BeeSting
Bullfrog Brewery

Thanks to my parents for this one.
This was poured into a tulip.
The appearance was a burnt golden yellow color with a slight transparency about it. Some carbonation could be seen rising in streams to fill a two finger white foamy head that slid off at a moderate pace. Speckled lace tried to cling but slid after a while.
The aroma had some coriander/clove spicy particles revolving around some pomme-like fruits and a touch of honey. Light floral and then breadiness involvement slides in nicely.
The flavor took the prior mentioned aromas and added a little bit of basement mustiness. Gentle yet mobile smooth semi-sweet Belgian bready sort of aftertaste.
The mouthfeel was almost medium bodied as it seemed to sit just a touch under and supporting a great sessionability about it. Carbonation felt appropriate. ABV felt as projected by the brewer.
Overall, everything seemed to have melded very nicely. I need to make more trips to see my parents.

 

 

A corked and caged 750 mL bottle from the brewery.

A: The saison is hazy and golden, barely translucent. A light shining into the glass reveals a stready stream of bubbles from the bottle of the glass. The ale features a white head, three fingers on the first two pours. Sporadic lacing followed the pour, covering, oddly enough, just one side of the glass.

S: Aromatically speaking, the saison has coriander and pale fruits alongside honey. The honey, more than anything else, adds heft to the aroma, thickness even. There is just a hint of Belgian yeast mustiness amongst all the sweetness too.

T: Well-carbonated, the ale is chock full of tiny, effervescent bubbles. Oh yeah, plenty of other flavors going on too. The honey adds a noticeable sweet fullness to the ale, remaining present throughout the bottle. Pepper and pears, coriander and sweet fleshy fruits, come through mid-sip. Light biscuits support the entire package. Late in each sip, the mustiness of the yeast becomes apparent, a dry finishing aspect even with the pear flavors lingering as long as they do.

M: A complex but gingerly sweet saison. Age has added a little and taken a little away, but generally smoothed out the flavors nicely. Fruity and peppery, a bottle that I'd probably open now.

 

Pours a hazy dark golden orange color that is opaque with yellowish orange hues and a one finger off white head that quickly fades into a  lasting ring.  Spotty lacing left behind.

Slightly earhy aroma with dry bretty barnyard funk.  Zesty spice presence along with some grass, straw and estery light fruit.  There's also some bready yeast with hints of apple and pear.

Full bodied with a very nice balance of zesty spice, funky yeast, crisp light fruit and alcohol.  Creamy full texture with hints of earthy funk, pear, banana, apple and lots of bready yeast.  Spicy dry finish with subtle heat.

A-pours a deep transparent golden orange with tons of off white bubbly head leaving a decent lacing.

S-yeast and peppery spice up front, light honey undertones, zesty lemon and notes of corriander.

T-the taste is much sweeter and less balanced than the nose. the yeast note is there, lighter peppery spice, a fair bit more honey, corriander and light lemon zest. lots of pineapple starts to come through amongst the sweetness.

M-medium body, rather syrupy, decent carbonation and faint bit of dryness in the finish.

D-this has a very nicely balanced nose, the flavor falls slightly short and sweetens a bit. the body is a bit syrupy for a saison and not quite dry enough. this is a very decent beer and extremely enjoyable but some flaws.

Thanks to Tim for sharing another Bullfrog tick.

A: The pour is a clear golden yellow/straw color with plenty of white head and a high level of carbonation.

S: Starts off slightly cidery. There's a lot of lemon and lemon zest along with grass and wet oak. There's a distinct honey aroma which is slightly sweet and quite floral. A little bit of white pepper and yeast.

T: Many of the same components exist on the tongue as well. Grass and floral notes with a mild sweetness of honey. Oak, yeast, and earthy tones give a nice complexity. Lightly bitter with more bread and malt flavor than expected.

M: Medium in body with a fairly high level of carbonation.

O: Wasn't too sure about this one from the nose, but the flavor was good and I enjoyed it.

Thanks to jtrockchalk for this one. It was donated to a saison tasting I was having but was never consumed and left in my kegerator. I've tried to return it on a couple occasions but it has always fallen through. It has tempted me for the last time.

