So Samuel Adams brewed a saison. This is interesting enough that I can't pass it up. A brewery priding itself on patriotism and American craft brewing makes an ultra-traditional old Belgian farmhouse style. I really have no idea what to expect. They've tried "rustic" styles before. Their Cranberry Lambic comes to mind, which, sparing the details, is terrible. But they have a certain prowess with delicate styles, the best example being Noble Pils. I can easily imagine Rustic Saison going in either direction. So let's open it up and see.
First, the visuals. As you can see from this photo, it is a clear golden yellow with lively carbonation and a nice white head. The carbonation level seems just right for a saison--a little on the high side. This photo is after about a minute of pouring; at first the head was much taller. Just how it should be. I also like the golden color. But one thing grabs my attention quickly. Look how clear it is. Completely filtered. This worries me a little, as so much of a good saison is dependent on the characterful yeast, which has been completely filtered out of this beer.
Taking a whiff, I am somewhat relieved. It really does smell like a saison. Maybe too much, in fact. It is packed with fruity esters, a typical fermentation byproduct of this sort of yeast. I pick up notes of dried apricot, dried pineapple, fresh apples, white raisin, and a little bit of black currant. There is also a sweet floral note that I'm pretty sure is coming from the honey (yes, it does say "brewed with honey" on the bottle). A few distant spicy notes are in there, too, behind all the fruitiness. Along the lines of pepper, coriander, maybe even fennel or anise. It doesn't say what hops they used, but I suspect that the hint of black currant I noted is not from yeast byproducts (as are all those other fruit flavors) as much as it is from hops. Strisselspalt hops are common in farmhouse ales and often manifest themselves with a currant-like aroma. While the aroma as a whole is full of typical saison character, it lacks nuance; it doesn't seem like saison should be so in-your-face.
Ok, it's finally time to drink it. Fortunately, I quickly find that the flavor is a little bit more elegant than the aroma. The fruity esters are still dominant, but not as obnoxious. The fruit character is also less sweet in the mouth than it seemed in the nose. The black currant is more forward; there's a sort of funky papaya note; lemon and lime notes come into play, as well. The pineapple and apricot are still there, but in a more supporting role. Perhaps the difference is the honey. I have a hard time detecting it in the flavor at all, while it seems pretty obvious in the aroma. It could be that my perception of the sweetness of honey is what put the aroma over the top for me. The spiciness of the flavor, however, is exactly what I would expect from what I smelled. Echoing what I said earlier, pepper, coriander, fennel, anise. I might add lemon balm or sage to that mix, too. Behind all of this is a rather subtle malt backbone, probably the most well-executed aspect of this beer. Clean, even, warm graininess holds up all the other goings-on. As I swallow, the finish gets a little bit of a hop kick to it. Mostly it's herbal continental-Europe style noble hops (a little research confirms they used Hersbrucker and Tettnanger hops). But there's something else to the finish that I have trouble putting my finger on. Something that seems very... American. For just a moment in the finish (every sip), I get a quick note of tangerine sweetness that reminds me of an American pale ale. I think I'm getting this because the beer doesn't have as dry of a finish as I would like it to. They tried to use hops to give it a crisp finish, which is all well and good. But in a classic saison, I would rather have the finish dried out by higher attenuation instead of extra hops. It would seem they've hopped it enough to give it a slight resinous quality that is only briefly noticeable in the finish, which combined with a little too much residual sweetness, yields this pale-ale-like note. The finish also lacks the tangy, bready quality it would have if the beer still had live yeast in it. As it is, the aftertaste is dominated by edgy herbal hops; it needs so yeastiness to soften it. Come to think of it, live yeast would help even out the aroma, too. Yeast cells will continue to produce some esters and reabsorb others (as well as other fermentation byproducts) and have a tendency to naturally balance (for lack of a better word) a finished beer. This beer needs that.
So, long story short, I'm actually rather impressed with this brew, considering. Sam Adams did manage to capture many of the "rustic" elements of a traditional saison. Two simple improvements would have made it quite a good beer, though. First, it needs to be more attenuated. Dry saison = yummy saison. Second, it shouldn't have had the yeast filtered out. I think that would have made a world of difference.
But for now, I'm going to quit typing and finish my beer.
Cheers,
--joe
