Green Flash / St-Feuillien Friendship Brew Black Saison

Green Flash / St-Feuillien Friendship Brew Black Saison

Editor’s Note: The 6.5% abv European version is listed under St Feuillien

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.
3.3
401 reviews
San Diego, United States

Community reviews

2.7 Bottle at home. Pours dark brown with a creamy tan head. Aroma is spicy - coriander and clove. I could go either way on this one. I don’t really like spiced beers. Tastes like a winter ale but has definite yeastiness. But tastes too much like cleaning solution. Not sure what to do about this one.
3.2 crazy spicy and mysterious. But points for great color, beautiful foam, different beer and to get me into the Christmas spirit in February. Cloves anise cinnamon flavor Thick brown whipped cream.
3.8 The aroma is herbal to the point of being medicinal with the Belgium yeast coming through. Lots spiciness & tongue tingling followed by the dark malts that gives a stouty finish. Rated by BrewTom
3.1 Bottle from Giant Eagle Market in UA. Black pour with a huge tan head that take forever to recede and leaves a loose web of lacing. Aroma is spicy - clove and cardamom maybe? also yeast and floral. Tastes are caramel, light anise, roasty, ash, fruity, dark bread. Strange mix. Little menthol - mint vibe. Dry in the finish. Hmm...
4.6 Sensacional black saison da americana Green Flash com a belga St Feuillien! Betanomiceas do aroma ao retrogosto, com amargor torrado sem exagero e toque de especiarias.
3.6 12 oz. bottle from The Party Source. Pours an opaque dark chocolate brown with a massive, frothy tan head that laces the glass heavily and settles unevenly. Aroma of florals, perfume, dark chocolate, roast, dust, earth, plum, dried berries, and spice. Flavor of roasted and toasted malts, earth, chocolate, subtle fruits, florals, and mild peppery spice. Light-bodied, with moderate carbonation and a dry mouthfeel. Funkier in the nose than the flavor. Pretty nice beer; interesting dark saison.
3.1 Sampled at a pub in Linköping. Lovely smell, spicy and yeasty. Very odd taste feels like it is all over the place.
3.8 Notes from 9/2013 Picked his one up at Sun Devil Liqours in Mesa, poured from a 12 oz bottle. I love Green Flash! This one was bottled 8/12/2012 so it’s been sitting for just a little over a year. A - 4 - Black beer with a ton of tan head that never goes away, leaves a nice lacing on the glass. Ar - 7 - Some roasty malts, coffee, with a nice spicy and strong black pepper smell to it. T - 8 - Black pepper, smoke, roasted malts, some coffee. Probably some other spices in there that I’m missing. It’s actually a little spicy if you let it sit in your mouth. Hop bitterness definitely present. Interesting beer! M - 4 - Medium mouth feel, spicy. Leaves a roasted black pepper aftertaste. Alc is covered. O - 15 - Weird beer, but good, not sure if aging this more would make it better. I’d pick it up again just for how unique it is.
2.2 This is like an overly spiced, overly hopped homebrew. Whatever weird medicinal spice they use completely dominates the aroma and flavor. It reminds me of sweet calamus, dark roasted grain, licorice, ginger, earthy, kind of smells a bit like vomit. Just doesn’t sit well with me, too hoppy with an astringent finish, clashing with the aggressive spicy flavors. Doesn’t taste like a saison, more like a black bitter with spices. Two thumbs down.
3.2 Pours dark brown with an off tan almost grey foam. Nose is sour, with subtle sweetness, instantly turned on the floodgates in my mouth! Sourness on the front of the tongue, but quickly changes to smokiness with a dry finish. Complex but enjoyable.
3.5 [Tap] Pours an opaque black color with a large beige colored head. Roasted malty nose includes light wood, anise and light mint. Taste is of grainy malts, caramel, licorice, fennel and grass. Light mint comes out in the finish. Interesting for sure, but I would have liked to see a better balance overall. Tasting notes from 2012.
3.6 En svart(!) saison med brunt skum, första svarta för mig. Doft: Kinesisk ingefärs godis, jenka, rosmarin, koncentrerat urin, (polskt) rengöringsmedel, torkade rosenblad, lite vintage rodenbach, tjära. Otroligt komplex doft. Smak: Kinesiskt ingefärs godis, rök, rosmarin, konstgjord citrus smak, rengöringsmedel, tjära, funk.
3.2 Almost black in colour with a very thick creamy (and tasty) head that sticks around. Tastes strongly of spice and malt and chocolate and charcoal malts. Bitter and earthy hops and dark malt finish.
3.6 22 oz bottled on 07/31/12 and poured into a pint glass. Black appearance with a lingering, sticky, light brown head. Aroma is a strong blend of spices, light funk, roasted malts, Belgian yeast, earthy hops and a touch of dark fruits. Similar flavor, roasted and earthy with plenty of spices and mild bitterness. Medium body, pretty easy to drink. This help up pretty well.
