[1] Review by beerguy101 from Newark, CA, USA who has tried this beer once. (8/11/2008 11:33:28 PM)
"This saison pours a slightly cloudy yellow gold color from a 750ml bottle. Large sized white foamy head, with good lacing and long retention. The aroma is earthy, floral, yeasty and a touch salty. A touch of funk develops as it warms. A light to medium bodied saison. The malts are fruity and slightly sweet. The hops are spicy and earthy. Very lively carbonation. This is a strange beer, it has that spiciness and zest of a typical saison, yet lacks some of the sweetness and fruitiness that you also expect. It tends to make you focus more on the herbal and spice characters. They tend towards a kind of strange combination of flavors, which most folks will either really like or really hate. The US label calls this beer Avril a unfiltered “Biere de Table”, I am not sure just what that means, but at 3.5% alcohol I guess you could sit and drink a lots of this beer. It would really taste good on a warm summer day. It’s spicy enough to hold up to a lots of the typical saison foods. The mouthfeel is full. The finish is clean and crisp. The aftertaste is slightly spicy and a touch bitter. "
Aroma:
8/10
Appearance:
6/10
Mouthfeel:
8/10
Flavor:
8/10
Overall:
8/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(3.8)
Sampled: Bottle
Value of this beer for its style: Not Sure
[2] Review by Sap from Tucson, AZ, USA who has tried this beer once. (6/17/2008 10:59:21 PM)
"Labeled as Dupont Avril
2008 Cork Date; Sampled June 2008
A fairly soft pour produces a five finger thick, pale tan colored head that includes a full two-finger or more that is above the rim of my glass. The head is just about perfect, forming a structural mesa as it subsides as well as leaving lots of frothy lace on the sides of my glass. The beer is a lightly hazed, honey-gold color that shows an orange tinted, lighter gold color when held up to the light. The aroma is quite expressive, noticeable as I pour it and visually inspect it, I get a vibrant hop character (lemon zest and herbs) as well as a soft fruity backdrop. Very aromatic, insanely so for a beer of this strength; vibrant malt aromatics of crushed saltine crackers, wild-flower honey, fresh crushed wheat, grassy grain and hay are all initially noticeable. Other notes of orange zest (which really comes into its own as the beer warms), soft ginger, white pepper, green apples, clove, lots of herbal notes and wild-flower aromas are noticeable. The aroma on this is just so vibrant, so fresh and so incredible, regardless of this beers strength; the fact that this is so low in alcohol just makes it all that much more remarkable.
Very light feeling as it hits my tongue, the carbonation has subsided some as I spent so much time with the aroma, but it still provides a substantial tickle and texture to this beer. Lightly sweet tasting, this accentuates notes of orange zest and melon, but this is nicely balanced by notes of fresh dried hay, soft yet expressive herbal notes and a light lingering bitterness in the finish. This has a light peppery note to it, some soft spicy phenols, and lots of underlying fruity esters that provides lots of soft, subtle notes of spice and fruit. There is a nice pale malt / grain character here, that plays a secondary role, but is quite noticeable; in addition to the aforementioned honey-malt sweetness there is a dry, cracker like grain character, a touch of grassiness and just a wonderful, chewy malt character that is especially noticeable in the finish.
Down right quaffable, I could drink liters of this at a time, it is so easy to take large sips of this beer. The 750ml bottle of this disappears a lot faster than usual. My second pour is much like the first. It picks up a little bit more fullness on the palate, but is still eminently quaffable. A touch of yeast adds a boost to the grain character by accentuating a sort of dough-like character. One of the biggest components of the flavor here are the orange zest notes; these are either from the hops chosen or from actual orange zest, though I don’t know which.
Both the head and the aroma are huge for a beer of this strength. The staying power & lofty structure of the head, despite the reduced amount of malt in this is quite impressive and I can’t say enough about how vibrant the aroma is. It is almost jarring to take a sip for the first time and find out how light this beer is; visually and aromatically it makes you think that this is a big beer. The flavor though is no slouch either, once it starts to open up it shows a deep complexity and savoriness that just can’t be beat. I highly recommend this beer, I know it is not strong in alcohol, and I am a sucker for characterful lower alcohol beers, but I really like this. I am fantastically excited about this beer, I almost wish I had gotten more than two bottles, but I totally need to brew something like this (perhaps a split batch with some Brettanomyces fermentation)."
Aroma:
10/10
Appearance:
10/10
Mouthfeel:
9/10
Flavor:
9/10
Overall:
10/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(4.8)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 750ml @ $0 Unit Cost: $0 per Pint
[3] Review by oh6gdx from Vaasa, Finland who has tried this beer once. (8/28/2007 12:56:11 AM)
"Hazy yellow colour, not much head. Aroma is earthy, salty, malty and some quite dry hops. Flavour is very grassy, earthy, fruity and also has some hints of yeast. Not a bad saison. "
Aroma:
6/10
Appearance:
6/10
Mouthfeel:
6/10
Flavor:
6/10
Overall:
6/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(3)
Sampled: Bottle
Value of this beer for its style: Not Sure
[4] Review by Bov from Bienne, Switzerland who has tried this beer once. (2/17/2007 2:38:08 PM)
"very slightly hazy pale golden colour, nice persistant foam and a beautiful lacing; complex aroma where the typical touch of Dupont is present: hay, spices, grapefruit and some honey; the body is quite thin but a correct bitterness appears very soon and lasts in a long dry finish which lacks a little bit of dimension"
Aroma:
7/10
Appearance:
8/10
Mouthfeel:
6/10
Flavor:
6/10
Overall:
7/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(3.4)
Sampled: Bottle
Value of this beer for its style: Not Sure
Do you want to see the rest of the reviews? Sign In or Register FREE! = BeerPals Only
Review this Beer:
You must be a member to write a review. Please sign up or log in.
(3.8)
