World hops - with some Belgian phenols to top it all off. Luckily the hops do provide a pleasantly drying bitterness. Like so many Belgian hop-forward beers, this one too remains too restrained in its hop department to shine and remains firmly connected to local traditions. Not an IPA for me - perhaps a 'light Belgian IPA' of sorts, but even then, it has some odd aromas I can hardly enjoy in any kind of beer... Not a great success, in my opinion.