De Molen (NL) & Beavertown (UK), Quirks & Quinine – 8%, £4.35

DE MOLEN seem to be one of those breweries that everyone wants to work with. Whether it’s Mikkeller, or Siren, or Beavertown, whoever your favourite brewer is, they’ve probably made a collaboration with De Molen. This week’s brew is an 8% saison, brewed with coriander, juniper, and chinchona bark to make a gin & tonic inspired ale.

Pouring a full, malty amber with no real head to speak of, Quirks & Quinine appears to be a throwback to the days when De Molen beers were either massively under or over carb’ed. The aroma is an interesting mix of toasted seeds, caramel, and bitter herbs tied together with an assertive Belgian yeast strain. Medium bodied, Quirks & Quinine is sweet and flat on the palate, opening with toasted almonds, clove, and buttery malt. Combining bitter juniper and sweet malt creates an uneven hodge-podge of flavours, gradually overcome by an increasingly bitter finish.

Within all of this, the banana and clove aromas combine with an underlying smokiness that just can’t find its place in the beer. With an overly bitter finish, and a lingering, tacky mouth feel, Quirks and Quinine sadly fails to taste like either decent gin, or a saison. Instead, this is a rich Belgian style amber ale that lost its way somewhere, which is a real shame for a beer of this pedigree.

Recommended by Michael Bates, Trembling Madness, Stonegate, York