Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
On tap at White Labs. Pours with a clear golden hue body with a lasting white head. Aromas are spicy, hops, grainy, earthy, light mineral. Yeast seems mostly clean, no real sulfur. Flavors are hoppy, citrus, nutty, malty, lightly alkaline/mineral. Clean. Lightly nutty, a hint of sulfur. Full. Lively bubbles, dry. Decent.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
On tap at White Labs. Pours with the best head retention of the flight, nice, billowy white head, clear gold, lasting, good lace. Aromas are estery and phenolic, strong baked apple, a hint of isoamyl acetate, bready, vanilla, light grass. Very nice balance of ester, phenol and still allowing some malt. Delicate and refined. Flavors are clean yet rich, low isoamyl acetate, bready malt, vanilla, rich pear, and apple. A touch sweet compared to the 620. Very light vinous. Despite the light sweetness and light vinous qualities, it is still a very good yeast. Perhaps it needs something to finish it, but it is very good as is. Lively bubbles, dry. The clear winner of the flight.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
On tap at White Labs. Pours with a mildly hazy yellow with a small white head. Aromas are of apple, black pepper, clove, lightly funky phenolics, spicy, medium malt. A touch rustic. Flavors are grassy, green, peppery, dry, low fruit. Lots of phenolics, somewhat rustic. Exciting/enticing. Lively carbonation, dry, peppery, Medium ester, low fruit, dry, and interesting. My second favorite yeast of the flight. Second best to 565.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
On tap at White Labs. Pours with a slightly deeper golden hue than the others with the worst head retention of the flight (only a small ring). Aromas are estery, and for me: completely unacceptable levels of isoamyl acetate in a saison (huge banana) and some bubblegum. Coriander. Nutty, mostly esters, some ginger, pear, tangy, lightly resiny. Flavors are dry, low malt character, all yeast, flabby, pear, estery, banana, bubble gum, apple. Missing phenols. Nutty. Not my first choice at all. Not a very passable saison yeast (at least with the current pitch rates and fermentation temp/schedule). Dryish, medium bubbles.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
On tap at White Labs. Pours with a clear golden hued body with a small white ring and plenty of effervescent bubbles rising up the side of the glass. Aromas are of acetaldehyde, apple and pear in general as well. Peppery, spicy, lighter phenol, smells a touch sweet. Flavors are dry, with good ester balance and complementary phenol. Pear drops. Dry, a bit more bitter than some of the others. Medium bubbles, pretty dry. Compared to 565 its a bit flatter and missing complexity that is nice with the Dupont strain.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
On tap at White Labs. Pours with the second best head retention of the flight, full white head with a clear yellow hue body. Great retention. A bit paler than a few others in the flight. Aromas are peppery, sweet potatoes, clove, dry, low esters, spicy, ginger. Malt shows up as a bit crackery and bready. Flavors are relatively cleanish compared to some of the others. Dry, dried fruit esters with stronger phenols, grassy, some malt shines through, but this yeast lacks some expressive qualities. Dry and clean. Creamy mouthfeel, lacks a bit of character.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
On tap at White Labs. Pours with a large and lasting white head (best of the flight) over a murky yellow hued body. Aromas are on the peppery and more phenolic side of things, with ginger, apricot esters, rich, peppery, nectarine. Flavors are a touch estery, dry, stone fruit, peppery. Decent golden strong ale yeast, but the richness and rounded ester doesn’t completely sell it at a saison. Lively bubbles and dry with a medium roundness to the body.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
On tap at the tasting room when they first opened. Significantly hazier than the other beers in the flight. This causes the beer to appear slightly lighter in hue, yellow, lasting white head. Aromas are of bready malts, light esters, pine, lightly earthy, malty, only a hint of fruit. Flavors are of pear, esters, marmalade, much lighter bitterness than some of the others, grassy, fruity. Bitterness is mild and doesn’t linger. Medium dry, biscuity, lemon zest, bready. Lively carbonation. Nice flavors.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
On tap at the tasting room when they first opened. Pours with a crystal clear golden hue with a medium sized white head. Aromas are lightly hoppy, medium-light fruit esters, pineapple, pears, some grassy notes, bready malt and hay. Flavors are malty, medium sweet, bready, light ester, biscuit, mild salinity. A touch green tasting. Doesn’t showcase the hop character as much as the others, and a bit fruitier. Medium bubbles.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
On tap at the tasting room when they first opened. Pours with a crystal clear, paler gold body with a long lasting white head. Clean aromas, malty, green hops, seltzer, minerals, grassy, some malt but mostly clean. Flavors are a touch salty, some minerals, grassy, malt centric, pretty dry, grassy and bitter. Seems to accentuate malt over hops (slightly), neutral/clean, and very dry. Medium carbonation and medium bodied.