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Category Archives: St. Feuillien

Review of Green Flash/St. Feuillien Friendship Brew

Hi guys. For today’s craft beer review I’m going to be trying a collaboration brew produced by the Brasserie St. Feuillien located in Le Roeulx, Belgium and the Green Flash Brewing Company situated in San Diego, California.

These two breweries have been known to collaborate before. They concocted the Biere De L’Amitie a few years ago. I remember liking that beer pretty well, so let’s hope the Friendship Brew has the same effect on me.

St. Feuillien’s website, st-feuillien.com, didn’t provide any info on this particular beer, but greenflashbrew.com, engaged us with this description.

Our second collaboration with Brasserie St-Feuillien, Friendship Brew, is a Black Saison that blends European and American hops, Belgian yeast and a cache of secret spices. The aroma and flavors are enticing, with delicate fruitiness, subtle spice and rounded roast malt characteristics. Bottle conditioning provides lively carbonation and rich beer foam for a luscious body and a lean, dry finish.

Ok. Let’s give it a try.

This beer came in a 12 oz. bottle and it had an ABV of 5.7%.

It poured a shimmering black color. The collar was khaki in tint, creamy and quite smooth. It was sized well, the retention time was solid and the lacing looked pretty nice too.

The bouquet was rather “minty”. Almost like toothpaste. It seemed considerably strong I thought. I also picked up some type of detergent soap. It was kind of floral also, however that wasn’t prevalent enough to over take the mint. That’s about all that I could discover to tell the truth. Just a little bit confusing to me.

The flavor was, again, mostly minty and soapy. Some savors of grassiness were ascertained and I also happened upon a light bit of pepper. Still however, the mint aspects were the dominating factor. I usually don’t mind some subtle hints, but this was just a tad exaggerated for my liking.

The mouthfeel was medium bodied. Dry, smooth and slightly crisp. The carbonation was good and the flavor hung around for a few moments after each sip.

Well, the Green Flash/St. Feuillien Friendship Brew was interesting to say the least. At least in my opinion. I guess it just wasn’t my “thing”. Some of the characteristics were just a bit strong for me, but hey…. others may really like that sort of thing. I don’t necessarily think that I’ll pick this up again if left with other choices, but remember, this is just my opinion, so grab a bottle if you see it and give it a try. You may find it to be the best beer you’ve ever had. I’d love to hear a second opinion.

Thanks for reading and commenting everyone. I really appreciate it.

Until next time. Cheers.

Score: 2.4 out of 5
Grade: D+

4 Comments

Posted by Beer Apprentice on February 2, 2013 in Country: Belgium, Country: USA, Green Flash, St. Feuillien

Review of St. Feuillien Speciale

10 Feb

Hi guys. For today’s craft beer review I’m going to be trying the St. Feuillien Speciale Belgian Abbey Ale produced by the Brasserie St. Feuillien located in Le Roeulx, Belgium.

I’ve been craving a good, Belgian styled beer for a few days now, so I figured that this one might satisfy my hunger.

I couldn’t find any specific information on the website, st-feuillien.com, about this particular beer. I have read that this is the same recipe as the St. Feuillien Cuvee De Noel, but I have no proof of that, so I’m just going to find out for myself what this beer is all about.

Let’s pour.

This beer has an ABV of 9.0% and it was poured from a 25.4 oz. bottle.

It appeared to be a mostly clear, burgundy to amber color with some deep orange hues around the curves of the glass. It had a light tan head that was decently sized, kind of fizzy, but smooth. The retention time was so-so and the lacing seemed to be only average as well.

The aroma seemed to conjure up hints of freshly picked dark grapes. Additional tones of green pears, green bananas and prunes were in there too. Spicy scents of clove and coriander mixed with subdued yeasty and bready fragrances hid underneath the overall bouquet. The fruitiness was easily the dominant fragrance as it stood slightly above the other characteristics, thus creating a rather unbalanced nose.

The taste brought forth somewhat of a tart and acidic grape skin likeness. Tones of cherry and a very relaxed banana added a touch more fruitiness. Again, hints of clove, but this time I also received a very noticeable peppery spice that added a little bit of bite. The flavor did present some bready and yeasty savors, however I didn’t find them to be the smooth, creamy and silky style that some of the “top” Belgians have. They seemed very weak and feeble. I also noticed a relish of alcohol, which when blended with the cherry, gave it a kind of medicinal/cough syrup flavor. Like the aroma, the taste wasn’t balanced as well as I thought it might have been.

