Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Good, very fine and dense yellowish head, collapsing over very carbonated orange beer with a haze. Hops (American, but not really imposing C), dishwater, grapefruit, hessian bags aromas. Hops again in the taste, with a marked citrus/orange taste, turning into Mandarine Napoléon flavour. Ends grapey, with lunaria, but a bit shy in character, except for the head that, quite stable, is pure hopoil. Very resiny-slick, well-bodied, alcohol obvious. Warming up, some definite restsugars make themselves known. Very nice, outspoken hoppy but yet balanced, resulting in a all-in-all impressive beer. One that will please hopheads and Belgian style lovers alike - and indeed not unreminiscent of the Houblon Chouffe.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Pour is from a growler that I picked up at the brewpub 2 days prior to enjoying. Pour is hazed golden orange yellow with great settling and a dense one inch white head. Thick lacing coats the glass all the way from top to bottom. Aroma of ripe banana yeastiness, and some sweet pear fruit sweetness as well. Some yeasty clove, nice touch of grainy wheat. Overall, its a nice rounded and softly sweet nose. Taste is herbal, clove earthiness with a nice grainy wheat behind that. Banana and pear sweet fruitiness is present in the taste as well. Finish is earthy and flinty. Flavors meld nicely with nothing dominating. Palate is medium, nicely bright carbonation and a dryish mineral earthy finish. Nicely done Saison. About time to put a Saison on regularly Free State!
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
From a growler filled at the brew pub the previous day. Pour is a murky copper, very unfiltered with a nice 2 inch off white head. Thick lacing is smattered across the glass. Very pretty. Aroma of dank, resinous hops - touch of toasty malt. Behind that is some herbal pepper. Fresh, alive nose. Taste is bursting with reinous hops, very gritty, mild bitterness. There is a nice earthiness throught, very unfiltered taste. The toasty malt lends nice balance towards the finish. I really do not pick up any Rye in this. The hop is not overpowering or aggressive, just dank, super fresh hops. Palate is a touch watery, but extremely drinkable. This one was really nice.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
Tap at csbosox house, yeahhh boooyyyyyy, in a Bell’s tulip glass. It pours with a thick hazy orange golden color with lightly visible carbonation bubbles and a thick long lasting head. The head is very sticky and the body has a medium clarity. Aroma is hoppy, light;y pine with some faint fruit hops and a thick natural, fresh, type of hoppiness. Hard to describe it but I like it. Plenty of malts in there as well. Taste is similar with hops forward and a nice balance of malts. I could taste the Belgian yeast, works well with the hops. I had this with some of Chris’ Indian food and it went very well together. Fun to drink.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Bottle courtesy of Storm. Pours a dark amber color with a small off-white head. Has a spicy malty caramel aroma with hints of dark fruit and alcohol. Sweetish warming malty dark fruit and caramel flavor with some spicy hints and also some weak hints of licorice. Has a long warming spicy dark fruit finish.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Growler, via kp. Filled 11 days previous. Pour is clear cordovan, more towards the ruby side of the color. 1/4 inch beige head - ok lacing. Aroma of roasty maltiness, smoky peatiness and the rye. Taste is smoky charred malt, and a sharp grainy flavor. The rye is present in the finish and lingers really long. Perhaps longer than I would like. The peat also appears near the back. Palate is relatively flat, thin to medium, long rye finish as mentioned. Drinkable, and interesting beer. Thanks for bringing this to me Keith!
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Tap @ the brewpub. Pours a completely clear dark golden color with a small but strong head. Aroma has a bit of that pilsner crispness but the alcohol overtakes it. It also has some heavy citrus hop notes. Taste has some more grassy hops coming through and a heavier pils crispiness. But otherwise, for an "Imperial" its pretty easy drinking.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
I guess this beer comes off as it was intended to, kind of a base for something special to be done to it. It looks well enough, very cloudy dark golden. Aroma is earthy yeast with a bit of moldy, musky (British malts almost) aspect to it. Taste is, a basic thick wheat ale. Its very grain-y for sure, like a wheat cereal. Not much past that, make a stronger, thick wheat ale and that’s what you got here.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Tap @ 20th Anniversary celebration. The pour is good for a Tripel, hazy/cloudy golden, radiant yet not too much clarity. Aroma is a thick Belgian yeastiness that become a bit astringent. Some grassy biscuit aspect in there as well. The elements are all there but not coming together too well. This is reflected in the flavor, just not integrating well. Added to that is a bit of alcohol heft and a light banana ester touch, which I enjoy. This is probably the best Belgian traditional style beer they have done but it can improve.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
I hate to be that guy, and then again, am I drinking a completely different beer. Or is everyone enamored with Free State so much that they are too biased by the old ratings? Either way, this beer is extremely overrated, as far as I am concerned. Tap at the 20th Anniversary celebration. Color is clear amber. Aroma is thick with yeastiness (dough) and lots of sweet biscuit malts. All this really hides the cube-ness of their hoppiness. The hops come off sticky and there is too much residual sweetness. This is mimicked in the flavor as it becomes a bit cloying for me. Its also very candy-like in the mix of residual sugars and hops. Its fine as an IPA but nothing special, I’ll take the Copperhead any day.