Odd sweet potato aroma. Brown. Sweet but lacks dark fruit or malt flavors. Good, heavy palate, but something seems off.

Draft, at Millstream. Of course, I have to think back to the Avery Twelve Saison I had just a few weeks ago. While the Avery went for an extreme version of the stye, this one is more subdued, like its farmhouse ale origins. Pours a light straw color with a white head. After an initial impression of hay, I find a nice balance of malts shaded toward the Vienna side, lending it a bit of a caramel tinge. A perhaps northern German hop character. Then a sweet spiciness that seems to come more from saison yeast and a warm ferment than any additional spices. Perhaps a touch of white pepper on the side, then just a little sourness. Again, not extreme, just a happy little beer that raises the standard for lawnmower beers.

Thanks to heemer77 for this one! Picture perfect Pilsner here. Tall column of brilliantly clear medium yellow under a frothy white head. Clean light malt aroma. The flavor is well balanced, lightly sweet yet restrained with just enough hops. Finishes clean and refreshing as a good Pilsner should with no bad aftertastes.

Thanks to heemer77 for this one. This pours a hazy glass of light yellow with a flleeting small head of white. Lemon and spice are prominent in the aroma. The sweetness, bitterness and spicyness all stay in balance here, but don’t go as far as they could. Refreshing brew.

Thanks to heemer77 for this one. Although this is the weakest of the Millstreams I’ve had so far, it is by no means a bad brew. The hazy, light amber beer produced an average head of off white. Light caramel in the aroma. The flavor was lightly sweet but overall it lacked the body and maltiness that I look for in a good Bock.

Thanks to heemer77 for bringing the sampler of Millstreams to TN! This one starts with a large creamy head on a hazy, medium orange amber brew. Light malt aroma with a whiff of hop perfume in the back. Lightly sweet with a good malt flavor. Well done V/O/M.

Thanks to heemer77 for this one! Well I could easily survive on this if I were stuck in Iowa. Nice light gold color that comes with a head of fine white foam. Good clean hop aroma. The flavor is well balanced malt and hops with a slightly chalky finish that was the only detractor and it wasn’t intense enough to disqualify this one. Good APA and better than many IPA’s I’ve had.

2004 bottle compliments of Heemer77. Thanks for this bottle, it’s very cool to try a belgian beer from Iowa. Served in a tulip at about 50 degrees. Pours from the bottle a glowing yellow mess of beer, bubbles and sparse white head. A light-test proves this to be just ever so slightly hazed, but this is still the first half of the bottle. The last half would prove to contain a touch more yeast sediment, creating a mildly hazy honey-yellow with some tinges of light gold. Taking in the aroma, there is a touch of white pepper, lightly bitter hops and just a shade of bubblegum. Diving in, the beer opens up fairly dry, with touches of clove and coriander, a very relaxed (perhaps too relaxed) malt profile. Lightly bitter hops are evident from the start. As the beer progresses and finishes, there is more bubblegum, extra-light touches of pils malt and light spice. Finishes, unfortunately, on a bitter and mildly metallic note. Medium body does not disappoint, this isn’t any lighter than some classic belgian styles. But the malt could use a kick and add some much needed strength. Bitter hops detract, I don’t particularly enjoy tasting hops bitterness in a wit. I can appreciate the lack of any syrupy sugariness and yet the simultaneous lack of any major astringency problems. Spicy, hoppy and dry, with less yeast and malt apparency, much less, than I would ask from a witbier. I think this is a difficult and underappreciated syle which has been somewhat lost in the cheap mass-market imitations and the many poor attempts by (American) microbreweries to reproduce them, with some exception. This however, seems to cut a middle path. Neither too poorly made, nor anything elaborate. There, you got my two cents free of charge.