McKenzie Farmhouse Saison

Formerly brewed at McKenzie Brew House
Style: Saison
Glen Mills, Pennsylvania USA

Draft at the brewpub, July 2006. A dark yellow beer with a thin off-white head. The aroma is sweet with light spicy notes. The flavor is sweet and lovly spicy and fruity, and towards the end it gets quite hoppy, from a nice blend, which both lends it a good deal of citrus, but also gives it a dry bitter end. Definately more hoppy than your standard Saison - a nice exploitation of the style.

(bottled 2/04) Hazy golden body with medium white head, pours nicely in the snifter provided. Aroma and taste are both medium sweet, coriander, pepper, some orange peel, light flowery. Soft, medium body, light acidity.

Poured a cloudy golden yellow with a white head. Citrus, orange aromas and tastes. Some flowers as well. Overall not bad.

Nice foamy white head, very cloudy caramel golden hue. Appealing foresty wet sand aroma. You immediately know what you’re dealing with. Perfumey and peaky (sorry for not thinking of a better word, but I find it evolutive, expressive on various levels). Smells of dry fruits, tart and sprucey. Rather authentic taste, very doughy, yeasty, citrusy thirst quencher. Larch reminiscent noble hops, hinting yet not reaching vinegar, but getting pretty close to lime. Gentle woody undertones contribute to the enjoyment, but the overall balance and complexity is not up there with the finest takes on the style. Heavily dry, moderately bitter. Initially biting body, fading out a bit and leaving a slightly blank moment when it flattens out. This remains a remarkable beer, a worthy effort on a difficult style to master. Thanks EyeDrinkAle!

Pours a lightly cloudy pale golden with a large frothy white head. Aroma of mild caramel, citrus, coriander, and Belgian yeast. Body starts lightly sweet, turning more dry and grassy toward the finish. Needs a little more thickness and complexity to it to rival something like Fantome, but a nice American rendition nonetheless. Thanks to slob for this one.

Intense gold colour, no head. Spicy nose with coriander, Brett-like smell, bit of chaff. Somebody slopped a moth-ridden blanket, havin' been lying out in the Everglade rains for a week, over a table heaped with heated malt and cornflour, and then loaded it with a ton of coriandre. I hope it was cooked afterwards. 'Intense' mouthfeel. Do I need to elaborate? Saison - my...!

The Lure:
Great head retention atop the low-carb grapefruit sorbet. Meringue and doughy yeast garnish the appealing although light dessert.

The Festivities:
Herbal hops and citrusy zests dry out the ending and thus create a quenching, authentic saison feel. Mouthfeel is excellent, flavors are well-presented but shy, this is surely a different concoction than that which my friend Joris had the displeasure of encountering.

Transcendence:
The fluffiness, simplicity and relaxing nature of a non-perfumed bubble bath.

Visited their booth at the GABF and was saddened to find both the porter and imperial stout were gone, and this was on a Friday. So I sampled this one... had a slightly cloudy gold bosdy with a large white fluffy head. Sweet all around, fruity with oranges, other citrus, then turning to a mildly sour, milky flavor near the finish... that isn’t right... the finish is bland and dulling on the tongue... this one went downhill. Overall it present itself fizzy and boring.