750 mL corked and caged affair courtesy of thirdeye11 – thanks Chad.
Pop on opening is encouraging with a good amount of gunsmoke. Proper carbonation in these beers is vital to their success.
Pour gives a fairly standard (but good looking) appearance with some white, frothy head and some decent lace. Body is a clouded, orange marmalade hue with a little chill haze.
Light pepper, low funk and some Belgian yeast in the nose.
The beer is very dry indeed. Not much funk at all, and the white pepper really provides quite a profound bitterness. It all comes together nicely, but this beer lacks much horseblanket or much grassy or earthy character. In that respect I would not call this a classic Saison by any stretch of the imagination although it is a tasty beer. Some lemon notes in the finish but it still seems more bitter than tart to me.
You’re going to have to look past the lack of funk, and to enjoy the beer as more of a Belgian Pale or even a beer that’s a little like a Belgian IPA, than a classic of the eponymous style. As it warms there is a greater degree of sweetness but the beer never delivers the traditional funk, nor does it leave that dry note completely behind. The finish still has the bitter bite.
Tasty, but not really a classic in the genre but in a way that really doesn’t matter.