Saint Somewhere Saison Athene Review
It's still hot and it's still summer, which means it's still the Summer of Saison! This example of the style comes from Tarpon Springs, FL where they know quite a bit about needing a thirst quenching drink after being out in the hot weather. At 7.5% abv this one weighs in about average for the modern interpretations of Saison, but is higher than they traditionally were... but it's hot and we're thirsty so let's just see how this one stacks up!
Appearance: Upon opening the bottle, the beer overflows a bit... good thing we'd read about this happening and opened it over the sink. Saison Athene pours a light, clear golden straw color with an off-white puffy head that reminds us a bit of soda head. The head is quickly gone, but the beer still looks delicious. There's a bunch of yeast chunks from the overflow, but nothing too bad.
Smell: The smell is smooth and of orange and funk from the brettanomyces, which is a wild yeast sometimes found in Belgian-style beers. This wild yeast provides a light, musty aroma to the brew. The beer smells quite dry with a muted Saison yeast note... honestly the smell is more mild than we've come to expect out of this style.
Taste: The first, and predominant, taste you get is orange cream. The mouth feel is much fuller and creamier than expected... it's quite smooth. Somehow, it's still dry, though. Carbonation coats the tongue in fine bubbles, but the mouthfeel of the beer keeps the carbonation from being prickly at all. The funk is much stronger in the nose than in the taste, where it's very backgrounded by the strong orange cream tasete. It's full on the front, but a much thinner, drier and more refreshing brew on the finish. We like this one, but it's too full and not quite dry enough for the Summer of Saison. This is a fall or early spring Saison... perhaps even a good one for winter. The alcohol is, however, very well hidden so don't expect it to warm you on a cold winter day.
As a side note, past experience with this beer has shown us that, if you age it, the brett will continue to work on the sugars in the beer and dry it out. We highly recommend you do this!
