The family-owned Brasserie St Feuillien celebrated their 150th birthday this year, so it seemed a good reason to look through their beers and find something interesting that we haven’t had before. Not only was this beer a new one for me, I didn’t even know it existed until a few months ago. Apparently, there is also a ‘Five’ and a ‘Nine’ in the series, so you might see them at some stage down the track.
This beer is labelled as an unfiltered farmhouse ale, and I’d just about agree with putting into that box. To be honest, it took a few sips before I’d really worked out what it was!
The pour is a slightly cloudy amber orange colour. On the nose, I could pick up something herbal or slightly vegetal in the aroma, and a hint of fruit sweetness but I didn’t get much in the way of hop aromas.
The idea of the beer is the use of seven different hops, and the ingredients list tells us there is also liquorice added. Maybe it was the liquorice that I was smelling?
The beer is crisp and sharp (that’s where the hops are!) and stays quite dry from start to finish. There is a sweetness in the aftertaste, and the herbal character (that we’ll note as the liquorice) that provides and interesting lingering aftertaste.
I finished this beer and still wasn’t sure whether I liked it that much or not, but it was all gone while writing these notes so I guess I must have enjoyed it.