Saison Rue is an unfiltered, 100% bottle conditioned, Belgian/French-style farmhouse ale. This is a beer of subtlety and complexity, with malted rye, spicy, fruity yeast notes, biscuit-like malt backbone, and a slight citrus hop character. With age, this beer will dry out and will become more complex with rustic notes of leather and earth from the contribution of a wild yeast strain. Being a Saison, Saison Rue is ambiguous unto itself as it is a different beer when fresh and when aged. We hope you enjoy it in all of its incarnations. (ABV: 8.5%, IBU: 30, SRM: 9, Release: All Seasons, Format: 750 mL bottles)
Beer Ratings and Reviews:
[1] Review by Clash from Chattanooga, TN, USA who has tried this beer once. (11/21/2008 1:53:45 AM)
"This poured a cloudy yellow color with a white head. The aroma contains a bit of funk with some spices as well as lemons and apricots. The flavor is rather sour with some lemons, honey, vanilla, and a rather strong spice presence. Overall this was a nice saison. "
Aroma:
8/10
Appearance:
7/10
Mouthfeel:
7/10
Flavor:
7/10
Overall:
7/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(3.6)
Sampled: Bottle
Value of this beer for its style: Not Sure
[2] Review by beerguy101 from Newark, CA, USA who has tried this beer once. (8/30/2008 12:09:05 AM)
"This saison pours a medium orange gold color from a 750ml bottle. A very large sized white foamy head, with long lasting retention and nice lacing. The aroma is fruity and sweet, yeasty and peppery. A medium bodied saison. The malts are fruity and sweet with a lot of caramel. A whole bunch or orange oil and peach flavors as well. The hops are spicy and floral. Lots of different flavors here, orange blossom, pepper, coriander, some brett and funk as well. Think this bottle needed a little more cellar aging as it was a huge gusher and the bretts are mostly in the background. Nice balance. Good carbonation. Touch of alcohol bite. Mouthfeel is full and round. The finish is clean and dry. Aftertaste is slightly bitter. "
Aroma:
7/10
Appearance:
6/10
Mouthfeel:
6/10
Flavor:
7/10
Overall:
7/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(3.3)
Sampled: Bottle
Value of this beer for its style: Not Sure
[3] Review by Sap from Tucson, AZ, USA who has tried this beer once. (6/24/2008 1:09:58 AM)
"Another gusher, this time I am a bit more careful & I pour a little less into my large Tripel Karmeliet tulip. It starts out about three fingers in height, but grows to eight fingers thick (including a structural mass that is a full two fingers above the rim of the glass), light tan colored head that easily crests the top of my glass. The head leaves a thick lacing and forms a very varied surface as it slowly subsides. The beer is a hazy amber color that shows an orangish tinge when held up to the light. As I am inspecting the beer I get an aroma that is a mix of spice and grain. Fruit aromatics join in once I actually smell the aroma, this is very earthy smelling as well. Aromas of pear, plums, earthy grain, a rye spiciness, aromas of orange blossom and a rich, whole grain bread character that is quite lush. Spice aromatic notes make me think of clove, ginger, white pepper, earthy coriander and some green, herbal notes that sort of round out the finish. This has a really nice mix of complex aromatic notes; I really like the various fruit, spice and malt driven aromatics found here.
Quite sweet tasting, but it is quite spicy as well with lots of peppery spice and ginger notes that do a good job of tempering the sweetness. Thick and full feeling for a Saison, with a viscousness, both of which I am sure are influenced by the use of Rye. While I hadn't realized it in the aroma (despite noticing citrus), this is actually quite hoppy; citrus hop notes of grapefruit, orange zest and pine are noticed just before an ample, biting bitterness dominates the finish with a menthol / pine driven flavor. The hop bitterness is accentuated by the spicy, peppery, phenolic character from the fermentation character. Lots of chewy, rustic grain character provides a mix of earthy, dusty, grain, crushed malt, a whole grain bread crumb flavor and a touch of fruity, caramelized malt.
My second pour allows / requires me to chew on some foam (lest my cup runneth over) and the foam is exceedingly bitter and hoppy. And wow, the ample carbonation adds a huge, up front peppery note to this beer that accentuates the ample hop bitterness.
This could be a bit drier as I tend to like my Saisons with less sweetness. If this wasn't so excessively carbonated already I would hold on to a couple bottles as the Brettanomyces should dry this out over time. As it is though I can only strongly recommend to not hold on to these bottles, drink up the bottle bombs as soon as you can. Hopefully things will have calmed down by batch 2, cause I really do want to age a couple of these to see what the Brett can do. Having said all this, the beer is still quite tasty and definitely a hit with me; rustic, spicy, nicely grain influenced and even a touch hoppy, I am really digging the mix of flavors profiled in this beer."
Aroma:
8/10
Appearance:
9/10
Mouthfeel:
8/10
Flavor:
8/10
Overall:
7/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(4)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 750ml @ $0 Unit Cost: $0 per Pint
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(3.6)
