Black Bridge Brewery Saison Deux Fois la Taille Imperial Saison at 8.6% ABV (C$14.99 at Liquor Depot McKenzie Town, 750 ml, no bottle date or best before, acquired 19-Sep-2016, reviewed 10-Oct-2016)
Appearance: slightly hazy pale gold with a massive and growing three finger rocky off-white head, excellent retention and chunky lacing. (4/5) Aroma: citrus pith and zest, apples and pears, yeast, cloves, dry hay, alcohol, white pepper. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter, mild funky tart. (7/10) Medium-light body, lively carbonation, off-dry lightly funky and lingering mild bitter finish. (4/5)
The way the cap let go, I was expecting a gusher, and scrabbled madly for a glass. It didn’t actually foam out of the bottle, but in the glass it continued to develop its massive fluffy head for quite some time, actually overflowing the lip. And again, I find myself on the horns of a dilemma: rate this as the style it purports to be, or on its own merits? Because, frankly, as a BSPA, this is great – but as a Saison, not quite so much. There’s the familiar argument about ABV, of course, but they to some extent deal with that by making it clear it’s actually a double (“Deux Fois la Taille” = “twice the size”) – though I’m still not convinced “Imperial Saison” is a legitimate style that ought to see the light of day, despite this not being my first example of that style. No, the flavours are more what I’m thinking about here: I expect Saisons to be light, fruity, and dry, but this has sweeter and more robust flavours. I expect much of that is attributable to its “double” character, but still it makes for a slightly oddball beer. Ultimately pretty heavy for the (nominal) style, but still a bit of fun. (15/20)
7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
