Draught at the brewery, 2/13/16.
This is quite the name...beer pours a light-amber-golden color with a beige head atop that shows moderate to moderately-high retention. Medium clarity.
Very spicy nose, with the juniper adding a very sharp, clear note that seems to dominate, though not obnoxiously so. Light Belgian esters behind it show apples, cherries and other light fruits. Bready, crystal-like malts pronounce the dry spice character; would rather have seen some heavily honey-like pils malt in their place. Lots of pepper phenol on the finish (or I suppose that’s calendula?). Not much in the way of blueberry, perhaps some fruit skin-like character? No alcohol or flaw.
Spice/herb/branch/berry (whatever the hell you call juniper) dominated, though again, not to the point of unpleasantness. Very dry, with borderline scratchy malts that do nothing to allay the astringent character of the calendula and juniper. Peppery, but with a tight carbonation and enough saison quality to satisfy. Gets a bit soapy towards the end. Definitely could have eased off on the adjunct levels and/or thrown in more base malt apparency. Rating is to a gruit style, not saison.