Sierra Nevada Brown Saison

Brewed by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Style: Saison
Chico, California USA

On tap at The Red in Santa Cruz. Poured into a snifter. Clear reddish brown, creamy tan head with good retention. Peppery lemony aroma, orange peel, a touch of roast. Flavor is bright lemony tartness with an earthy finish. Hints of bread crust and roasted malt. Body is medium in heft with an airy quality. Carbonation is fine and lively. Good drinkability.

Tap at Rattle n Hum: Brown pour with an orange hue and an off white ring of head. Hot, chemically aroma with lots of spicy phenolics and sweet banana/bubblegum along with alcohol- solventy. Some caramel/bread notes when it warms. Low carbonation for the style. Spicy alcohol in the flavor- some fusels even. Clove and chemical flavors- a bit solventy, quite solventy. Not good.

14 oz draft @ rattle n hum during Sierra Nevada week. Pours transparent dark brown ruby. Tastes is largely brown sugar, caramel malts, bitter with slightly sour finish. The mouthfeel is bubbly and medium bodied, a bit dry. An interesting blend of an American Amber and Belgian spice/yeast. A combination capable of being epic, but falls short.

Growler from Big Z’s. Pours a clear amber with a small off-white head. Aroma of spices, yeast, melon. Flavor of yeast and bready malts initially with some sweet fruit in the finish. Palate is a bit weak, very sweet, especially as you continue to drink. Just kind of weak overall, nothing special here. It was a bit disappointing. 7/4/7/3/13 (3.4/5)

Growler - a brown saison? - the whole experience is kind of weird - the color doesn’t fit what I’m smelling and tasting - the aroma is semi-tart and herbal, with a healthy dose of coriander and other spices, some clove and bubblegum-ish phenols, ginger - the flavor is tart up front, followed by strong dry and bitter herbs - a bit of crackery malts and gingerbread - a lot of warming spices late - slightly phenolic throughout - the spice profile is so potent, that this is almost like a mixture a saison and a spiced ale - good, but kind of a stylistic mess.

On tap at the Sierra Nevada tasting at the Winking Lizard Bethel Rd. location on 5/13/09. Pours amber/light brown with a big tan head. Aroma of banana yeast and caramel malt. Caramel malt flavor up front with some Belgian yeast and a bit of a tart finish. Not bad.

draught at hopleaf. soft yeast ester nose. intense fruit flavors, ultra juicy orange center. not as dry as the style typically is. dark appearance and huge esters might lead me to believe this is a dunkelweizen or even weizen bock if i tasted this blind.

On tap at the Brick Store. Pours a clear brownish amber with a big off-white head that shows good lacing and retention. I found the aroma to be a little less spicy than most saisons. There is plenty of fruity sweetness and a tiny hint of spiciness from the yeast. There is also a big caramel malt sweetness that comes through. The taste is much more tart than the aroma would suggest with some lemons up front as well as hints of other light fruits. There is a hint of the sweet caramel malts base as well. The mouthfeel is bubbly and medium bodied with a bit of dry spiciness on the palate. I’m not sure if this falls squarely in the saison category, but it’s a decent beer overall. It’s interesting and has a good bit going on.