Sierra Nevada Brown Saison

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

Draught. Pours reddish brown with a small head. Aroma is sweet malt and sour acidity, with some miscellaneous fruit, yeastiness, and spices. Flavor is pretty similar. An odd beer--- bit of sour funkiness, some malt-sweetness mixing with candy sweetness, spices, and estery fruits. Not bad, but not great.

Brown coloured body with a very thin tan head atop the beer - decent looking. Aroma of light hay, grass, wheat and yeast, but mostly acidic and showing wierd fruits. Medium-bodied; Strong malty flavours mostly roasted with a little alcohol and bubble gum tucked in - but hardly any true saison flavours roaming here. Aftertaste shows more vinegar and acidic tastes, but a strong caramel and full-bodied taste comes out near the end. Overall, not such a great beer - and seemingly far away from the style the attempted to hit. Good to try, since I’ve never seen it before, but that’s about it. I sampled this beer on draught at Kelly’s Gingernut Pub in Cape Charles (Eastern Shore), Virginia on 06-September-2009.

on tap at jupiter... dark brown body with a tan head, complex aroma that becomes out of control after it warms a bit, sweet toasty dark malts married with a complicated ester profile and hints at some spicy hops, this was a great brew, really interesting.

Sample at Jackie O’s in Athens. The beer is a hazy brown color with a medium off-white head that dissipates steadily. Stringy lacing on the glass. Fruity aroma with notes of malt and yeast. Medium body with flavors of fruit, wheat, malt and cloves. The finish is fruity with a light spiced yeast aftertaste. Above average overall.

Enjoyed on tap in a hexagonal glass. The beer pours a light brownish color, with a small white head. The nose gives hints of phenolics and fruity esters, with the former dominating and giving almost too much character. This is a slight perception of malt, as well, but it is pretty thoroughly downed out by spiciness. The palate shows some nice malt sweetness at first, and then transfers rather abruptly to yeasty notes. The palate is not as spritzy nor as refreshing as some of the better examples of the style; and, to a certain extent, tastes almost like an English Brown Ale with a saison yeast added. Interesting but not really worth seeking out.

On tap @ 1702 - Poured a slightly hazy brown color with a thin off white head. Aroma is esters and light spice. Flavor is lightly sweetened toasted malt and esters. Medium body. A decent beer.

Sampled on tap at Brixie’s 75th anniversary in Brookfield, IL. Poured into my fluted fest glass, a brown color with amber tones showing through. The head was thick, bubbly, off white foam with thick, clingy streaks of lacing. The aroma was fruit sweetness, some biscuity malt and hints of caramel and vanilla. The sweetness persisted in the flavor with some soft grain as wheat, a bit of tartness, and some light dryness to the finish. Not a lot of Saison savvy but style confused on this one.

On tap at Zeno’s Pub - State College, PA. Pours a murky red-brown, hazed, with a creamy tan head. Very faint estery head. The flavor is unique, but a bit quiet. A unique, apple and pear yeast character. A touch of higher volatiles. Lightly sweet. I’d like a little more crisp dryness. Some bitter phenolics on the backend. Soap-like at times. A little all over the map. It’s alright, but nothing I can get totally excited about. Almost more like a belgian brown ale, than a Saison of any kind.