Peared Up Saison
Central City Brewers + Distillers

 

 

 

Appearance - Pours a pale straw with three fingers of foamy white head.

Smell - spicy yeast, spicy hops, light grainy malts, banana, clove, pear, lemon, and orange.

Taste - spicy yeast upfront followed by the banana and clove. The spicy hops and grainy malts follow suit. The lemon and orange finish the brew off. The pear is there but subtle.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes off dry. The yeast, clove, and banana linger in the aftertaste.

Overall - A very good collaboration that delivered on the saison elements. The pear was a nice twist to the traditional saison style.

 

 

 

 

650ml bottle, a collaboration, or 'pearing up', if you will, between Central City and Ontario's Great Lakes Brewery. Made with Jarrylo hops and real pear juice.

This beer pours a slightly hazy, pale golden yellow colour, with a teeming tower of puffy, finely foamy, and creamy bone-white head, which leaves some randomly strewn chunky lace around the glass as it slowly but surely abates.

It smells of musty and earthy yeast, grainy wheat malt, the syrup that canned pears come in, further muddled citrusy notes, and some tame leafy and grassy green hop bitters. The taste is bready and doughy pale malt, a lesser edgy wheatiness, somewhat testy yeast, pear cider (ok, ok, perry), some lemon and bruised banana fruitiness, and more gentle earthy, floral, and grassy hoppiness.

The carbonation is fairly active in its palate-coating frothiness, the body a decent medium weight, and generally smooth, with a wee airy creaminess settling in shortly after takeoff. It finishes a bit on the sweet side, with the mixed grainy malt, warm pear, and sundry other fruity notes pulling away from the clutches of the lingering yeast character.

Overall, this is a pleasant enough Saison, with both the fruit-forward guest single hop and the pear juice providing an extra boost of freshness to the proceedings. I may not be paddle boarding on the West Coast, or kickin' it in Cottage Country, but it's hot and muggy here too, and this works just fine after coming inside outta the warmth.