North Coast Le Merle

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

Pours a nice, translucent golden orange with a picturesque white rocky head. Gentle spices, woodsy yeast, and a faint orange backing on the nose. Vibrant flavors of lemon zest, golden raisin, champagne, and honey with a really complex, lingering, dry finish.

In short: Superb farmhouse Saison for the Dupont/Fantôme/etc lovers.
How: Mtl crew pre-Xmas 2007 tasting session. Comparative tasting of former incarnation (Silver Jubilee) and current incarnation (Le Merle)
The look: Partly cloudy golden-blonde body with a medium white head
In long: Nose is superbly wild barnyard Saison. I really dig that type of aroma. Lots of biscuits in a yeasty potion. Tart fruity notes of grapefruits with light bananas in the background. Walking in a farm while eating a fresh cookie after drinking a grapefruit juice. Lively carbonation. Drinkable in very large quantity. The new incarnation (Le Merle) was a bit more fruity/acidic while the former incarnation (Silver Jubilee) was a bit wilder/funkier. But that may just be the age difference. Both were wonderful. The original North Coast plan called for the Silver Jubilee to be a one-time beer and the PanQster to be year-round beer. Now part of the mistake is fixed.

2005 bottle with the Silver Jubilee label, tasted after 2+ years in the cellar.

Pours a rich yellow with a large foamy white head. Lovely saison aroma: lemon and hay, spicy pepper. The flavor follows, dominated by lemon and spicy yeast rather than funk and dust. This is splendidly drinkable, remarkably crafted American saison. It loses a few points relative to the best Belgian saisons for the lack of dusty farmhouse complexity, but it is all around solid and a great pleasure to drink. It might also be uncommonly accessible to one who is new to the style, but I’ll have to try that experiment to answer for sure. In any case, it’s really nice to have saisons of this quality being crafted in the US these days. 8/4/8/4/15=3.9.

8/09/08. Fresh bottle labelled as Le Merle. Compared to the previous experience, this one is a disappointment. Too much banana and spice, neither the funk nor dusty fields that one would desire. 7/4/7/4/13=3.5. I’ll average the ratings.

Pours hazy yellow with thick white head. Taste is spicy and peppery. Dry aftertaste. Decent beer but not my favorite style.

Hazy yellow pour with a frothy white head, this is a tasty brew. Lots of tropical fruit flavors and tanginess. This is a nice ’food’ beer.

Pours a very cloudy gold, with a big lasting head that leaves lace all the way through the glass. Aroma is that of yeast, some musty notes, and a bit spicy, with some hints of candied citrus peel. Flavor is spicy, phenolic and yeasty, with some dryness that follows through to the finish. The body seems a little big for the style, but the finish is dry and short.

Very hazy golden beer, almost hefeweizen-looking, with lively carbonation, and a soapy, short-lived head - quite an authentic aroma - usually american-made saisons come across smelling like slightly spiced IPAs, but this has a wonderful mixture and european hops, light coriander, notes of orange peel and citrus pulp, some grainy notes, and very faint earthy, rustic mustiness - effervescent and lively in the mouth - moderately tart, with notes of dried, unsweetened fruit (mango, pineapple) - lightly peppery, and quite dry, with a bitterness combining with the dry character, and a mild mineral quality to make the mouth pucker up in an unusual fashion - a bit of cobweb and cracked, dried grains - a bit too dry and lacking a certain level of complexity, but a decent american-made saison.

22 oz. bottle. Faintly hazy light gold with a decent white head and lace. Aroma has some citrusy character, a bit of spice, and a distant funkiness. Clean, medium body and well carbonated, a pleasant mouthfeel. Starts off with honey sweetness, followed by a very light acidity and a sourness that is barely detectable. Finishes clean and softly dry.