Saison De Mai - Brasserie Saint-Monon

DaPeculierDane

Wisconsin

4.2/5  rDev +19.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Bottle from Beer Mania in Brussels. I'm a big fan of Ermesinde so I was very excited to get to try this saison from the same brewery. Pours a dark amber with a foam that is quick to rise and equally quick to bubble to a thin lace. Aroma is dominated by a fruity and spicy yeast quality that is so wonderfully reminiscent of Belgian saison. Caramel/toffee malt blends with fruit yeast, raspberry, pear, and a touch of orange followed by peppery and lemony hops. On the sweet side, full bodied, and boozy. Very enjoyable and extremely drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

11-25-2009 03:55:24 | More by DaPeculierDane

I2uss

Minnesota

4/5  rDev +13.6%

11-18-2011 20:33:46 | More by I2uss

BeerBelcher

Ohio

3.03/5  rDev -13.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

I was really surprised by how little saison or farmhouse ale I saw in Belgium. Most of the beer-selling venues were focused on celebrating the Trappist and Abbey-style beers. When I asked Nasser at Beer Mania to recommend a saison, this is what he brought me, and it was OK. I left Belgium with the impression that we celebrate the idea of farmhouse brewing more in America (with both imports and craft brews) than is done in Belgium. I drank this in his store in Brussels.

Color was amber, and the head was champagne-like. Aroma was sweet maltiness and floral with some toffee notes. Flavor was more toffee with some fruity component (raspberry?) that offered lots of sweetness. Oddly, I also got some chocolate...raspberry and chocolate are not flavors that saisons available in the US had led me to believe typically go in beers of this style, but there they were. Mouthfeel was a bit cloying and sticky, but not bad.

I didn't love this beer...it wasn't what I expected from a saison, and the flavors present (raspberry, chocolate) didn't really accentuate the other qualities of this beer. Still, I'd recommend it.

Serving type: bottle

10-24-2008 13:27:37 | More by BeerBelcher

paterlodie

Belgium

3.58/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

BB nov 2007. Good and lasting white head and a amber brown beer with lots of big particles floating. Nose is good being heavily spiced, hoppy, candysugar, sweet and overal very fruity and estery nose making it fresh. Taste is strong being alcoholic, good body, some caramel candy and a heavy bitterness of spice and hops. Alltogether heavy and very spiced. Edgy mouthfeel and to me far from balanced and harmonic taste. Drinkable and something else but prefer most others from Monon.

Serving type: bottle

10-23-2005 11:59:27 | More by paterlodie

marburg

Michigan

3.25/5  rDev -7.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Heavily hazed orange-copper hue with a scant foam across the top. Moderately sweet aroma indicates some alcohol rather than sugars; lemon selzter, a touch of flowers, and perhaps some grassy qualities emerge as minor notes.

Sweet earthy must, lemon zest, alcohol. That's about it. Thins and becomes strongly alcoholic as it warms. The dirty sweetness fades. Finishes with a lemon rind bitterness.

Not sure why this is listed as a strong pale. This is an off-spec saison in some ways, but if the brewer's calling it a saison, I'll simple argue that it's a mediocre one.

Serving type: bottle

09-16-2004 23:29:59 | More by marburg

Phyl21ca

Quebec (Canada)

3.68/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottle - Poured a deep amber brew with a nice resistant white head. Aroma of roastiness/caramel with a touch of floral and sweetness. Good carbonation with great body. Alcohol is subtle, which is very good, with a sweet aftertaste that might originate from honey. Overall, this is a great beer that I was lucky enough to obtain from a friend visiting Belgium. I haven't had enough of Saison to say if this one really respect the style but I still enjoyed it!

Serving type: bottle

02-02-2004 15:30:20 | More by Phyl21ca

GreenCard

Oregon

2.93/5  rDev -16.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Appearance: copperish hue, nice fine-beaded off-white head, good stability, some haze

Aroma: sweet maltiness, a touch of caramel, nice continental hop nose, slightly fruity, some sherry, somewhat herbal

Flavor: malty sweet, some caramel, a touch of hop flavor but not much bitterness, finish is slightly sweet w/ a long honey-like aftertaste, a hint of peppery alcohol

Mouthfeel: medium-full body, tight carbonation, alcohol warmth

Overall Impression: A pretty good beer, but not very Saison-like. It is much fuller, sweeter, and much less hoppy. The "yard-stick" which I use to measure saisons is Saison Dupont or maybe Fantome.

Since I had to add this beer to the database, I took the liberty of pegging it as a Belgian Strong Pale Ale since that is what it most resembles.

Serving type: bottle

12-19-2003 17:50:41 | More by GreenCard