Brewery: Brassiere Au Baron

Name: St. Médard (Saison-Style Ale with Elderberries) Cuvée de Noël

Style: Belgian Saison

Origin: France

Bottle: 1 Pt .4 oz.

ABV: 7%

Appearance: A very deep dark amber with a fluffy, uneven head the color of sea foam.

Pours: foam quickly took over half the glass despite taking all known precautions. The cork came off with quite a pop as well.

Smell: elderberries and a sort of wine smell that takes me back to my youth and Sunday communion. Also there’s something in here that says “Brettanomyces”

Taste: Okay this is interesting. First thing that comes to mind on my first swallow is toffee and nuts. Nothing at all about berries, wine, or Britannia-Mices.
There’s some bitterness as I swallow. This bitterness lends a sort of Raspberry or pie cherry taste to it. I suppose it could be said that this beer is the vague approximation of the memory of a cherry crumble. I think I’m getting a bit of a sharp peach flavor in there as well, like the strands still clinging to the pit when you extract it.
As for something to listen to, this could go either way. To accentuate the more toffee and nuts aspect go for something with bass and bassoon/oboe. For the fruitier flavors try a flute. Maybe some Prokofiev?

Mouthfeel: It feels sharp and lively in the mouth but doesn’t really feel like there’s any sort of carbonation tingle in the mouth (but I can definitely feel it rumbling around in the stomach).

Rating: 7.3 Okay I’m a little worried for my wife how this is rampaging through my digestive tract with all the subtlety of a giant boulder after Indy. The change in flavor isn’t bad, just unexpected. Like paying for an expensive sports car and getting a different, slightly less performing sports car instead. Rumbly guts aside the only other reason this beer doesn’t rate higher is sometimes that bitterness just mutes all its other aspects. It’s not a bad, face-scrunching bitterness though. It’s quite mild as such things go, it’s just sort of interrupting what could be a pleasant experience like an attention-seeking child.
Overall it gets a few nods and an “Mm, okay, not bad, not bad.”. A vague acquiescence to it being rudimentarily commendable despite not delivering what its scent initially promised.