Brouwerij Henricus ‘Paljas’ Saison

Rating:

“Paljas Saison is an unfiltered and high fermented Ale with refermentation in the bottle. The use of a certain percentage of wheat and the little use of dry-hopping gives the beer a very nice flavor and fresh aroma. Specific yeast makes sure almost all sugars are fermented which makes it a dry and fluent drinkable beer for nice summer days.”

Glassware: Teku.

Appearance: Slightly hazy straw golden pour with a short fizzy head which fades quickly. It still manages an excellent wavy lace down the glass.

Aroma: It’s not really lifting out of the glass a whole lot. A vigorous swirl opens up the estery yeast characters; apple/pear, rosewater and subtle spicy notes alongside delicate candied lemon, Angostura bitters and herbal honey. Again very mild but evident wheat grains and straw/hay mixed in with some fruit sweetness…mostly stonefruits like peach, melon and apricot. Lovely nose, just wish it had more oomph!

Flavour: Pretty conventional which comes as no surprise as they hail from the holy land – Flanders. It’s a fair bit drier than your DuPont’s and Fantôme’s and seems to be lacking the acetic citrus and bretty funk that’s so synonymous with the style. All we really get is a musty dryness, some fruity hops and a slightly dry and grainy finish. Not a lot of depth to it at all.

Mouthfeel: Somewhat dry, mineraly, a tad soapy. Sparkling Co2. Mild-moderate body. 6% ABV is on point.

Overall: Not sold. It comes up short in a lot of departments and just seems really tired too. The bottle already has 8 months on it so age could be a factor. Although Saison’s are known to have a better shelf life than most so…….yeah, a big fat meh.