7.5

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

(Draught at Bryden’s, Toronto, Oct 10 2013) Pours a deep mahogany brown, clear with a decent sized bubbly white head and minimal lace. Aroma is citrus hops, light pit fruit, a bit of fruity saison yeast funk and some sweet caramel malt and very light roast characteristics - really this is a hoppy saison aroma. When cold, the flavour is almost completely dominated by nutty roast malts. When allowed to warm towards room temp, it becomes a lot more interesting. Opens with citrus and pit fruit hops and a slightly funky saison yeast note - an American farmhouse character. By mid-palate a richer caramel malt along with darker malts, roast, and associated bitterness begins to come through. The finish is quite dry, roasted, mildly bitter, with a coffee and nut character. The body is moderate as is carbonation. I like this beer, but cold temps do it a disservice. When it warms it has the character of a saison crossed with a dark malt APA with fairly heavy roast. Fall beer, no doubt.