Southampton 750 Series - Cuvée des Fleurs

Well the name should give it away. Like the last 2 the Cuvée des Fleurs is another one of Southampton's French farmhouse ales. This is the first beer I've ever had that is an "Ale brewed with Flowers and Rose Water". Fancy eh? Cuvée translates to "wine" in French, and Fleurs translates to "Flower". So I'm guessing the name of the brew would translate to "Wine of Flowers". Reading from the back of the bottle: "Cuvée des Fleurs is a unique brew of our own imagination. We flavor this distinguished ale with a variety of flowers including L. angustifolia, A. nobilis, C. officinalis, and a generous amount of H. lupulus". By the way... H. lupulus is the common name for hops :-)

Appearance

The beer pours a nice golden yellow. The 2 fingers of head very quickly dissipated. The head on this beer was very thin...more like that of a carbonated soda. I almost wonder if that was an effect of the flowers that this brew is produced with. Needless to say...no lacing. Even with the yeasties a bit stirred up from the bottom of the bottle, this was still a fairly clear beer.

Smell

Holy Flower Power! You immediately get a very diverse aroma that smells like a summer garden. The floral aromas are exceptionally strong, however they don't overpower too much. There is a slight yeast scent in there as well.

Taste

Another blast of flowers, this time on the tongue. It's hard to determine how much of the flowers used by the beer contribute to the flavor, or if it's mainly a large dose of floral tasting hops. The flavor is so complex though that I have to think that there has to be some contribution from the flowers. It eventually works its way into a dry well bittered finish, albeit still a strong aftertaste of flowerbox.

Etc...

While this was a good beer to try, I have a feeling I could only enjoy one on very rare occasions. I struggled to finish both glasses, mainly becaue the floral component was so overwhelming, I just couldn't drink anymore. I would recommend for the avid beer drinker to try this very brew at least once though, as this is a very unique style of beer that one will not be able to find in many places.