Ding Points: 88.50

Pour: 90.00, Nose: 80.00, Palate: 90.00, Mouth: 90.00, Global: 90.00

Tasting Notes:

The first thought was, whoops this is an expensive beer for a lager shandy, but luckily that passes pretty quickly. ‘Very attractive hazed orange pour with a high, fluffy head and some nice retention and lace.

Nose offers some lemon based, high carbonation which is a nice touch.

The Bruery, Faster, Bigger, Better, Bolder

Lemony, spritely, effervescent feel about the beer. Definitely some spicy elements to the beer with white pepper and some other bitter fruits adding to the sharpness. Not sure that I specifically taste kumquats, but there is a distinct and unique feel about it. I guess that may be the sake yeast that is mentioned on the label, but with my level of experience with sake (virtually zero), it’s unlikely that I’m going to be able to identify such things specifically. There’s a hint of creamy, orange soda about the mouthfeel (but not really in the tastes), and to be honest this, with the slightly buttery ending do take a small percentage of the sharpness off the beer.

It combines an interesting mix of Saison like brightness, with some extra yeasty character, some fruit and a dry alcoholic finish – quite the combo! Definitely some white grape elements and a light, chardonnay feel coming through in the final analysis, too. Some light esters but nothing too heavy.

Dry, almost champagne like finish with a hint of grapefruit but it never manifests itself to any degree. In fact, if the truth be known, the abiding memory of this beer is the champagne like qualities that it brings. It’s a little boozy, but I quite like it and it sits well with the rest of the beer.

Back end has a touch (just a touch) of buttery diacetyl which isn’t great, but it is small and doesn’t really detract much from the beer as a whole. Interesting, drinkable, tasty and worth a shot if you like Saisons, grape based tastes, lemon notes and light drinking beers that have a decent alcohol punch.

Other: 8.25%, $10.29 from AleYeah!, Decatur, GA, USA.