4.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 4.5
2005 bottle at Mondial, 6/5/05. Pour is a light yellow, with some slight rusty orange tints. Small white head is well-retained, but provides little lacing. Beer is rather clear, as well. Aroma of light grains, bits of honey, but mostly dry, cornmeal and white pepper. Some drying, old coriander in there too. Flavor begins with a dry herbal note, coriander and oregano like spiciness, backed with grainy, husky malt texture, but little to no malt sweetness. Peppery carbonation interupts what should be a fluffy mouthfeel. Seems like it’s all fully attenuated aromatic malt, but they say pilsen malt. Well whatever it is, there’s no sweetness. Dry, mostly water, though it wasnt thin. Bits of light grassy bitterness, and hints of orange rind. No residual sweetness from the candi sugar either, which I would not have know this to contain. Yeast is dull and not very apparent. Ok, well on that note, I’m going to stop writing about this. Suffice to say, it wasnt much of a saison.
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Jun 2005
at 09:32
7.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottled. Hazy orange colour. Grapefruit aroma. Firmly malty with nutty Sam Smith character, but much oppier. Butterscotchy yeast character. Resiny, very bitter finish.
Tried
from Bottle
on 12 May 2005
at 05:12
6.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
I can’t figure out the dating system on the bottles. Must be a 2004 bottle though. Pour is black/brown with a moderate amount of head, decent retention. Beige colored head is creamy, but slightly watery and not well-retained. Aroma of brown sugar, bubblegum, chocolate and light roast and milk. Flavor is initially quite sweet, chocolatey, milky and has a mostly watery texture, very low carbonation. Gains some bitterness and roast on the finish. That sweet molasses/treacle/brown sugar is mostly dominant and lingers on the finish, getting a bit boring towards the end of the glass. A bit watery overall, but hides the alcohol well. Medium body.
Tried
from Can
on 04 May 2005
at 09:50
7.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
2004 bottle. Pours a deep yellow, rich hay colored body, with a fair amount of white head, moderate retention, low lacing. Aroma smells of corn blossoms, vanilla, toasted, buttery grains, some honey and light peaches. A hint of light citrus as well. Flavor is quite sweet initially, vienna or pils malt, lots of honey and creaminess, with a moderate amount of low-bitterness hops that add a light citrus zest. Body is medium-full with a very fluffy feel to it, lots of carbonation. As it dies down and warms, light yeast notes can be found as well as some distinct corn-breadiness. Alcohol is very well-masked, I drank this quite easily and quickly. If the Founding Fathers were drinking this stuff, then I have some faith in early American brewing.
Tried
from Bottle
on 25 Apr 2005
at 14:15
6.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
$1.50 for a 12-oz single. Black with a 2" brown head. Smells of burnt toast, crisp malts... nice. Flavor starts roasty, middle is oddly too sweet, and it finishes buttery and funky sweet. Would be much better without that nearly sickeningly sweet middle.
Tried
on 03 Feb 2005
at 14:03
6.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Deep opaque brown body, thin/medium light tan head. Deep roasted malt aroma with cocoa and toast; quite rich. Chocolatey body with plenty of roasted malts and a touch of coffee, very porter-like. Medium-bodied, smooth, and quaffable. The roast is a bit richer than in many other stouts; otherwise, this is not too unique, but is quite tasty nonetheless.
Tried
on 31 Jan 2005
at 01:33
6.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Paid $1.85 for a 12-oz single. Bottle says "ingredients specified," their website says, "using the authentic recipes brewed by our founding fathers." So what is it, recipes, or ingredients? I can throw some ingredients together that TJ wrote down too and come up with beer, but if I followed a recipe, it’s a different story. Anyway... Pretty peachish-amber color with a small off-white head... and lotsa carbonation. Scent is odd, not sure exactly how to describe it. Kinda sweet scent, but in an odd way.... maybe a bit like wet newspapers (hey, maybe ink was in the ingredients list that Jefferson left!). Flavor is overly sweet up front.... quite a bit hoppy, but overtaken by a fruity sweetness (along with that wet newspaper scent every time I take a sip). Wonder if Jefferson’s own brew was as odd as this.
Tried
from Bottle
on 30 Dec 2004
at 03:23
4.9/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 8
Flavor 4
Texture 2
Overall 4.5
Cloudy golden yellow with a ridiculously large head. I tried to pour as soft as I possibly could, and this thing just keep on growing. Nice aroma, however. Orangy, lemony, very nice. Flavor is nearly non-existant until the finish. It’s bitter yuck, like chewing on a lemon peel that has no lemony flavor, and much, much too carbonated. The final spicing is nice, however, as it finishes almost like spiced lemon tea. Drop the carbonation levels and this beer would score higher.
Tried
on 19 Dec 2004
at 01:59
8.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Pretty peach-colored with a large frothy head. Aroma is undoubtedly grapefruit & other citrusy hops. Flavos is slightly sweet hoppiness- nice... very nice actually- not overwhelming, not trying to outdo anyone, but instead, offering up a nice, almost simple (yet extremely tasty) IPA. At 8% ABV, this son-of-a-bitch hides its alcohol almost too well.
Tried
on 18 Dec 2004
at 00:08
6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 4
Overall 6
Slightly hazy golden coloured body with orange highlights and a super-thin white head that fades very fast. Aroma of corinader seed, curacao, alcohol and some white grape juice. Medium-bodied; Strong spiceyness up front fading into just a little malt and some curacao. Aftertaste is very quick and only shows some of the bittering spices. Overall, a decent attempt by an American to make a Saison, but not even close to the definitive beers of Fantome. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased at Norm’s in Vienna, Virginia on 17-December-2004.
Tried
from Can
on 17 Dec 2004
at 23:26