McKenzie Dark Saison

Brewed by McKenzie Brew House
Style: Saison
Glen Mills, Pennsylvania USA

Growler. I am thankful I’ve been provided the opportunity to try this before it fades into retired obscurity. I’d like to note that while I noticed many subtle nuances in this beer, it seemed muted in almost every aspect, but would prove to be a lovely McKenzie offering nonetheless. Due to the brewer Scott’s recent termination, knowing that this would be the last batch ever made for some anticipation of the highest order. My last good quality McKenzie brew ever?

On to the show. Pours a ruddy amber with highlights that remind me of the muddy bog Atreyu’s horse succumbs to in The Neverending Story. A cloudy beer with a light beige head. the syrupy consistency leaves little lacing, sucking the webs of froth back into the murky depths. The aroma is of heavy wheat malt, earthy hops, cinnamon, nutmeg, grassiness and light yeast. Hmmm. More like an ultra-complex Weizenbock. Flavor is more playful, bringing in more of the aroma’s hints, but also notes of full wheat malts, caramel, pepper, must, coriander, the slightest hint of cardamom, brown sugar, tea with lemon, mushrooms and finally some cocoa dust. The finish is very sweet up front. Near the end, at warmer temperatures, a big hop dose leads to a medium-dry, somewhat long climax. Seems as similar to weizenbock as true saison in both aroma and flavor. In the warmer temperatures, this libation seems earthier, funkier, sweeter in aroma, with big banana and vanilla wafers sliding into the fray near room temp. Alcohol present but not overwhelming in any manner. Very full bodied for a saison. Very nice, good way to finish out my run trying McKenzie’s mostly wonderful lineup.

Draught at Kennett Square Brewfest October 2005
Hazy, deep caramel brown colored beer, with some light mahogany and tan/beige tones. Fluffy beige head is moderately slow to recede, but eventually does mostly, leaving fair lacing on the glass.
The aroma seemed to be quite subtle for a dark malted saison. Soft floral hop notes, with fresh cut herbs and wintergreen-like esters. Sticky, yet still mostly dry caramel notes combine with a light, unfiltered graininess to provide light wood notes. Growing lightly vinous as it warmed, but not nearly as much as many of the other American Dark Saisons (Heavyweight, Shed). The fruits remain rather reserved, while a sweet vanilla and choco-caramel malt seem to take over. I didn’t find near as much playful yeastiness and found simply too much sweetness. Soft and balanced sweetness, but malty sweetness nonetheless, which overtook the hop and yeast apparency.
Flavor is a soft, round (with a bit of toasty, grainy brown malts) caramel and graham cracker sweetness, cut with juicy, green herbal/floral hops, though quite reserved on the hoppiness and especially so on the bitterness. A late note of some phenolic yeast qualities attempts to break the sweetness, with some punchy fruitiness (plums, currants, mangoes, raisins) but it’s not enough to break through the malt, in my mind, anyways. Though I keep alluding to being disappointed by the maltiness, I should certainly make note that I loved the ample, well-extracted malt, especially the creamy, soothing texture it provided, but comparing this to something like, La Moneuse Winter, it just comes up short on saison complexity (yeast character). Though to it’s credit, it’s better to be more reserved with your yeast than take the other route, which most American brewers do, leading to meaty, yeast-thick, fatiguing beers.

My first rating! Thanks to all the ratebeerians for opening my eyes to the real world of beer. Its been an exciting 3 months! 2/17/06 - 64 oz growler from the brewpub. Bread, wood and floral scents. Medium head subsides in a few minutes leaving nice lacing. Honey-mahogany color. Tastes of roses, butterscotch, caramel and nutmeg but not too sweet. Very faint alcohol. Medium body & carb. Lime hops bitterness sneaks through a bit in the finish. Sweet stickiness on the lips. Very nice and very drinkable. 12/31/06 - Fresh growler. I had to try this one again as it may be the last batch ... ever! After 250+ ratings I have found few beers better and have bumped the flavor and overall a point each. Beautiful balance with the Belgian yeastiness, sour playing off the sweet honeysuckle, melon, mango.

I was pleased to see this one on draft yesterday. The beer arrived deep brownish in color, with a minimal white head. The aroma was very complex, providing hints of caramel malt, spicy florals, some fruit, and even some roasty malty porter type aroma notes. The aroma had bananas, nuts, caramel, tobacco, some dark chocolate, cabernet, floral citrus, and peaty barnyardy notes. The beer changed as it warmed, also. It started as a sort of dunkleweizen/saison/scotch ale hybrid, yet as it warmed, I noted more red winey grapey notes, no doubt provided by the Dupont yeast strain that is used in this. It developed hints of a less intense and non-sour Flemish red as it warmed, while retaining the base hybrid scotch ale/saison/dunkleweis elements. One of the more complex beers I have had, and one that begs for more investigation on my part. Well done, Scott Morrison.

Toasted malt base with plenty of cherrylike fruitiness, leafy tobacco, floral, grassy, haylike, herbal hops in the musty, farmy, funky aroma. Opaque, muddy brown body is topped by a decent, off white head that recedes to partial cover. Haylike, grassy, floral hops with plenty of tropical fruitiness, funky, farmy character and notes of chocolate and moderate bitterness. Medium light body with lively carbonation and expansive airy mouthfeel. Sampled at the Kennett Square Brewfest 2005.

at Kennet, pretty weak nose, not alot of spices coming from a deep bronze body. flavor was not nearly spicy enough, but instead had a slight chocolate malt sweetness which transferred into the aftertaste. dont get me wrong, this was a nice beer, but with Ommegeddon a not too distant memory when i drank this, it just didnt measure up.

Pours hazy brown. Aroma is barnyard, cherries, slight mild chocolate and a bit of sourness. Flavor is barnyard, grassy earthy hops, slight caramel, and a chocolate (slighly mocha) that swells in the finish to dominate the aftertaste. Medium body. Damn good beer.

Yellow to ivory cream lasts and laces above the opaque cloudy medium to dark amber-orange body. From the first sniff… you know you’re gonna take a lot more sniffs. It might be the subtle maltiness, suggesting toasted bread now, cookies and honey then. Or it might be the delicious, delicate floral, grassy, perfumey and leafy noble hops. But even more likely, it might be the way that wonderful yeast strain ties them together through a flavour maze of cobwebs, old books, dough, must and all the farmhouse classics. Complex underlying fruitiness, namely honeymelon. Funky, phenolic. Medium bodied, very soft carbonation, yet the palate feels a bit foamy. Now that is a dark saison. Morrison, whose 2 previous saisons I had never fully understood the hype one scores a 3 points on this one. Complex, dry, funky and cohesive, what more do you want? Absolutely world-class.