6.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
On tap at the brewery. Aroma is fairly roasty with a nice chocolate character. Some light tobacco and leather character. Light fruit esters. Pours black with a small, thick, dark mocha head that recedes fairly quickly to the edges. Medium light lacing and medium legs. Flavor is fairly roasty with a nice chocolate note as well. Some tobacco and leather with a bit of some dried fruit esters. Moderate bitterness with some earthy hop notes and a bit of alcohol spice. Mouthfeel is medium full bodied with medium carbonation. Medium low astringency and low alcohol warmth. Overall, an alright beer but one of my least favorite beers from SARA. A bit astringent and the malt character isn’t quite right for me; I think it finished too dry to balance all the malt character.
Tried
from Draft
on 12 Jul 2014
at 16:02
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
On tap at the brewery. Aroma is very coffee forward with a nice nutty and fruitiness. Light acidity and vanilla character. Light dark fruit character as well with faint chocolate notes. Puts a dark brown with lighter brown notes on the edges and a small, moderately thick tan head that recedes quickly to the edges. Medium lacing and moderate legs. Flavor has a light sweetness upfront turning to a moderately light acidity. Moderately strong coffee notes with medium light dark fruit character. Medium low bitterness and a hint of alcohol spice in the finish. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium low carbonation. Low astringency and low alcohol warmth. Overall, a really nice tart dark beer. I think the coffee helps hide the transition from dark to sour beer that I don’t usually like on the palate.
Tried
from Draft
on 12 Jul 2014
at 15:30
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
On tap at the brewery. Aroma is moderately toasty with a nice creamy oatmeal and chocolate character. Clean yeast character with faint hop notes. Pours dark brown, but not quite black with a moderately thick, tan head that slowly recedes to the edges where it lingers. Moderately high lacing with faint legs. Flavor has medium sweetness with moderate roast and light chocolate notes. Light oat character. Clean yeast character with hints of fruit esters. Low earthy and woodsy hop notes with medium low bitterness. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium carbonation. Low astringency and low alcohol warmth. Overall, a pretty nice, clean porter. Lots of dark malt character, but it may be missing a bit of the English yeast character and lighter malt notes.
Tried
from Draft
on 12 Jul 2014
at 14:59
7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
On tap at the brewery. Aroma is medium hop aroma with tropical fruit and a light spicy, dank note. Light oatmeal malt note with some faint cracker malt. Pours a pale, cloudy, golden orange with a moderately thick white head that recedes steadily to the edges. Flavor is light cracker malt with medium oatmeal character. Medium low bitterness with medium hop notes of tropical fruit and citrus. Low pine resin and spicy dank notes. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and creamy with medium carbonation. Low astringency and low.alcohol warmth. Overall, an alright beer but it is definitely on it’s way downhill. Hop character is starting to fade, but malt notes as still present and fresh.
Tried
from Draft
on 12 Jul 2014
at 14:34
7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 7
On tap at the brewery. Aroma is full of overripe stone fruit and pear. Medium light pepper with coriander and grains of paradise. Low grain notes and a light soapiness. Pours a slightly cloudy, golden yellow with a small, somewhat thin, white head that lingers nicely on the edges. Light lacing and faint legs. Flavor is slightly sweet with light grain notes. Light, overripe tropical fruit and pear. Low spicy, phenolic notes of grains of paradise and coriander. Light bitterness. Mouthfeel is light bodied with medium carbonation. Low astringency and low alcohol warmth. Overall, a nice Saison but not an amazing one. A really easy drinking, summer saison. I find the aroma to be nice, but flavor a bit boring. Good mouthfeel though with a nice creaminess.
Tried
from Draft
on 12 Jul 2014
at 13:59
7.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
On tap at the brewery. Aroma is nice and hop forward, but not a one dimensional fruit character. Lots of tropical and stone fruit but also some grapefruit and pine resin. Light malt notes of cracker in the background. Pours a cloudy golden orange with a thin white head that recedes to the edges and lingers. Medium light lacing and faint legs. Flavor has a nice, light sweetness with medium light cracker malt notes. Moderately strong hop notes of stone and tropical fruit with lighter citrus character. Medium light pine resin with moderate bitterness. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium carbonation. Low astringency and low alcohol warmth. Overall, a pretty nice, balanced IPA, but not the hop bomb that people expect these days. Really nice, fresh multidimensional hop character.
Tried
from Draft
on 12 Jul 2014
at 13:38
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
On tap at the brewery. Aroma is light, pale cracker malt notes. Medium light stone fruit notes with hints of dank hop resin. Pours a cloudy, pale yellow gold with a thin white head that lingers on the edges. Medium lacing with light legs. Flavor has medium cracker malt character with moderate, dank bitter notes. Medium stone fruit flavors with some light tropical fruit and hop resin. Mouthfeel is medium light bodied with medium carbonation. Low astringency and low alcohol warmth. Overall, another nice, balanced pale ale from SARA. Lighter hop character than some of the more hop forward pale ales but more like what I expect a traditional pale ale to be like.
Tried
from Draft
on 12 Jul 2014
at 13:09
7.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Bottle shared in London - big thanks to Bruce. Pours black-brown with a creamy, beige head. Some acetic berries in the nose, hints of wood, earth. Light to medium sweet flavor with loads of berry tang, grapes, mild earthy bitterness, burnt wood, faint cocoa. Medium to full bodied with average, massaging carbonation. Warming finish with decent acetic tang, more berries, vague roast and cocoa, low bitterness, wood. Not bad.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Jul 2014
at 12:09
7.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
750 mL bottle. Aroma is very fruity with quite a bit of overripe stone fruit, peaches, pears, red apple and citrus. Moderate toasted bread with hints of toffee and caramel. Hints of light phenolics and citrus. Pours a murky, light brown with some copper hues and a thick, somewhat small, tan head that shows average retention as it recedes to the edges and lingers. Lacing is moderate with small legs. Flavor is slightly tart with quite a bit of fruit character. Lots of cherry, cassis, fig, prune and plum with some light red apple. Light acidity adds hints of lemon and orange. Medium light bitterness. Medium light malt notes of toasted bread with hints of toffee and caramel. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium carbonation. Low astringency and low alcohol warmth. Overall, a pretty nice beer, but I have a hard time characterizing this as a Biere de Garde. It is missing the malt character that I would expect, but the fruit notes and the light acidity are great. This reminds me more of a fall/winter saison, but perhaps that is nitpicking
Tried
from Bottle
on 28 Jun 2014
at 16:13
8.8/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 9
750 ml bottle. Very happy yo have got one of these. Aroma is nice and fruity with a big currant character. A nice, moderate acidity and citrus character compliments the currants. Light oak notes with medium light phenolic notes of white peppercorn and grains of paradise. Pours a bright reddish purple, fairly clear, with a big, pillowy, pink head that is fairly thick and displays nice retention. Moderate lacing and medium small legs. Flavor is very fruit forward with quite a bit of tart currant notes. Medium light, bright lactic acidity that also adds some citrus notes of lemon and mandarin. Medium light oak notes with light tannins in the finish. Light bitterness with light phenolic notes. The oak does most of the work of balancing the fruit. Mouthfeel is medium light bodied with medium carbonation. Low astringency and low alcohol warmth. Overall, a really enjoyable, fruity saison with a nice, balanced oak character. A good amount of citrus and acidity with a light phenolic character. I haven’t had a currant saison before, but this one is delicious.
Tried
from Bottle
on 28 Jun 2014
at 14:08