Brasserie de la Senne is one of Brussels’ newest breweries with their doors opening in December of 2010. However, owners Yvan De Baets and Bernard Leboucq have been brewing together since 2003 when they established their first brewery in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw. The two brewers decided that they wanted to establish a brewery in their home city and began working towards that goal. As they ran out of space in their first brewery, they began renting time in the breweries of friends to keep production increasing. Once they were ready, they doubled the number of breweries in Brussels to 2: Cantillon and Brasserie de la Senne.
The brewery is named after the famed river from which Brussels sprang. Their focus is to create great beers of varying alcohol strengths with a bitter edge. In the case of Crushable Saison, that bitter edge becomes a much more aggressive hoppy intensity. This is actually a collaboration beer. They brewed it when Jean Broillet and Julie Foster of Tired Hands Brewing visited Brussels in September of 2013.
Appearance: Hazy blonde, off white head, good retention.
Aroma: Yeasty, pepper, earthy, bready, lemon peel, pineapple notes, grassy hops.
Taste: Earthy, pepper, white pepper with a bitter finish. Creamy and round mouthfeel.
Overall Impression: Crushable Saison can best be described as the illegitimate offspring of an IPA and a Saison: a session India Saison Ale, if you will (why not, everyone else is sticking “India” in front of things. I want in on the action too). It’s got Saison funk with a big hop kick. The name also indicates a lot about the drinking character, you could “crush” this beer on a summer day and drink A LOT of it. The flavors are balanced, interesting, and refreshing. While I believe this is only a one-off beer, if it were put into regular production, the fantastic hop character would be a good back door way to get people into Saisons and Belgian beers. This is another winner from the upstarts in Brussels!
Availability: De La Senne is imported by Shelton Brothers. I’ve seen enough reviews from people in the US that makes me think this beer was imported, despite not being listed on their website. Grab it if you can, it’s a one-off collaboration.
5% ABV
Notes: This was one of the featured breweries in the Belgian Beer & Food magazine’s first issue. Check the magazine out to read more about Brasserie de la Senne. You can read my review of the magazine here.
Additional Notes: This beer was sent to me by my friend and Belgian Beer Blogger, Belgian Beer Geek.
You can read more about Brasserie de la Senne on my page dedicated to them.
