REVIEW #99: India Saison (Nogne Ø + Bridge Road Brewers)

Pours golden yellow with a little haze and an everpresent, white, soapy head. Limey citrus and freshly mown lawn scents suggest a powerfully hoppy beer. It certainly is that - the aroma from the two Australian hop varieties is quite unique to my experience, giving acerbic lemon and lime, white grapefruit and kiwi with some glace cherry and yeasty marzipan & sherbert notes too. It's on the sweet side but has an astringent bitterness and crisp carbonation anchoring it. In addition the malt is satisfying, almost chewy. It certainly doesn't drink at its 7.5% ABV, having little discernible alcohol in the finish; this renders the beer perilously drinkable and tremendously refreshing.

India Saison is the fruit of a collaboration between two brewers based in separate hemispheres; Norway's Nøgne Ø and Australia's Bridge Road Brewers. The beer was brewed in Norway. The use of Belgian yeast (which imparts fruit notes of its own) adds a touch of authenticity to what originated as a traditional Belgian farmhouse style of ale (see review #70). But the Australian hops add a delicious tart citric twist to the proceedings. The two brewers have managed to create something truly innovative with this beer.

• MALTS: pilsner; wheat
• HOPS: STELLA; GALAXY
• IBU: 40
• yeast: belgian
• ABV: 7.5%

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