Saison Nourrice - Harriet Brewing

brentk56

North Carolina

3.6/5  rDev -7.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: Arrives with a nice cap sitting atop the hazy goldenstraw liquid; sheets of lacing are left behind

Smell: Cookie dough and coriander

Taste: Cookie dough malt, up front, followed by a peppery coriander aspect; Band-Aid phenols arrive, after the swallow and linger into the finish

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with spritzy carbonation

Overall: Although I have really enjoyed all of the other Harriet beers I have tried, this one was less successful to my palate; disn't care for te phenols that lingered into the finish at all

Serving type: on-tap

06-20-2012 00:32:36 | More by brentk56

feloniousmonk

Minnesota

4.25/5  rDev +8.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Harriet's newest is a Belgian-style saison/ farmhouse ale, named after the French word for "wet nurse." You should see the painting Jesse was doing for the label. A wise move not to make posters of that one. They have to be brown-bagged. Anyway, I'm liking it lots. Had a bunch at the brewery over the past few weeks, here's my notes from a growler just the other day.

Harriet Saison Nourrice

Clear, golden hued, enormous snowy-white head. Beautiful.

Aroma: delightful spice hits first, small sweetness, a little fruit, some apricot and orange. Enticing. Mmmm. Citrus and spice, brilliantly balanced.

Taste: Lightly hoppy, juicy, fruity malt. Excellent censurability. Fruitaciousness (new word! Enjoy it!) bounces up and down on the palate, swims around the mouth, doing what? Spreading deliciousness.

Gets dry, bitterness remains and keeps up with malt, astounding balance. Yes, astounding. This beats most, if not all, locally produced saisons. I mean that, without naming names.

Mmm, mmm, mmm.

Serving type: growler

07-11-2011 02:48:42 | More by feloniousmonk

mothman

Saskatchewan (Canada)

3.48/5  rDev -11%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Sniffer. White head with splattered lace. Color is a clear golden yellow.

Aroma: lots of Belgian yeast with a sweet candy flavor. Lemon zest and coriander. Bready. A herbal hop kick.

Taste: sweet candied flavored malts and bready flavors. Lots of Belgian yeast. Very little funk. Lots of spices. Lemon and cloves. Kind of hoppy.

Mouthfeel: spiced and smooth. Lighter bodies with a good amount of carbonation. Ends dry.

Overall, really Belgian like. Pretty well done. Would benbetternidnit was funky.

Serving type: on-tap

06-22-2012 01:56:24 | More by mothman

KarlHungus

Minnesota

3.58/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

This beer pours a cloudy light orange color. The head is two inches of white foam that recedes quickly into nothing. The aroma is of black pepper, leather, rock candy, and some faint floral notes. The taste is similar to the aroma. It is on the sweeter side for the style, but isn't too sweet. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with a velvety texture, and moderate carbonation. Overall, this is a good beer, but it doesn't wow me the way every other Harriet beer has.

Serving type: growler

07-02-2011 23:00:34 | More by KarlHungus

garymuchow

Minnesota

4.1/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Served at the brewery.
Spicy more than sweet and fruity in the aroma. Firm soft pils malt foundation.
White head - not too big - that leaves drink marks for the first several draws. Slightly cloudy dark yellow.
Ncely complex with a consistent soft doughy flavor and an intermixing of softer spice than in the aroma and a fruitiness that is enjoyable, but not all that sweet. Nice dancing flavors. Nice stream of bitterness that mixes nicely with the apparent dryness on the finish.
Solidly moderate feel and full carbonation.
Good solid beer. Very enjoyable.

Serving type: on-tap

09-06-2012 01:33:49 | More by garymuchow

birchstick

Missouri

4.13/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Served on tap at the Haute Dish

A - pours a clear yellow with a creamy head that retains well and leaves a white coating on the glass

S - nose is somewhat faint, however I picked up a light citrusy lemon scent with touches of grains. A faint cracked pepper is in the air as well.

T - starts off withe lemony citrus flavors picked up from the nose. It is more of a refreshing than tart citrus flavor. These fade to some soft, yet bold coriander (missed this on the nose) - soft in the sense that it isn't overly orange and bold as in it is dominant on the middle of the palate. These fade to a grain malt character with a bit of bubblegum. Ends with a subtle hint of pepper that is overtaken by floral and grassy hops. Nice!

M- full and creamy, goes down nicely

D - this turned out to be a really enjoyable Saison. Really nice complexity and flavors formed a a solid example of the style. This was another solid beer from this brewery and makes want to try more from them.

Serving type: on-tap

10-06-2011 02:33:23 | More by birchstick

gatornation

Minnesota

3.3/5  rDev -15.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

on tap in a pint glass

A- pours a slight hazed golden yellow color with a white head and cap..looks great

S- was musty earth notes with spice and fruit,some white grape smells

T- was more muted flavors than good..fruit and spice were there with some lemon and funk but not great..thin on style and taste

M= medium carbonation,tart with some bitterness but lacking in saison tastes IMO

O- love harriet brewing but this was my least favorite of their brews so far..

Serving type: on-tap

07-30-2011 23:18:00 | More by gatornation

zeledonia

Minnesota

3.93/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

On-tap at the Birchwood Cafe in Minneapolis. Enjoyed 4 September, reviewed from notes.

Pours a hazy orange color, with minimal white head. What head there is fades fairly quickly, leaving little lacing.

Smells primarily of citrus, with a light sweetness and a hint of earthy funk. Orange peel, a bit of candy sugar.

Taste is still sweet and fruity, but with more bite than the smell. A nice citrus sharpness really cuts the edge of the heaviness, lifting its spirits.

Mouthfeel - medium-bodied with high carbonation. Lots of tingly bubbles to keep the flavors in motion.

A good saison, with nice citrus presence. The fruit flavors give it an odd similarity to their Wodan Weizen, except the light wheat and spicy yeast are replaced by richer malts and funk.

Serving type: on-tap

09-08-2011 02:31:09 | More by zeledonia

FightingEntropy

Minnesota

4.43/5  rDev +13.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Driving home from a great but exhausting weekend at the state speech tournament at Chanhassen High School, I realized cruising down 494 that I now had more time on my hands to hunt down some good beer. So, I immediately headed over to Harriet Brewing to fill my long neglected growlers and discovered a festival. Harriet was still selling growlers, but the parking lot was filled with tents, music, and, I assume, beer. Since finding a parking spot wore me out, I just got three growlers to start my off-season.

I couldn't figure out the name just hearing it, so need to look up Saison Nourrice on Harriet's website. No explanation of nourrice, but a google search says its French for a child caretaker or wet nurse. I don't really get the name, but the sample on site was good enough to grab a growler. Pale straw gold ale that bubbles continuously to support a fluffy, stark white head. Strong nose full of heavy pepper, spice, yeast and underlying citrus fruit. Taste follows the nose with a clean peppery spice that bites lightly on top of a light malty sweetness. Spiciness lingers after a dry finish.

A very solid beer that I'm quickly becoming a fan of half way through the growler. If you like pepper in your farmhouse ale, this is a must try for you. Hops come in at 40 IBUs, and while not large, some of the spiciness is clearly supported by the hop character. At 6.7%, Saison Nourrice is light and easy drinking in spite of being a pretty big beer. Watch out for this one if drinking at your local.

Serving type: growler

04-25-2012 01:14:24 | More by FightingEntropy