North Coast Le Merle

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

Faint fruity saison aroma. Cloudy orange-yellow appearance with a full head. This is really an excellent Begian beer, a fine saison. Definitely could have this again and again.

Wonderful orange peel nose. Fluffy sustained head. Lots of soft fizziness, very round feeling in the mouth. Lacks the sweetness that I find in most American Saiaons- if you blindfolded me, I would swear this was European. The best American example of the style ever!!

I was impressed with this one. Whole Foods was very smart to put this beer in the hands of such a talented brewery. North Coast is an outstaning brewery, and I really think, they have done an exceptional job on this beer. An authentic saison, isn’t something too many domestic breweries/brewpubs get right, but North Coast does with this beer. Reminds me much of Saison Dupont, and if that is not high praise, then I don’t know what is. This beer pours to a hazy, blond color, with a thick, creamy, white head, and a good carbonation. The nose on this beer is excellent, with lots of good grassy/citrus hop aroma, paired with some good pale malt aroma, and some mild, yeasty aroma. The palate is firm, with lots of good pale malt falvor, paired with some earthy/yeasty spice flavor. This beer finishes with good pale malt and yeasty flavor up front, then ends with a vibrant burst of herbal/citrus flavor, and yeasty spice flavor, that ingers. Very well done,dometic example of a saison, one of the most accurate examples I have ever tasted. A wonderful aperitif beer, and a great beer to match with a number of dishes.

750mL cork-finish with no date. Poured into wide-topped flute (Blanche de Chambly glass). Appearance: Pale yellow straw. Thick foamy head, slow to recede yet leaves little lacing. 1/4 inch remains after 1 minute. Nose: Fruity esters, orange, apple, pear, and white peach. A hint of pale wheat and a touch of Italian bread. Palate: Spicy up front and has good carbonation. Lots of mixed fruits, with yeast-spice gliding way out on the finish. Grapefruit and grass come up, almost like a NZ sauvignon blanc. Finish is moderately long and leaves the impression of a crisp white wine. Notes: A solid beer, not the best "saison" I’ve had, but a damn drinkable brew from a respectable company. It’s going to go really well with my Baby Boucheron cheese, toasted baguette slices and Quinta do Coa Olive Oil (Portugal)! Cheers!

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.

Initial fruity pinapple, guava, mango, peach aromas. Cloudy medium blond appearance with quick dissapating head. Very spritzy tingling mouthfeel. Dry Intense fruity mango peach melon flavors with medium hops at the finish. Long fruity aftertaste. An exellent attempt of the Saison style.

whole foods 25th anniversary beer, purchased at Berkeley Whole Foods. a self-described "Belgian Style Farmhouse Ale", and further describing its influence as Flemish, this is no mere grocery store-brand beer - it is a quality Farmhouse ale from a top-flight brewery - North Coast. pours a hazy gold with a fizzy, quickly subsiding head that leaves no lace. aroma is quite full - a whole bunch of tart and spicy noble-style hop aromas, some sulfery yeast funk, and some real grassy grain aromas. very interesting. flavor is also quite good, with a short burst of malty sweetness completely washed away in another big shot of hops. some spicy yeast phenols bounce around in there, too, and they aren’t distracting. this is almost like the saison crossed with the IPA (at least an English one). I’d love to see this emerge in the North Coast regular line-up. great hoppy finish. maybe my first hallertauer-esque burp (I’m assuming it is a domestic noble - maybe Liberty?).

Any first impressions?
-Sumptuous, frothy foam covers the opaque yogurt-like yellow. Pour carefully, this is one hugely effervescent ale!
-Citrus fruitiness lightens the crisp haystack, as peppery, herbal hops are found cleverly dispersed within.
-Wooden and citrusy hops dally around the expressive yeast character, most probably Dupont’s.
-The fluffy effervescence and creamy maltiness make for a perfectly authentic saison mouthfeel.

What if you dig deeper?
-The straw and haystack are genuinely supportive of the citrusy, piney hops.
-All flavors are masterfully choreographed, leading to a serene flurry of doughy yeast and mildly spicy hops.
-Balanced, flavorful, intrinsically Belgian. What more could you ask for in a saison? This is severely underrated imho.

Bottles; both from the Silver Jubilee batch and the newer Le Merle version.