Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
"Black saison" by, to my knowledge, the youngest of this bunch of new hipster brewing projects in the Belgian capital - possibly inspired by nearby BBP's Black Bird but in any case an original choice for one of their first brews. Initially very thick but rapidly thinning, pale greyish beige head, eventually settling as an irregularly lacing, moussy layer, slowly breaking but still remaining closed for a long time; blackish appearance, but actually a dark (and still completely translucent), hazy burgundy brown with 'old red wine'-like hue. Aroma of hazelnuts, sugared tea, raw red cabbage, lots of dry tree leaves and acorn shells, elderberry juice, pear, caramel, soggy toast, nutmeg, medlar, black pepper, tomato puree, iron and a fortunately very faint and volatile whiff of something remotely sulfuric. Rather clean, sharply (minerally) carbonated onset, stinging initially but calming down later on, unveiling aspects of sweetish fig and banana as well as sourish blackberries; resinous caramelly maltiness and some soapy 'wheatiness', restrainedly sweetish at first but quickly shifting to a rather sharp toasted bitterness, a bitterness further developed in the finish, as a fair amount of peppery, herbal, leafy hop bitterness kicks in. Lingering fruity aspects remain clean and subdued, toasted malt bitterness remains - but again, with sharp, even slightly metallic edges; spicy phenols add to the saison part of this beer, which ends dry and quenching as one can expect from any self-respecting example of the style. Whereas other attempts at 'black saison' went into overdrive with modern hopping and ended up resembling black IPAs more than anything else, this one does is right: this beer has all the crispness, dryness and spiciness as well as high effervescence of your standard saison, but adds toasted bitter, 'black' maltiness. A saison mixed with a porter, so to speak, with a somewhat 'forest'-like result rather than the meadows and gentle slopes I classically associate with saison - and why not. Very enjoyable, and promising for whatever this Annexe brewery will come up with later this year. Interesting and original, if not completely technically perfect yet: we need more of this boldness here in tradition-ridden Belgium.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
First beer from a new Brussels micro brewery, apparently a resurrection of a former saison style ale. Strongly developing, thick, very moussy, frothy, quickly thinning but fairly stable, egg-white lacing in 'streaks', hazy peach blonde beer with ochre-ish tinge, deeper orange-hued as more of the sediment goes in. Aroma of raw pineapple, peach, freshly cut grass, margarine (diacetyl, no doubt), unripe melon, green apples, soggy white bread, camomile tea, melting powder sugar, ketchup or tomato-flavoured potato chips, soap, coriander seed, white pepper, gherkins. Sweetish onset, peachy esters, bits of banana, apple-like acetaldehyde, initially extremely sharp, even painfully numbing carbonation calming down a bit after a while, giving more room to a diacetyl-ridden butteriness - perhaps not very relevant in a saison, but actually quite pleasant to me personally at least (vaguely reminiscent of an English bitter even, if it weren't for the thoroughly Belgian-yeasty nose). Bready maltiness, lingering honeyish sweetishness but altogether dry and crisp, with lots of fitting minerally aspects on the sides; grassy, rather phenolic-spicy finish but perfectly acceptable for a saison, confidently hop-bittering and drying, with spicy-peppery notes lingering alongside residual malt sweetness; carbonation, even in weakened form, remains agressive till the end. Overcarbonated at first even for this usually highly carbonated style, and I guess the diacetyl could be something of an issue to some, as it does leave behind a margarine-like flavour and feel; yet I personally find this newby very drinkable and pleasant, a bit different and sufficiently qualifying as a saison indeed, contrary to whole strings of ordinary Belgian blondes re-labelled as saisons these days just because the term is hip in our postmodern craft beer era.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Imported from my RateBeer account as L'Annexe Black Saison (by L'Annexe):
Aroma: 8/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 6/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 14/20, MyTotalScore: 3.5/5
19/XII/17 - 33cl bottle from De Hopduvel (Gent), shared with Lee Barrass @ home - BB: 11/VIII/20, bottled: 11/VIII/17 (2017-2213)
SLOW GUSHER ALERT!
Clear purple to reddish brown beer, huge beige irregular head, pretty stable, little adhesive. Aroma: some chocolate, malty, grains, dried fruits, COé, some overripe banana, hint of mandarins. MF: very lively carbon, medium body. Taste: bit sourish, nice roast, pretty bitter, some dried fruits, nothing sweet though. Aftertaste: pretty bitter, soft roast, hint of caramel, bit yeasty, more banana, sourish touch, get a bit boring after about half a glass.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Imported from my RateBeer account as L'Annexe Saison de Bruxelles (by L'Annexe):
Aroma: 8/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 7/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 14/20, MyTotalScore: 3.6/5
19/XII/17 - 33cl bottle from De Hopduvel (Gent), shared with Lee Barrass @ home - BB: 7/VII/20, bottled: 7/VII/17 (2017-2212)
Little cloudy orange beer, bit creamy white head, little stable, pretty adhesive. Aroma: very spicy, coriander, yeast, some banana peel, grassy touch, dusty, dry impression. MF: very lively carbon, medium body. Taste: quite some banana, pretty bitter, slightly sourish, spicy. Aftertaste: yeasty, some banana peel, soft bitterness, dry, very decent beer, not sure if this would qualify as a true saison, bit too much of banana yeast profile.
31/10/2017 @home 33cl bottle from Fermentings, Jette. Black colour with huge tanned head which quickly fades. Just like the Saison de Bruxelles, this one also seems to be too highly carbonated. Smell is roast, chocolate, some spice. Taste is roast, licorice, chocolate, some spices, dry bitter roast ending. This ain't bad at all.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
30/10/2017 @home - 33cl bottle from Fermenthings, Jette. Clear golden with huge rocky head. Nose is malts, spices. Taste is malts, spices, bit peppery some hops, bit sweet in the end. Too heavy carbonated.
#BierKaffee @BierKultuur
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
F: huge, beige, unstable but only slowly collapsing. C: dark, opaque. A: malty, cocoa, bit espresso, fruity, chocolate, caramel, bit yeasty. T: malty, bit chocolate, bit sour fruity, bit yeasty, caramel, dried fruits, bit spicy to peppery, cocoa, velvety mouthfeel, medium body and bit high carbonation but ok for saison, interesting version, good, enjoyed, 33cl bottle from Belgomarkt in Brussels.