Stronzo: The Belgian Solution (Denmark: Saison: 6.6% ABV)
Visual: Just slightly hazy. Apricot gold. Creamy custard head that leaves suds.
Nose: Sour lime. Sherbet. Orange skin. Funky yeast.
Body: Sour. Funk lemon. Cashew nuts. Earthy bitterness. Rough malt core. Apple. Digestives. Lightly peppered. Dried apricot.
Finish: Squeezed sour lime. Farmhouse cheese feel but not flavor. Sour nuts. Orange zest.
Conclusion: Next up on “I did not expect that”. You see, this was a beer I expected to be a Belgium style IPA. It is in fact a saison. You can see how this may have caused some confusion. Instead of smoothed down ester filled IPA style I get this more lightly sour notes and a visit from a more hardcore Belgian style
There is cashew nut style throughout and a very earthy take on the bitterness You do get fruitiness as well, brought through a subtle notes to be examined within the farmhouse character and slowly drawn out. The solid core you spend most of your time examining is bitter and rough. Late on you get more of the funky yeast character coming out, and that brings with it that great Belgian texture and more of the fruity esters. The entire beer is mix of high earthy bitterness and just slightly soured character.
Since I was expecting a very different beer it took me a bit of time to reorientation myself. Even for a saison the hop use seemed so earthy to seem similar to British hop use, though that seems more a natural progression of the already earthy style. It makes for a very solid beer that is slowly built upon by the other elements.
It is interesting, but doesn’t really stand out amongst the greats of the saison world, it seems to ground itself too much to stand tall. Not bad, but not a favorite of mine.
Background: Stronzo, which I looked up and apparently literally means shit, but is commonly used to mean arsehole, is not the first word I would expect to be used to describe a brewery. However here it is, and therefore I am intrigued. I missed the meet the brewer’s event for Stronzo but dropped down a few days later, when quite a few of their beers were still on tap.