Glazen saison, Toren tripel

Today's post is a pair from Flemish brewery De Glazen Toren, one I haven't featured here before, I think.

"brewed according to the old Saison tradition of Hainault" proclaims the label of Saison D'Erpe-Mere so I expected a straight-up, classically-styled saison. It's frothy, to the point of gushy, and the ten minutes it took from opening the bottle to getting near enough to the liquid to drink it did not endear this one to me. It looks well: a proper farmhousey pale yellow. 6.5% ABV is a little stronger than I'd like, but acceptable if the beer's good. The beer is good, though the strength adds a weight which takes away from the crisp refreshing qualities of saison. As a result it's quite fruity -- peach and red apple, with a tang of lemon later on. A certain dry grain husk flavour remains, without making the beer itself dry, though the busy fizz helps there. Overall it's a B-, could try harder for me. Yes, it meets the requirements for a saison, but I think it would work better at a lower strength, and that gushing really needs sorting out.

The tripel that followed, Ondineke, was rather better behaved. It's 8.5% ABV, which is a little light for the style, while also a darker shade of orange in the glass than your typical saison. It smells appropriately spicy and warm, like freshly baked Christmas cookies. Once again the heat is very much brought when it hits the palate, but that's far more acceptable in a tripel than a saison. It's smooth and warming and cosy, with little points of nutmeg and  liquorice in the background. I could pick it apart further -- it has the complexity for that -- but I preferred just sinking into it and letting it wash over me. It's a while since I tasted any of the benchmark tripels so I can't give you a direct comparison, but by golly this will do.

One beer that's decent and one that's excellent. I suppose that will have to suffice until a return to Belgium is on the cards.