6.9

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

On draught at NEBF, 10/29/05. I entered this as a saison because, first, it tasted fairly similar, albeit much more spicy and less sweet, to the McKenzie Dark Saison. It is minimally estery, not thick and syrupy or candyish malt dominated so I didnt call it a Belgian Strong. I think it works a little bit better as a saison than a Belgian ale, as it definitely had some rustic yeast qualities to it, not to mention the spicing.

The beer is served a dark copper-brass-mahogany color, with only minimal bubbles creating just a ring of quickly dissipating foam on the edges, little to no lacing. Aroma shows off light ginger-coriander-like spicing, a bit of brown malt sweetness and a rustic, dry, playful yeastiness. Sort of comes together like a Fantome Automne, though not as sour as that one, nor are the spices woven in to the rest of the beer quite as nicely. Flavor is lightly sweet brown malts, a lovely drying yeast that works perfectly against the dark malts. Sweet ginger, cardamon, and almost a rye-like note spring up in the middle. The beer ends pleasantly malty, though dry and earthy malts, more bready than sweet. Yeast is left wrapped around the tongue, and is by far the best part of the beer. Spice level is on par with the saison, and neither adds nor detracts, in my opinion. No alcohol apparency and a medium body. Mouthfeel is slick, slightly watery at points, but nothing extreme. There is little to no carbonation in this, as Shaun said the beer did not carbonate properly. He was disappointed, but I have never been a huge fan of carbonation anyways. The lack of it really highlights how well the beer was brewed, otherwise, as that’s all you’re left to focus on.