Here we have a beer from Brasserie De La Senne that looks to recreate a traditional Belgian ale from the past.
This is a spelt saison, dry hopped and refermented in the bottle with a Brettanomyces yeast. It is rustic, unfiltered and unpasteurised, and represents what a saison would have been like around the 1920’s.
First thing of note for me is the Brett. I love that smell of funk, fruit, leather and wood. It is just a little fruity, with hints of peach and pineapple.
To taste it is crisp and light, with the carbonation bubbles dancing across your tastebuds. The malt body is grainy, with the spelt giving a certain nutty earthiness to the body. More of those Bretty characteristics with the early fruit just enough to invite you in. Then the yeasty funk takes hold and combines with the hops to really dry things out with a real bitterness.
Every few sips the flavour would seem to change a little; a few times I tasted a little woody smoke note, but it would then disappear for a bit.
Its an interesting beer, and I love it when breweries re-create old styles to give us a glimpse (or at least their interpretation) of what beers used to be.
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