Boulevard Saison Brett

So, I'm finally getting around to reviewing a bottle of Boulevard's Saison Brett. This was a bottle from their 2008 batch (bottle 00212 to be exact), it's been hanging out in my cellar for about 8 months now and I decided it had aged long enough/I could wait no longer. The Saison Brett starts out as slightly beefed up version (8.5%) of Boulevards regular Saison but then it is dry-hopped with delicious Amarillo hops and is inoculated with some brettanomyces, a special kind of beer yeast that kicks off unusual flavors, at bottling time.

The appearance was pretty simple and understated. A bright, clear straw colored beer with a big tight, slightly yellow head that left plenty of lacing in its wake. The aroma was complex and hard to describe. Here's a sample of the smells I thought I smelled: floral perfume, pineapple, must, coriander, pepper, lemon zest, etc. Did I mention that it was very complex?

The drink pretty much followed the aroma, maybe a little less complex but very tasty. Earthy and musty with a light citric tartness. Mouth feel is light and crisp, but not watery. A touch of alcohol burn in the back followed by a crisp dry herbal finish. More, I must have more.

I have to say that this is one of the finer Saisons I've ever tasted, hell it's one of the finer beers period. It just recently cracked the Top 100 over at beeradvocate.com. I was really impressed that I was able to hold off so long before drinking the first bottle. I wanted to give the brett plenty of time to do it's thing, and it did. The question now is how long can I hold out on the other 2 bottles of the '08 batch?