Red Wine Jezebel

[2/15/15] Draught at Cellarmaker in San Francisco. Murky golden. Nice sourish aroma with oak, wine and some fruitiness. Sourish flavor, vinous, oaky and fruity, a bit astringent and slightly bitter. Medium-bodied. Good but a bit too winey for my liking.

The beer is a medium amber-ish gold. It’s quite cloudy. Head is white and smallish, dissipates after a few seconds to a ring of bubbles. The aroma has a lot of fruit with light pale malt sweetness and oak. The red wine barrel kinda dominates, but the whole thing is fairly understated. Berries, grapes, currants. Taste is dry with lots of oak. It’s not quite right for me. Just too much wood without enough saison flavor for balance. Lightly bitter finish from the oak. Mild fruit with a little lingering wine booziness. Feel is light with average carbonation. Might be a bit too strong for its own good. It’s not bad but it tastes like the oak sucked some of the life out of this beer.

From notes taken while drinking it on tap at the brewery. Aroma is moderately oak forward with quite a bit of red wine tannins and character. Medium light stone fruit and red apple. Light grain notes. Pours a cloudy golden orange with a thin white head that lingers on the edges. No lacing and faint legs. Flavor is moderately bitter with quite a bit of oak tannins and red wine character. Moderate pear, stone fruit and red apple. Light grain notes. Fairly mineral water notes. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium low carbonation. Low astringency, but present with a low alcohol warmth. Overall, a nice saison but I think it could use a bit of time away from the oak for the notes from the barrels to integrate better. A bit of a flabby character as well.