Upland Bumblebee Saison

Formerly brewed at Upland Brewing Company
Style: Saison
Bloomington, Indiana USA

Sample at Indiana Microbrewers Festival - Aroma is spicy but not much else going on after that. Pours transparent light orange with a small head. Flavor is ginger, white pepper, clove and lots of lemon. Palate is crisp and a little thin. Overall this is an easy drinking session saison, but I prefer mine to have a bit more of a yeasty body and a little funk that this brew doesn’t have.

700th rating. Two draught pints of this tonight at the pub... my first saison. Potent aroma, heavy yeast and spices (notably coriander and orange rind), honey, malt, light citric hops, and extreme amount of herbiness. Clear orange pour with a short creamy white head. Same notes in the mouth as in the nose, though with dominant florality and pronounced spiciness. Medium sourness. Medium-thin body, sweet with lemon and heather. This needs to be paired with food - spiciness and sweetness were too much by the end.

Draft. The aroma was excellent on this beer. If you could sell beer on smell alone, this would be a top seller. Very spicy, with citrus, clove and numerous other things that blend well together. But when I tasted it, all that really came through for me was the anise. Now I will admit, that I do not enjoy a black liquorice flavor, and sadly this came through way too strongly for me.

Nice looking beer. When I first had this one is was extremely spicey, herbal, almost overwhelmingly so. This time its aroma was mostly lemon cleaning solution. The flavour on the other hand was very complex. I still get the taste of lemon, but also banana, herbal, spicy- very very sweet.

On tap at brewpub. I had this a few months ago and this thing was a beast. The flavors were way too herbal then, but since then it has mellowed out tremendously and is quite drinkable. (They haven’t brewed a Saison since November so this was probably just sitting around). A hazy gold with a nice looking light head. the aroma is quite a bouqet or fragrances as is par for the style; herbal and floral with citrus, banana and cloves and hints of honey and anise. The palate is surprisingly smooth and almost creamy on the tongue. The flavors, while strong dovetail very nicely into a spicey refreshing range of flavors. Not a bad brew.

2007 version and on tap at Upland:Clean golden hue with a small fading head and some lace. The aroma is still very floral but nearly as flowery as the 2006 Bumblebee Saison was. Notes if coriander, orange peel, anise, yeasty and wheaty vapours. The taste is also improved as it is not as sweet or herbal with honey and bready malts with a bit of acidity on the back of the palate. There are lingering soft spices and even hints of wood upon the finish. The mouth feel is dry, soft and chalky. Still could use better attenuation and a tad less spice but far better than what I had last year.

2006 version on tap at brewery: Clean golden hue with a small head and little lacing. The aroma is VERY FLORAL with notes of orange peel, corriander, clove, grains of paradise, nutmeg, fennel, light grassy hops, bready and grainy malts, and honey. The taste is much like the aroma has it is very flowery, fruity and spicy, much like drinking a holiday fruit cake. A minor grain and bitter undertone. Sugary and honey notes throughout. While the feel is crisp and biting at first, the sweetness and spiced character made it a bit cloying. Unique for sure, perhaps it needs the spice toned down a notch and the hops turned up a notch. Still, found it quite drinkable and enjoyed with lunch.