Bottled 8/7/08
Poured a corked and caged 750ml into my Tank 7 tulip. This beer pours a marmalade honey with a massive 4 finger head that leaves bands of thick, heavy lacing down the sides of the glass. This is a really pretty beer. The tulip looks like its wearing creamy white bangles down its neck. The aroma is intense brett and honey. Damp earth mixed with hay fields after a storm. Musty closets with a slight barnyard. No ammonia is detected. Behind the brett, sweet honey comb with tree fruits and lemon peel. The flavor is as fantastic as the aroma is. Layers of brett compete with the honey for the primary flavor complex. Brett wins. Layers of musty damp earth hit the front of the palate. Then fresh honey comb, combined with grainy notes. Zested lemon peel with just a hint of freshly ground pepper. Tree fruits are also prevalent. Unripe apples and hard canning pears. The mouthfeel is light and brightly carbonated, leaving the palate dry and cakey. I love saisons. Its my favorite style along side of my most reviewed style. This is a Picasso of a saison. Probably the best I've had all year and easily one of the top 5 saisons of all time.

Review from notes from November '09. Thanks to a generous BA for sharing this.

A - Hazy light tangerine with a fluffy white head that left spiderweb trails of lace. Decent retention. 4.0

S - Tangy and sour with undertones of pepper and clove. Very light funk in there as well but you kind of need to search for it. Pears and apples, light honey tones. 4.0

T - Citrusy (lemon) with a healthy honey-like sweetness. The lemon is very nice and adds a refreshing crispness to it. Peppery and a light touch of grass. Modest "barnyard" funk. Very interesting and tasty. 4.5

M - Light and crisp with decent carbonation. 4.0

D - Yes indeed. I would drink this all day. 4.0

Thanks to bu11zeye for sharing this beer out of a 750 ml bottle.

It is my first beer from this brewery. The beer pours a hazy yellow color with a white head. The aroma is malty with a lot of honey notes. The flavor is more of the same with honey, spices, Belgian yeast, grain and some fruit that reminds me a grapes. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation. Not a classic saison, but still enjoyable.

Bottled 8/7/08 and consumed on 1/19/10 (nearly 1.5 years later).

Appearance: Pours an attractive hazy yellow orange...almost bordering copper. The head is butter cream in color and massive. The retention is very good as is the lace.

Smell: Not much going on in this department. Traces of apricots, peaches, and honey.

Taste: Still lots of honey, citrus, and malt but the yeast is really doing nothing for me here. Much more brett present in a fresh on tap sampling I had last year.

Mouthfeel: The bottle conditioned version is holding up nicely in this department. Carbonation is still nice and present providing a bit of crispness to go along with the massive creamy crown.

Drinkability: Easy drinker.

I'll start by saying that this beer was not anywhere near what I thought it would be! The colour was a lightly cloudy golden- straw. The aroma was rather sour and yeasty. On the palate, sourness again with some spice but not much flavour overall. Where the heck is the honey?

Big thanks to Jettanbass9 for sending this bottle to me. Poured from bottle into a pint glass. Bottled on 8/7/08. Just a little over a year old.

A- Pours a golden, amber color. Great clarity. Produced three fingers of white, frothy head after an aggressive pour. Wonderful head retention with minimal amount of lacing. Very beautiful looking beer.

S- Pretty solid. Contained the usual scents of traditional saison: spiced peppers, brett, a nice earthy aroma. Also noticing a subtle scent of sweetness from the honey.

T- The honey really saves this beer. For a saison, I didn't really find this too interesting. While all the components in the aroma were present in the taste, they just weren't as refined. However, as mentioned before, the "infusion" of honey really adds a much needed dynamic to this beer. Right off the bat a prominent orange flavor shines through. Eventually this fades and transitions into typical honey flavors, giving the nice sweetness to the finish.

M- Medium bodied with good carbonation. Left the palate semi-dry.

D- Very drinkable. Not much more I can add here.

Overall, what lacked in the base flavors is made up with the addition of the various honeys. With a little more refinement this beer could move from being a good, interesting saison, to a phenomenal one.

Consumed on 9/27/2009 and poured into a snifter. The beer is peach orange colored with an enormous creamy white head. Retention is excellent and the lacing left clinging to the sides of the glass is thick and wicked.

The nose is zesty lemon with notes of white and black pepper, and a touch of clove. Some musty Brett is evident with subtle wet leather notes. Some orange is noticeable as well as a honey-like sweetness.

The beer opens up with a white peppery spiciness with a hint of clove and lots of lemon, with lesser notes of orange. Some sweetness is evident, and it's reminiscent of honey. The Brett is restrained and the finish is dry with lingering spicy citrus.

Beesting is a quite enjoyable and very drinkable. The honey adds complexity and imparts just the right amount of sweetness. We split the bottle three ways and I wanted more. Definitely recommended

750mL cork and caged bottle courtesy of a generous BA poured into a tulip.

Pours a bright, hazy golden orange with a little bit of sediment floating around. The head is massive and leaves thick lacing along the sides.

