Saint Somewhere Brewing Company Pays du Soleil Saison at 8% ABV (US$11.99 at Knightly Spirits Williamsburg, 750 ml, no bottle date or best before, acquired 1-May-2016, reviewed 8-Aug-2016)
Appearance: clear amber-brown with two fingers of growing rocky beige head, moderate retention and patchy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: floral, fruit, orange peel, Belgian yeast, caramel, light horseblankety funk. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter, light funk. (6/10) Medium body, lively carbonation, off-dry slightly sticky finish. (3/5)
I’m not quite sure how best to categorize this: it’s clearly Belg-ish, with elements of Saison, but at least at the outset, it smells and acts a bit like a lambic. There’s some floral (though I’m not sure I could identify a hibiscus to save my life) and generic fruit esters on top of a light tart funk. It starts off rather promisingly, neatly uncorking itself as soon as the cage is released, and initially seems like it’s going to be an effervescent, dry, and rather interesting wild. Unfortunately, all of that falls rather flat – literally as well as figuratively – in rather short order. The carbonation dies off fairly rapidly, along with the head, and no decent lacing develops. As the carbonation dies, the dryness of the body goes away as well, leaving behind a slightly sweeter, slightly stickier ale than was promised by the first few sips. Most damningly, however, the more interesting elements of the aroma also die off fairly rapidly, becoming more brown apple and less tart funk. That’s not to say it’s a complete write-off – it certainly isn’t – but it’s not as good as I initially had hoped it would be. On the upside – well, I say “upside”, but maybe it’s a huge downside for some – that fairly beefy 8% ABV doesn’t become apparent until the bottle is fairly far gone, and you realize you’ve been quaffing 8% beer pretty liberally. Good times! (But yes, again, that’s a bit of a strike if you want to be stylistically pedantic: a near double-digit ABV is not the kind of stuff you want to be quenching your thirst with while working the fields, is it?) (13/20)
6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