The mouthfeel was medium bodied, dry and marginally chewy. The carbonation was ok and I thought that a good amount of warmth was felt at the back end . Also, quite a bit of flavor was left on the palate after the swallow. Not too bad in that respect.

Hmm. Well…. this beer is ok I guess. I definitely wouldn’t put it up there with the “better” Belgian styled beers that are on the market, but it wasn’t completely undrinkable either. As it warmed the breadiness started to come through a touch more, which helped restrain some of that medicinal flavor and that made the drinkability factor much better. I’ll say that I would have no problem drinking this again if it were offered, but I doubt that I will be picking it up on a regular basis. That’s not to say that you guys wouldn’t like it, but for my money, there are better beers of this style to be had. So, give it a try if you see it and let me know what you think of the St. Feuillien Speciale.

Thanks for reading and commenting folks. I really appreciate it.

Until next time. Cheers.

Score: 3.45 out of 5
Grade: B-

Review of St. Feuillien/Green Flash Biere De L’Amitie

28 Jun

Today’s review is of a collaboration brew produced by both the Brasserie St. Feuillien Brewery located in Le Roeulx, Belgium and the Green Flash Brewing Company situated in San Diego, California.

It’s called the Biere De L’Amitie and is categorized as a Belgian Strong Ale.

Neither website, st-feuillien.com nor greenflashbrew.com had any information regarding this particular beer, so I had to look on ratebeer.com to find the commercial description.

St. Feuillien’s centuries old brewing traditions combine with Green Flash Brewing Company’s cutting edge brewing techniques to form our first collaborative brew: Biere De L’Amitie (Friendship Brew). A blond Belgian collaboration ale, brewed with St. Feuillien’s traditional yeast and spices. For a modern twist, we add rye malt, wheat malt, and American Amarillo hops. At the crossroads of collaboration, we dry-hopped the brew for more zest. It’s old-world Belgian Abbey-style meets new-world American craft brewing – and a friendship is formed.

Sounds enticing!!!

This beer came in a 25.4 oz. bottle and had an ABV of 9.5%.

This beer poured a very cloudy, yellow/gold color with a HUGE, soapy, bubbly, white to barely off white head. The cap had outstanding retention and thick “cobweb” lacing sticking to the sides of the tulip glass. As I swirled the brew, I noticed that the head became a bit more creamy looking and held to a thin layer of film on top of the liquid. This beer looked good to me!!!

The smell brought out a very sweet, fresh and sour fruit citrus. Mostly along the lines of lemon with lime splashes. Peppery spices came forth in an established way and added a zing along with a definite Belgian grain/yeast profile. Only the most faint alcohol hint is detected. Earthy hop fragrances finished off the nose and completed a rather complex aroma.

The taste started with bursts of a lemony sourness on the tongue followed by a yeast/grain contour. I found that the alcohol tones were more noticeable in the taste. A bitter hop bite came on strong, but settled to a light, little tingle on the swallow. As the beer started to warm a bit, the flavor changed slightly and added flavors of green banana along with crisp breads and sour dough. Although sour dough was found, the overall “sourness” from the lemon actually diminished somewhat. One final discovery was that of a dental fluoride type of zing. I don’t know for sure…. it could have just been me. The flavor seemed to be balanced ok, with lots going on, but the sourness took a little while for me to get used to.

The mouthfeel was medium, somewhat sharp, crisp and refreshing. It was considerably dry with a very nice burn at the back end. Plenty of flavor was left behind, after the swallow, for contemplation.

I could tell that this beer was well made and thought out, however it was just “good” to me. I think the reason being is that I don’t have a lot of experience with this style of beer, so I don’t really have much to compare it to. I found that it took me a few sips to really adjust and get into it. That being said, after I did get going, I thought it to be pleasant, very good and enjoyable. It seemed to become more malty as it warmed, which helped to take some of the “edge” off. Even with the high ABV I could see myself having this during the Spring and Summer and being quite satisfied. It was nicely refreshing and fairly easy to drink.

Did any of you guys have the opportunity to try this when it came out?

Please leave a comment if you wish and tell me about it.

Thanks for reading!!! Cheers!!!

Score: 3.9 out of 5
Grade: B+