Une Annee Austere Review

Name: Une Année Austere
Style: Saison
ABV: 6.5%

Tonight I've got a beer from a new brewery called Une Année (French for One Year), based out of Chicago, IL. What makes Une Année so unique is that they're an American Brewery dedicated to making traditional Belgian & French styles of beer. Going from the information on their website, they've been open since 2012, which makes me wonder why I didn't hear about this place while I was living in Chicago.

Recently Une Année became available in my area, so I've decided to take a look at Austere, one of their four Saison offerings, which in this case is their traditional Saison. I'm curious to see how this turns out so let's try this out.

Austere pours a hazy yellow color with a very foamy head. The lacing retention is quite high and the visible carbonation is moderate to high.

The nose starts off with a sweet lemongrass scent, with some pale-pilsner malts, floral hops and some Belgian yeasts.

Flavor has some strong Belgian yeast esters and cloves on the front of the palate which are backed up by some floral hops, lemongrass and pale malts. The aftertaste is a mix of pale malts, floral hops and cloves.

The body is fairly surprisingly heavy with some moderate carbonation, which gives the beer a bit of depth. Aside from the heavy body, the palate is fairly typical of that from a Saison.

I was quite impressed with Austere and how true it stays to its Belgian roots and I think Une Année nailed it! Had I not known this was made in Chicago, I would've assumed it was imported from Wallonia itself. When it comes to traditional Saisons, this is probably the closest you're going to get without having to travel across the Atlantic. Anyone who has the opportunity to buy this would be wise to check this out.

Une Année Austere - 9.25/10