Nice stuff. Subtle ume. Enjoyable saison feel. But something that’s not quite fizzling for me.Need more fizzle. But I think I’m near the end of the keg so I won’t score it.

7.6

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Bottle from the brewery and a sample there on tap. Pours out a lovely hazy gold, bright and effervescent, with a tall, airy, purely Belgian head. Nose is definitely ume (prunus mume fruits), with bready malts and estery Belgian yeast. There is a bit of banana, peach, and lemon in the background too. Flavor is sweet and tart. Sweet grainy malts, tart plum wine, and a bit of the sugar of the wine as well. Again, the yeast character is spicy and estery. I find it just a bit too sweet, in the same way that commercial plum wine is just too sweet for me. It makes the body a bit heavy too. There is a nice tartness though, and a lovely saison character. The use of plums is good in that they don't dominate, although I would like just a little more of their tartness to come through. Still, a nice one. It was slightly lighter on tap.

7.6

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Excellent tart nose that shows the plum and yeast and good floral hop character all balanced out. Wow. That nose hits all the right parts all at once. Low carbonation, modestly tart tons of wheat, excellent funky Belgian yeast black pepper flour hops. Medium body. Off sweet. Totally untraditional but this is very interesting. Everything it tries to be, it is. Maybe a touch drier would be better but this rocks

6.8

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

Tap @ iBREW Shimbashi. Pours golden but somewhat cloudy and looking pretty flat. Not the best look actually. Nose has a bit of umeshu character, simple fruity. Taste has more plums and feels actually more like umeshu than beer. Fruity and easily drinkable, not bad at what it is. Some saison yeast esters there also, not very bitter and not very funky, quite tame.