3.8 I am enjoying the friendship brew to mark two occasions, one retrospectively minor and the other prospectively major. The former is to celebrate the end of a very rare rainy weekend in San Diego, which joyfully brought me back to my days as a resident of Seattle. The latter is the beginning of a new fitness program. I hope I can “be friends” with this schedule unfriendly change. And so, like my father, I am “jumping off” with a very beer filled weekend before battening down the health hatches for Spring. This brew is a black saison, which to my recollection, I’ve never had before. It is a deep black, though not as murky as a stout - instead, this brew shines with a bit of polish. The head formed a beautiful plateau, like an inverse canyon standing erect out in a dusty brown desert. The aroma might even have a little best of that sonoma kind of smell that I recall from old road trips. Sage, fresh fennel, freshly scooped soil, and some brown sugar. The flavor loses all pretense of being sweet, and instead leans on that rich, botanical garden and basket of spices bundle of flavors, with carrot, beet, parsley, more sage, and a drizzle of molasses to bring the whole thing together. It’s a curious blend, and one ill-suited for a younger palate, but at a somewhat older age, this is a wonderful taste, if unconventional.
3.5 Bottle 12oz @ Tröls. Pitch black with a solid frothy head. Aroma is fruity with chemical citrus, orange and apricot. Taste is coffee slight acidity with dark berries.
3.3 Tap @ Mikkeller Bar, Köpenhamn 8/2-2014. Blommig och fruktig, parfymerad med en hel del syrlighet, citrus, nystädad toalett (Vim). En ganska besk avslutning.
4.0 huge creamy frothy light brown head. excellent lacing. mostly diminishing. flat thick brownish-black body. aroma: plum, apple, pear, white wine, metal, moderate malt, dark chocolate, mild coffee. if: moderate sweet light bitter. ff: moderate bitter; long duration. palate: medium body, oily texture, medium carbonation, metallic finish. Delicioso dulçor de maçã, ameixa seca, amargor lupulado frutado, típico de bohemian pilsener, deliciosa cerveja. Cravo no paladar, condimentada, nota-se ainda coentro. 230 s
4.0 From the 650 ml. bottle. The pour is a deep brown color with ruby red hues and long lasting, fluffy tan head. If my Mother was still with us she could pin down those vibrant "secret spices" in the description. My guess: Clove, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, and coriander. Also a tart fruit character like tangerine. Medium body. But the flavor has additional spices noted. Perhaps turmeric along with the other listed. Mildly bitter end but mainly spicy
3.4 Surprisingly fresh. The deep dark colour had me prepared for a heavy sweet taste. Instead an interesting complex flavor that is not heavy nor sweet. Fizzy carbonation and flavors of burned malts, bitter hops and fruits and herbs. With a dry finish. Nice!
3.4 Completly black colour with a good foamy tan head. Aroma of oak, pepper, dough and some acidity. Also a lot of herbs in there, maybe some salvie and rosemarin. Smell like a really interresting beer. Flavour really strong and somewhat astrigent. Wood, acidity, pepper, dough, citrus, dark fruits, red berries, licorice, and some hints of smoke. Really a lot of flavours here, maybe a bit too much. Quite sour! A lot of carbonation, which makes a quite soapy moutfeel. Big body. A overwhelming beer with a lot of charachter, bud maybe a bit too much.
3.3 Im Glas ist ein sehr sehr dunkles Bier mit einer wunderbaren bräunlichen Schaumkrone. Geruch dominiert durch Gewürze, sonst kann ich leider keine Aromen feststellen. Geschmack sehr würzig mit Röstmalzaromen. Wird im weiterem Verlauf auch etwas scharf.
3.0 not to bad super interesting smells of herby slight bitter/ tartness almost like jager but not as boozy or pungent and has a nice mild sweetness like soda overall pretty tasty but the price just doesn’t do it justice
3.6 Bomber. Pours very dark brown, pillowy beige head. Nose of coriander, yeast spice, chocolate malt. Flavour is perfume, yeast spice, a bit of roastiness. Dry finish. I love the palate of this one.
3.5 From Aalborg, DK. Bottled, 011213. Black with beige head. Aroma of hops spices. Flavor with roasted malt and some esters
3.0 Bottle to tulip Lemon zest, car freshener, Black with a motley creamy tan head. Blackstrap molasses, cloves, medicine, coffee, and weird bitterness.
2.9 Bottle - Roast malts, spices, grass, lemon zest and yeast. Almost like root-beer. Jet black with a big brown head. Medicinal and lemon zest with a touch of bitterness. Not good.
3.5 Duft: Citrus. muskatnød, sødlig duft, Smag: citrus, orange, krydret. den har fået godt med humle både i start og til slut. den er meget bitter i eftersmagen, men i eftersmagen er der også smag af muskatnød
3.2 Bottle..Pour is dark with an off white head..Nose is spice, clove, mint, toffee ,florals,cinnamon..Taste is dark spice, mint, clove, sweetness, yeast, caramels,
3.5 Visual: Pours ultra-dark brown with a superb foamy-fluffy head, great retention, sticky lacing, lots of bubbly activity. Nose: black cardamom, burnt cedar, peppermint, caramel malts. (4/10)-aromatic strength. Attack: creamy fizzy with an acidic backbone Mid-palate: medium sourness, (MAIN) toffee (7/10)-sweetness, peppermint, burnt-bitter roasted malts Finish: off-dry malts, grapefruit bitter & burnt bitter hopped finish. Summary: Not your typical Saison. This beer is COMPLEX and quite taxing on the palate. Definitely a "different" beer.