Black Oak Summer Saison - Marmalade Edition

Brewed by Black Oak Brewing
Style: Saison
Etobicoke, Canada

Gravity cask. At Volo. Incredibly fresh (just tapped), enjoyed side-by-side with hand-pulled 300ml glass of the "regular" 2007 Saison - both excellent, but THIS one ...Poured deep cloudy orange-gold pour with a smallish off-white head. The aroma - oh that’s nice, orange peel, coriander, sweet malt - lushly spicy but sweet too. The taste - up front massive orange peel marmelade and yeast/spice, a good sweet malt backbone, and a long, long, long coriander finish - "coriander for days" was repeated a few times. Thick body, softly carbonated, massive pungent dry bitter coriander in the linger - this sucker should have seemed sweet, but the spice and zesty citrus balanced it out nicely. I had two glasses, and talked the visitors at the next table into trying it - everyone loved it - well done Ken! Sorry for shouting "make more of this!" at you, but seriously: "MAKE MORE OF THIS!"

Cask at Volo. Glad to have gotten a healthy pour of this. Deep orangey gold coloured body struggles to maintain a small white head. Massively citrusy aroma with strong presence of grapefruit and orange rind as well as an odd fruity note I can’t place, possibly a yeast ester. (Mrs. GregClow later conjectured that it might be pith which is possible as well.) Sweet flavour of juicy citrus with tart and tangy notes of orange rind, spice, and coriander. Average to medium palate. (3+) This was a solid take on this. I think for multiple pints I prefer the regular version, as this could become overwhelming easily, but this is lovely.

Cask sample & glass at Volo. Hazy dark gold with a small white head. Delicious aroma of yeast, spice, and yes, marmalade. Soft mouthfeel. Spectacular flavour - the citrus peel flavours mesh beautifully with the already solid saison, starting sweet and juicy, and turning dry and bitter in the finish. It’s intended to be a one-off experiment, but I hope they’ll do at least another batch or two.