“The Saison is a classic Belgian style, not often seen outside of its homeland. It was traditionally brewed by farmers and their workers as a beverage to consume during the summer months. Bridge Road Brewers have crafted their own Saison to add to their Chevalier range. This beer is quite unique, light straw in colour, with a tight bright white head. Aromas are dominated by esters and phenolic characters, owing to the Saison yeast strain, which also gives the beer its characteristic tart, dry and acidic profile.”
Served in a beer tulip. Atop sits a fizzy three finger head which retreats to a thin overlay. As it ebbs a healthy amount of sudsy lacing follows a somewhat milky, straw-golden body down. Very light and summery on the nose with wafts of candied lemon, passion fruit, vanilla and banana yet quite complex too as yeast scents of clove, bubblegum, white pepper and a dry barnyard mustiness also comes forward. Only a slight acidity is detected, in fact it’s probably more of a tart fruit character than anything else. Very approachable so far. In the mouth it’s light on with a dry texture and spritzy Co2. Again, acidity is mild but a discernible tartness does provide that saliva-inducing quality to the tongue. The front palate yields a dry mustiness that’s laced nicely with esters, spices and yeasty phenols. A restrained fruity tartness carries it all across the mid and in turn delivers a dry, yeasty finish with a hint of citrus and vines on the back end. Essentially it’s a pretty faultless Saison, although you could say it’s also quite “safe” at the same time. It’s light, tasty, a little complex but highly approachable. Kudos to Bridge Road Brewers, we liked it.