Better Drinking

The saison style is yet another incredible selection that comes from the Disneyland of beer, Belgium. This is typically more of a summer beer but Josh has been bugging me to try this so I finally broke down and bought a bottle. Ok…I'm at least one season late, but I'll be ready for next year.

Saison Dupont comes in a lovely green bottle (my bottle was green) and nice checkerboard label advertising the usual suspects in terms of name, ABV, government-imposed boilerplate, and a blurb about the beer itself. Another fun feature is the cork, as opposed to a cap, making this beer at least equal to wine in terms of presentation. Hey, wine is sold in a box and I've yet to see any beer packaged this way yet. Still, the cork seems to impart some sense of maturity to what is otherwise considered a juvenile beverage.
But...Au contraire...

The Dupont pours a cloudy yellow, hazy and thick, with a very generous white head that decreases throughout the session, but does not fully dissipate.

Sweet malt and tons of spice dominate the nose. A rather complex mix of aromas, though clearly defined pepper smell comes through most clearly. Warming only intensifies this.

The mouthfeel is medium, light, refreshing and extremely effervescent.

Taste is a subdued maltiness up front, then punishes (in a good way) the tongue with a powerful spiciness that dominates through swallow and aftertaste. There is a slight sourness here as well as a dull hop flavor, but are largely drowned out by a peppery taste. The beer improves dramatically in terms of taste and general complexity and in retrospect, I should have let this warm up a little more before starting the review. It was too cold to start with and was really enjoying this by the end of the glass.

An excellent beer, especially for warmer weather. Bring it to a spring picnic and savor the day.

Labels: beer reviews