French Broad Saison

Pours a slightly hazy light copper color with a white head. Aroma is slightly musty, peppery, clove, some banana, and a slightly earthy hops. Flavor is clove, slightly musty, peppery, caramel, crystal malt, and a bitter earthy finish.

[November 7, 2008]
On tap at the Thirsty Monk. Pours pretty darn red with virtually no head. I get assertive spiced Belgian esters on this with loads of clove and coriander along with a background of cherries and funk. The palate is quite full and borders on sticky. The emphasis here remains on a clove spiciness with a hay-like dryness in the finish. Fruity flavors are secondary. This is a full bodied and competant Belgian-styled ale, though lacks some of the nuances of a more traditional saison.

I thought the hazy orange color of this was pretty to look at. This is a slightly funky and very yeasty saison. Hints of peppery hops and a weird banana fruity sweetness thing at the end. I can dig it.

On draft at the Federal, Durham. Very nice pour, glowing pale orange. It’s got a pretty sizable carbonation, at least compared to what I was expecting, and the lacing/retention is decent too. Aroma is quite yeasty and spicy, comes on just a bit too strong in a sense. There’s a little bit of diacetyl in the taste, but it’s balanced out by some spice and warming hops. Overall a solid effort.

Not bad for style. Clearish amber with thin light tan head. Aroma is like a hefe. Sweet with a farmhouse flavor.

Draft sample from Brewgrass 2008. Orange/golden pour with small light head. Slightly hazy. This tastes... well, similar to most other American interpretations of a saison, following the Hennepin style, relatively speaking. Not so yeasty, a bit sweet, slightly tart citrus, and with perhaps a bit too much spice that doesn’t quite integrate with the beer. Don’t get me wrong -- this was quite tasty, but it certainly wasn’t unique.

(Brewgrass08) Cloudy amber body with minimal off-white head. Aroma is medium sweet, caramel, dusky. Taste is medium sweet, caramel, light dusky, orange. Medium body, minimal carbonation.

Sampled at Brewgrass 2008. This was a rather understated interpretation of the style, with a unique caramel note in the aroma and quite a bit of citrus flavor and a light but flavorful sicy finish