North Coast Le Merle

Brewed by North Coast Brewing Company
Style: Saison
Fort Bragg, California USA

750 pours a hazy light amber with a monster pillow like head and short lived cobweb lace - sort of dies as time goes by. The aroma is yeasty, canned pineapple, unripe banana, and slight funk. The flavor has lots of tropical fruit notes, ripe banana, beautiful spice, and yeast, very nice. I love the clove/nutmeg spice flavors in this one. I’m not one to crave Saison, but this leaves me wanting more - which is great, since I have a whole 750 of this to enjoy. Towards the end, I did a hefe yeast agitation and poured out the rest into my tulip. It only adds to the richness. The palate is quite pleasant with a cleansing carbonation. The alcohol is well hidden for the number. Overall, I really am quite surprised. I like it. IMHO, under rated.

Draft at the Blind Tiger. Blond / straw yellow, hazy, with a white head. Aroma is banana, bubblegum, and some nutmeg. Flavor is the same, sweet from the bubblegum maltiness, with a hint of citrus fruit in the crisp finish.

Got this one bottled under the Whole Foods label. Hazy light yellow pour, nice bubbly white head. This really does have a pretty complex, fruity aroma with a nice strong yeastiness. Mouthfeel is creamy, nicely carbonated. Flavor is a bit spicy and peppery up front but leads into more of that fruitiness with a dash of lemon zest and banana. Finishes pretty dry. Quite refreshing. This is a pretty good saison.

750 ml. brown Belgian bottle. Corked and caged. No freshness date on bottle. Poured out a hazy straw yellow color, with a decent white head. Aromas are of pineapples, star fruit, some peaches, funky yeast. Flavors include slight barnyard funk, sweet fruits, yeasty bread, slight white pepper. Medium mouthfeel, highly carbonated. Burning and tingly on the tongue. Finishes slightly dry & prickly.

Draft at KClinger’s. Golden and bright with moderate lacing. Only a light aroma, but the flavor is starkly sweet and fruit-salad puckery. Shimmer of a yeasty alcohol-laced twist. Different. (#3281, 1/9/2008)

Pours bright gold into a tulip. Fluffy white head recedes to skim surface. Lemon, mango and brett aromas. Crisp citrus and yeast from front to back with a peppery hop finish.

Sampled via 750 ml bottle at joebrew’s weekly beer tasting at Cellar’s Wine & Spirits in St Paul, Minnesota. Pours a hazy golden yellow brew with a thick white head that has excellent retention and lacing. Aroma of saison yeast funk, a touch of banana esters, some herbal spice and a touch of citrus. Taste is medium bodied, some carbonation with flavors of yeast, light bready malt and some dry spice. Finish is well-carbonated, with a dry yeast aftertaste.

Shit, lost my rating again. 750mL bottle, no date (though I think it’s 2007) from General_Gao, thank you Colin!. After a loud pop I found myself ready to run to the nearest sink, but no overflowage happened. Hooray. Hazy golden light orange with a two finger frothy off-white head, good retention. Aroma of citrus rinds, earth, and some peppery notes. Background has some herbal hops, Belgian yeast and banana. Flavor has the citrus turning into old--almost molding/rotting, but not quite--orange rinds mixing with the pepper and yeast until the hops decide to dry it all out by the finish. Bitterness peaks at a 3 (out of 10). High carbonation lightens the medium body and makes it quite refreshing, despite the strength. My other rating was much better.