Hennepin (Farmhouse Saison) - Brewery Ommegang

semihobo

Michigan

4.47/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Mmmm uncorked a 750, out of the warmish cellar and chilled a little.

Into the chalice. Huge head that takes a bit of time in dropping to a reasonable plateau. Retention is incredible -- ideal amount of lace puddling on top, even over 30 minutes. Color is a beautiful subdued orange, kind of like Pranqster (the only beer I've reviewed with similar appearance). The hue screams candy goodness.

Intense smell, especially as it warms. Sugar, two part citrus smell that is from both the malts and sugars and the hops. Some alcohol. A buried hint of piney hops. Some yeast as well. Quite a heap of flavors, whoa, possible to get your nostrils a little singed.

Complex taste, too. Bananas and apricots, with some marshmallows whipped in. Some spices, maybe some clove, also hop bitterness. Flat, matzah-like breadiness present from the beginning. All of those flavors very distinct and well-defined. I don't feel like I'm grasping for straws at all. Only downsides are some alcohol notes and a little bit of souring as it warms a lot. Has the essence of Belgium -- maybe the yeast, something about it screams "belgian!" in a nice way.

Mouthfeel is great, you can swirl around a sip and then lean back and savor. Can drink leisurely or quickly, nice carbonation that matches sugars well. It seems like this beer maybe holds carbonation a little better as it warms than others .. not sure, just how it feels. Would be interesting to measure. The citrus makes this a littte crisp.

Even as this gets warm it is still quite drinkable. ABV is not prohibitive, and matches the price range / bottle size (750ML bottles are consumed much more in wine servings and at a wine pace). I need to try more Saisons, I think this beer is excellent as a session beer, a special occasion beer, a gateway beer (bonus: I had two non-BA type friends try this and both were exclaiming "I gotta get into this stuff!"), anything. This beer is especially solid, it leads in all categories ...

At the big grocery store (Wegmans) it is $4.49 for a 750ML ... at that price, I am drinking this a LOT more. My first Saison ... boy I hope they are all this good.

Serving type: bottle

09-05-2005 05:44:17 | More by semihobo

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