North Coast Le Merle

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

bottle.....pours a semi trasparent golden orange brown. white head.....aromas of grass and lemony citrus notes coinciding with some pepper.....a very yeasty and full mouthfeel is the first thing i notice. a pretty high level of honey sweetness. carbonation level is high. some lemon, some biscuit/bread that exemplify more hefe than saison.....a strange amalagamation of flavors that didn’t mesh well overall and wasn’t very representative of the saisons that i have enjoyed in the past.

Gorgeous enthusiastic white foamy sudsy head with lots of spotchy lace left behind. Hazy goldenrod color. Smells of musty goodness. A little grassy in a good way. Aromatic and farmy. Bursty big mouthfeel. Surprisingly spicy, bitter, and dry as hell.

Hazy beige. Dusty character. Hint of burnt match in the nose. Spicy-peppery notes, and fennel. Malts are crackerlike and slightly baguettey. Some lemony aromatic accents. Still a "saison" whose only farmhouse character is overt dustiness.

Pous translucent gold with a big white head with large bubbles. Spicy, doughy aroma with a fitting underlying earthiness. Flavor begins honey-sweet the quickly turns refreshingly tart. A spice hop character dominates the finish. Three excellent flavors when considered individually; there’s something lacking in the combination. That is, of course, when compared to the Duponts and Pipaix of the world. Good stuff, and definitely worth a shot.

On tap @ Stone, san Diego. Pours a clouded orangish gold color. Some spiciness, sweet honey flavor. Didnt get much as the saison spiciness & funk as sweetness seemed to dominate. Rather tasty offering though. Enjoyable

Served to my Big-Ass Triple Karmeliet glass, busy, crystalline foam fills half the glass and aroma wafts out into the atmosphere...hazy straw orange color, looks the part for the style, and quite lovely. Aroma is big and expressive, citrus and spice, flowery and flush with Belgian funk. Not so sour, but definitely wild and spraying out lemon, pepper, and plenty of things I can’t name. Like it lots. Label says "tropical fruit"...I can imagine banana, pineapple, coconut...well, let’s not go crazy... Fine and mellow on the tastebuds, smooth and easy drinking. Light bodied. Citrus and spice lingers gingerly on the palate (no pun intended), then softly fades away. A good food beer. Me, I’m having it with spaghetti and meatballs, because I’m such a rarified epicurean. Zesty stuff. but a mite bit too watery to really beg comparison to the fine farmhouse ales of Flanders. Close, and an admirable effort. Nice work, North

Labeled as Le Merle. Corked bottle poured into tulip glass. Pours a cloudy amber/orange colour. Big fluffy white head, great carbonation and sticky lacing. Aroma was sweet perfume and yeast. Flavour was very well balanced with sweet, tart sourness and warm alcohol. nice saison.

Pours amber and cloudy with a sustained rocky white head. Smells of perfume, dry malt, coriander, some bananas and honey. Tastes of dry malt with some ginger and bananas. Mouthfeel is full and peppery with a finish that yields some citrus. More of a hefe-wit than a saison, but enjoyable.