Southampton 750 Series - Biere De Garde

The second brew to try for the 750 series is Southampton's Biere De Garde. So other then a very fancy way to spell Beer...what makes this beer unique?

The Bier De Garde or "keeping beer" is a farmhouse style beer that was first brewed in France. The farmhouse style was originally brewed by and for farmers and their hands, brewed for taste with readily available ingredients and served as a reward for a hard day's work. Biere De Garde's literal translation is "keeping beer" as in "keep it for awhile as it gets damn good later on!" The Biere De Garde is Category 16D in the BJCP

Appearance

This beer pours a nice light amber to copper color. The cork came out with a nice solid pop, as this beer was quite well carbonated. A bit of a over anxious pour left me initially with about 4 fingers of head! Have to be careful of the pour as it seems all of the 750ml series are carbed in the bottle, and have a good size yeast cake on the bottom.

Smell

A very fruity aroma is present right away on first sniff. There is some nice sweet malt scent as well.

Taste

A medium body gives way to a semi-dry finish. Definite hop spicyness on the tongue. Overall a very clean taste that leaves the mouth with a nice clean malty flavor. Doing a bit of research online shows that SHPH uses the French Strisslespalt Hops for this brew.

Etc...

Very drinkable beer!! I could easily have polished off another 750ml bottle if I had one! This brew looks to hit the style dead on, and does a great job doing it. I'd give it about a 4/4.5 out of 5.

Southampton 750 Series - Saison Deluxe

Well, I'm up in Long Island for the month. While it sucks being away from home, there's always a great oppurtunity to try some new brews. After hiking the Mashomack Preserve on Shelter Island, I made my way to the Southampton Publick House. After eating some great dinner, and trying 7 of their on tap brews, I brought home all 4 bottles of their "750 series". These brews were not available on tap, and only available in corked and caged 750ml bottles. Over the rest of my trip I will try all 4 of these brews, and give my thoughts on each one

Saison Deluxe

Mmmmm...the high temp fermented Saison. Full of those nice fruity and spicy esters. Saison is the french word for "season". So when you say "Saison" make sure you say it with an outrageous French accent! Especially when you've had a few...it makes drinking it that much more fun! BJCP 16C is reserved for the Saisons. These brews came before the refrigeration. As these brews sat in the 85 to 90 degree heat, the yeast would produce strong esters and phenols that would drive these beers to be very unique.

Appearance

This beer pours a nice dark golden yellow. The cork forced itself out nice and strong. I had a feeling that this beer would be very carbonated and it was. The large amount of yeast in the bottom of the glass shows the brewer bottle carbed. A careful pour still yielded 3 fingers of long lingering head on the glass. The beer was a medium turbidity

Smell

An immediate yeasty aroma fills the nose. There is a light hint of phenols there as well.

Taste

MMMMMmmmmm... This was a great flavored brew. Yeast dominates a complex flavor that includes a nice sweetness with light phenols. A moderate mouthfeel gives way to a bitter and long lasting finish with spicy pepper powering the taste.

Etc...

This is an extremely flavorful and complex ale. The 7.4% ABV is masked extremely well. The finish makes me find myself wanting more, and I could easily find myself pouring glass after glass of this if it wasn't for the hefty price tag. $14 will yield 2 glasses. While this may be a bit depressing for the wallet, you'll make your mouth very happy!

Beer Review - St Feuillien Tripel

As I stated in my earlier Tasting Beer thread, "One thing you have to perfect if you are to become a complete brewer, is how to taste beer. While it doesn't sound that hard, it actually is quite difficult when you don't always know what you're trying to taste for.". Refer to this post if you're wondering how I taste my beers.

So in order to perfect this craft, I have to see how others have perfected theirs! This is my first official beer review so take it easy on me! The views below are mine and mine only... Your mileage may vary.

Appearance
St. Feuillien's Tripel pours a nice golden orange color. The small amount of suspended yeast provides a light turbidity to the brew. The short (say 2 finger width) head that I did have with the beer quickly dissipated. Note: I have heard that hard water will kill head retention in glassware, while I haven't noticed head retention problems in other beers that we've tried with our glasses, this may be a result of the mineral content of our water.

Smell
The beer has a nice yeasty aroma with a bit of sweetness and citrus. There's a hint of something else too... Refering to my handy dandy beer color wheel - I think this may be the phenolic odor (adhesive strip smell), that is in there with the citrus.

Taste
Ahhh taste! The best part of the brew! The initial taste I got was more of the enhanced phenolic flavor. It definitely comes out more over the smell....at least I think it's phenolic...keep in mind... I'm new at this!! :-) There is also a nice spicy bite to the flavor. I perused a couple of other reviews on this beer, and they mentioned white pepper. It's not quite something I can taste yet though. I'm going to have to go out, and buy some now just to verify! Pepper or not, it is spicy! The finish was the worst part of this beer. Really....everything was on the A- to B+ scale up to this point...however the finish left something to be desired...and it wasn't another sip! This was the hardest part of the beer to determine the flavor. I'm going to say it was a very resiny hop bitterness. However the bitterness left the palate very unappealing. While at 8.5% ABV, the aftertaste slowly diminishes with the glass, even after the bottle was empty it still left a harshness.

Etc...
Well that was my first experience into the wonderful world of official beer tasting!! If you have any comments, criticisms, complaints, or questions please let me know. I always appreciate feedback. One thing I do know for sure... I need to get myself a nice duvel tasting glass! I've also attached the beer tasting wheel for your viewing pleasure! I just turned on the Brew Crew playing the Cubs on WGN...GOTTA GO!!

Beer Tasting Wheel