Unchained 24: Spring Saison
Summit Brewing Company in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States 🇺🇸
Farmhouse - Saison Regular|
Score
6.84
|
|
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Got in a trade with The-Adjunct-Hippie. 12 ounce can into tulip glass, no can dating. Pours slightly hazy/cloudy golden amber color with a 2 finger fairly dense and fluffy white head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice dense foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big lemon, peach, pear, melon, red apple, coriander, peppercorn, clove, sage, rosemary, hay, straw, herbal, floral, grass, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, light musty funk, and yeast earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of fruity/spicy yeast, pale/wheat malts, and light-moderate earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of big lemon, peach, pear, melon, red apple, coriander, peppercorn, clove, sage, rosemary, hay, straw, herbal, floral, grass, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, light musty funk, and yeast earthiness. Moderate peppery yeast spiciness; light herbal/grassy bitterness and yeast tartness on the finish. Lingering notes of lemon, peach, pear, melon, red apple, coriander, peppercorn, clove, sage, rosemary, hay, straw, herbal, floral, grass, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, light musty funk, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/spicy yeast, pale/wheat malts, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; with an awesome malt/spiciness balance, and zero astringent flavors after the finish. Moderate increasing dryness from yeast spiciness and carbonation. High carbonation and light-medium body; with a very smooth, moderately crisp, and bready/grainy/sticky balanced mouthfeel that is fantastic. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 4.7%. Overall this is an outstanding grissette/session saison! All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/spicy yeast, pale/wheat malts, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; very smooth, crisp, and refreshing to drink. Pretty sure they did not spice this at all, but it sure feels like it. Amazing saison yeast complexity; nice solid malt backbone with no residual sweetness. Extremely flavorful for the ABV. A highly enjoyable offering, and spot on style example.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Can. Pours a clear yellow gold with a white head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has a good amount of flora and sweet grains with some light fruits and a bit of Belgian yeast. Flavor has sweet grains and flora with light fruits and a decent amount of Belgian yeast.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
12oz can. Filtered orange-tan body. Foamy, soapy white head. Pretty straightforward USish saison in most respects. Bubblegum tones from the yeast. Not smooth enough to be a Grissette, but approaches that from a macro vantage point I guess. The unchained beers started out as a way for Summit to show off their chops, but the last ten or so have been drab half-assery. This one is still drinkable, but hardly a prime example of the style.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Can. high carbonation and lots of foam. Standard appearance. Belgian yeast is recognizable in the aroma immediately. Flavor has more hops than many of the style, dry mostly, some malt flavor with a little spice I can’t identify. Dry finish. Simple and without much complexity, and I think that is ok for what they are trying to do with this beer.