Lagunitas Pinot Barreled Sonoma Farmhouse Saison Style Ale

Formerly brewed at Lagunitas Brewing Company
Style: Saison
Petaluma, California USA

Tap at Blind Tiger. Pale golden-yellow colour. Aroma is quite light and citrusy. Lots of wheat and even a touch of light spice. A kiss of funk and a very light oakiness on the nose. The flavour shows the oak a great deal more than the aroma shows. As it warms, that oakiness really picks up a great deal. Soft and lightly fruity with a touch of vanilla on the back. The vanilla also become quite prominent as the beer continues to warm. Fairly dry finish with a light citrus and a bit of funk as well. The barrel has done a good job of drying this out a bit and adding a nice complexity.

Draft. Pours a hazy copper body with a white head. Woody, citrus and floral grapefruit a hint tropical with pear being the predominating flavor. Slightly tart never sweet or cloying, crisp clean and some light pinot notes. A delicious beer, had 2 of em.

Tap @ Blind Tiger. This beer started the night and enjoyed it so much got another pint before we left. Aroma is nice, with an outstanding saison flavor. Finishes with a tart aftertaste that isn’t puckering great beer.

Tap at the Blind Tiger: Cloudy golden with an off white film. Vinous aroma with some buttery oak and tons of solvent character. Slick feel. The flavor has a vinous character upfront- much less sweetness than the original base beer, but it’s very solventy. Buttery oak tannins bombard the middle and back and the hops are significantly faded. Too solventy.

Tap at the Blind Tiger. Light, bitterish, and malty sweet cookie flavor, with tropical fruits, mild oaky wine funk. Decently complex though a bit dirty water tasting. Aroma is crisp, clean, saisony. Nothing too exciting here though not bad for a brewer as generally limited is scope as Lagunitas.

Tap at BT. Pours a hazy blonde dull copper with a thin lasting head. Aroma is instantly woody, and light wine tannic notes- vanilla, and slght grapeskin, mineral and ligth fruits. Flavor has some malts, but is dominated by heavy american oak vanilla, lgith buttery white oak, toast, and astringent grapeskin tannin- and a lightly tartaric finish. A bit better than the original, but totally over-oaked and it really cant be that good when the base beer wasnt great..

The pnot totally dominates here. The aroma has the stronf smell of pinot, some malt. The appearance has a VERY pink hue, clearly from the wine leaching in. The flavor is also pinot, not much else. The finish has the dry finish of a pinot grigio. Intersting and enjoyable, even thought he pinot changed the character of this beer.

Cask. Amber beer with an off-white head. light spice and light malt aroma. Light grape flavor with light spice and light malt. Medium-light bodied. Light white grapiness lingers with light spice and light malt. Chardonnay-barrels?
Earlier Rating: 9/10/2008 Total Score: 3.4
Draft. Amber beer with a low whitish head. Light spice and malt aroma. Light spice, malt, light earth flavor with big grapey fruitiness. Medium bodied. Finishes dry. Pinot, possibly some oak, spice, and malt linger. Underlying saison is a bit mild for style.