Blog Tracker
30-01-2017, 15:52
Visit the Boak and Bailey's Beer Blog site (http://boakandbailey.com/2017/01/quick-review-small-saison-german-hops-british-accent/)
Among our most recent grab-bag of interesting looking beers was Brew By Numbers Huell Melon Table Saison 17|07 which we bought at*£2.79 for 330ml from Beer Hawk. We find Brew By Numbers slightly frustrating: they’re responsible for some great stuff (http://boakandbailey.com/2014/12/boak-baileys-golden-pints-2014/), and some not so great (http://boakandbailey.com/2014/09/porter-tasting-batch-2/), which makes buying their beer a gamble. We have tended to enjoy their pale Belgian-inspired beers most, though, and found the idea of a 3.5% ABV saison made with an unusual, relatively new German hop variety (http://www.hopslist.com/hops/aroma-hops/hull-melon/) irresistible.
It looked vaguely Champagne-like in the glass, with touches of pink, herbal green and gold depending on how the light caught it.
We didn’t detect the melon aromas for which the hop variety is known, and after which it is named, or too much aroma at all beyond a snatch of wild, catty hedgerow flowers.
The body was thin, not far from watery, the emphasis being on ‘table’ rather than ‘saison’. (Historically saisons were light, refreshing beers but these days, with Dupont as the role model, tend to be more like 6.5% and richer tasting.)*Did it also taste a bit like… Aspirin? There was some mineral bite anyway, ever so slightly jarring. But once we’d adjusted to the reality of the situation we began to revel in the spicy, bitter, tonic spritziness of it all. It’s a blunt beer, one-dimensional really, but that’s not necessarily bad news — you might also call it focused, or straightforward, or even minimalistic.
The only real problem is — and bear in mind that we’re not pints-only dogmatists — that it really wants to be drunk in greater volume, rather than sipped. Even, perhaps, sloshed out of a five-pint jug, in a farmyard or field.
On further reflection, we decided that if we’d been given it blind and asked to categorise it by style we reckon we’d have filed it under pale’n’hoppy English ale rather than saison, which is odd when you think of its resolutely European DNA.
The final verdict? We liked it and would drink it again, especially*on a thirsty summer day.
QUICK REVIEW: Small Saison With German Hops and a British Accent (http://boakandbailey.com/2017/01/quick-review-small-saison-german-hops-british-accent/) originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog (http://boakandbailey.com)
More... (http://boakandbailey.com/2017/01/quick-review-small-saison-german-hops-british-accent/)
Among our most recent grab-bag of interesting looking beers was Brew By Numbers Huell Melon Table Saison 17|07 which we bought at*£2.79 for 330ml from Beer Hawk. We find Brew By Numbers slightly frustrating: they’re responsible for some great stuff (http://boakandbailey.com/2014/12/boak-baileys-golden-pints-2014/), and some not so great (http://boakandbailey.com/2014/09/porter-tasting-batch-2/), which makes buying their beer a gamble. We have tended to enjoy their pale Belgian-inspired beers most, though, and found the idea of a 3.5% ABV saison made with an unusual, relatively new German hop variety (http://www.hopslist.com/hops/aroma-hops/hull-melon/) irresistible.
It looked vaguely Champagne-like in the glass, with touches of pink, herbal green and gold depending on how the light caught it.
We didn’t detect the melon aromas for which the hop variety is known, and after which it is named, or too much aroma at all beyond a snatch of wild, catty hedgerow flowers.
The body was thin, not far from watery, the emphasis being on ‘table’ rather than ‘saison’. (Historically saisons were light, refreshing beers but these days, with Dupont as the role model, tend to be more like 6.5% and richer tasting.)*Did it also taste a bit like… Aspirin? There was some mineral bite anyway, ever so slightly jarring. But once we’d adjusted to the reality of the situation we began to revel in the spicy, bitter, tonic spritziness of it all. It’s a blunt beer, one-dimensional really, but that’s not necessarily bad news — you might also call it focused, or straightforward, or even minimalistic.
The only real problem is — and bear in mind that we’re not pints-only dogmatists — that it really wants to be drunk in greater volume, rather than sipped. Even, perhaps, sloshed out of a five-pint jug, in a farmyard or field.
On further reflection, we decided that if we’d been given it blind and asked to categorise it by style we reckon we’d have filed it under pale’n’hoppy English ale rather than saison, which is odd when you think of its resolutely European DNA.
The final verdict? We liked it and would drink it again, especially*on a thirsty summer day.
QUICK REVIEW: Small Saison With German Hops and a British Accent (http://boakandbailey.com/2017/01/quick-review-small-saison-german-hops-british-accent/) originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog (http://boakandbailey.com)
More... (http://boakandbailey.com/2017/01/quick-review-small-saison-german-hops-british-accent/)