The aroma is dry and grassy, with more than a hint of sweetness from the honey. There is plenty of light fruit, especially pears and apples and some subdued peppery spices. There is a faint hint of funk, but it's barely there.

The taste has an initial lemony tartness that I was not expecting given the aroma. The sweetness from the underlying yeast forms a backbone along with honey-dipped pears. The finish is very, very dry and crisp, bringing back the grassy character that was so dominant in the nose.

As mentioned before, very dry mouthfeel with lively carbonation and a tad sweeter than most saisons, likely the honey coming through.

This is definitely a very good saison and the honey adds a bit of complexity and balance to the underlying dryness of the saison. Well crafted beer.

Appearance: Cloudy straw-golden, more opaque than I expected. Decent head and lacing.

Smell: Pepper, spices, clover (from the honey?), honey, apricot, tangerine, ripe banana, Belgian yeast

Taste: More malt than I wanted, some spices (mostly pepper), citrus and honey (reminiscent of lemon tea).

Mouthfeel: Decent body and carbonation.

Drinkability: Tastes like a saison with honey, not a honey saison (think chocolate ice cream vs ice cream with chocolate topping). I prefer the more standard bearers of this style.

A: Champagne-pear colored body is covered with a massive white fluffy head. Recedes fairly quickly, before forming a thin skim. Slight lacing on the glass.

S: Apples, pears, orange-honey, grass, slight pepper notes, and some funky belgian yeast.

T: Slightly sweeter and less funky than I was expecting. Might just be a tad too much honey, over powering the barnyard funk, apples and pears. Not bad though, subtle flavoring.

M: Light-medium bodied with good carbonation and a clean finish. Not as dry as I'd prefer.

D: All-around, this is an interesting and tasty saison. The honey is a nice touch, but is perhaps a bit too overpowering as the beverage warms.

On-Tap at the brewpub/brewery, whatever it is.

A- Beesting has a very nice bold cloudy orange,tangerine color to itself. It has a nice white foam that is not very sticky leaving minimal lacing.

S- Was of a big saison with big spices and a malty background. Getting some yeast plus some fruits like apple and pears. Getting some honey in here as well, hence the name.

T- The honey is a big part of the taste and while nice kind of gets in the way of the other flavors. Spices such as pepper and others make appearances towards the middle. Has a fruity finish with pear and other additions closing this out nicely. I guess hops were used in this but don't really register.

M- A nice subtle feel on this saison. It's a well balanced saison as well(except for the huge honey) giving a great mix of spicy and fruity which IMO what makes a saison. This has a medium feel with a perfect amount of carb giving off the right amount of crispness.

D- I finished my glass in no time and wanted another right then. Glad I got to try it off the tap for a small $5 charge, $16 for a bottle may have been a bit much to make this as enjoyable. Not the lightest in ABV but a decent 8% which would make a dent after a few of these.

750ml

Brewed 6/11/08
Bottled 8/7/08

Thank you Heath for another stellar box of beer with this included, cheers buddy! Beesting confidently struts a lightly hazed apricot body that has the tendency to lean toward straw golden when backlit. The head is perfectly bright white and grows to a tall two fingers in no time, eventually settling to a one finger cap and leaving chucky sheet lacing down the glass. This saison actually has head and lacing that the Belgians strive to.

The aroma is a little fainter than I would have liked but what's there is very good. The honey adds a pleasant sweetness that's rather soft actually. Musty green apples and vibrant wildflowers lead the way with a slight candy-like nose in the back. Apricot and tangerine add a unique citric aspect that is most enjoyable. A slight mineral quality brings up the rear, very nicely done. The aroma really opens up as this one warms and raises the bar.

The flavor can't quite hit the high standard the aroma set. Clean graininess up front opens up to light floral honey and a touch of sweetness. The barley is a little musty which I'm assuming comes from the brett addition. That wet rock/mineral quality weaves in and out of the grains and musty green apple while some white pepper spiciness hits the back. The apricot and is still noticeable on the palate but much more subdued with the tangerine being hard to pull out. This is an excellent saison with an added honey complexity.

The carbonation is dialed in to perfection. A moderate body has a lighter feel when the carbonation pushes across the tongue. While the carbonation is lively it's also fairly soft. The finish has a tongue sapping dryness that is a "must have" for saisons, in my opinion. While I can't taste much in the hop department the dryness brings some bitterness out as well.

Well, this is a well made saison which automatically leads to a highly drinkable beer. A warm Sunday like today screams out for a saison of this caliber. It's hard to even set my glass down.

Bullfrog makes some delicious saisons, well the couple I've had anyway. They are on par with some of the best in the country. The two types of honey used add a great deal of complexity that is extremely enjoyable. Thanks for another great brew, Heath!