Smuttlabs Nótt
Smuttynose Brewing Company

Pours with the color of a stout. Rich, chocolate color as dark a brown as you can get, and it looks thick. It springs an enormous beige head that I guess reflects that this is a famhouse ale. The head eventually collapses to a thin layer of soapy bubbles.

The aroma is sweet chocolate with a little bit if berry and a little bit of apple. There is not much reminding me that this is supposed to be a dark saison. I would guess Belgian style stout as there is just enough yeast characteristic to give me that clue.

The taste reveals a bit more. There is the sweet and chocolatey malty, but it is tempered by a little funk, the apple and red berry notes amp it up a bit. There is ample earthiness, a touch of sour, and bitter char on the finish. The flavors are not as co-operative as they could be. It is almost two distinct beers. As the taste fades, a bit of pepper and a little licorice come in to play inproving the aromatics.

Feel is light, modertate to high carbonation. Slight stickiness, reasonably dry.

Now...this bottle is from September 2015, yet I bought it in the summer of 2017 at the brewery for ten bucks. That is either shame on me, or the brewery saying this stuff ages well. It is certainly an interesting beer, but not sure if ticks enough boxes to be a saison. But it is not a stout or porter either.

Poured from a brown 16.9 oz. bottle. Has a black color with a 1.5 inch head. Smell is of roasted malts, dark fruits. Taste is roasted malts, smoke, licorice, hints of spices. Feels medium/full bodied in the mouth and overall, not what I expect from this style, but still a decent beer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picked up a 500 ml bottle in late May from TW Arrowhead for $7.99. Bottled in December 2015.

Beer poured black with a nice off white head upon the initial pour.

Nose is roasty and nothing much else.

Taste is roast forward with some hints of dark fruits.

Feel is light to medium bodied and true to the style.

Overall a pretty good beer if you like this style. Definitely not for everyone.

 

I obtained this 500mL single bottle for $6.99 at Prost! Specialty Beer and Wine, North Hampton, NH. Bottled December 2015. I poured it cold into a Smutty pint glass.

Super foamy. A gentle pour filled 3/4 of the glass with a dense, cake like, mocha colored foam that took quite a while to settle. Getting a full glass took maybe 5 minutes from the initial pour. This gave me plenty of time to enjoy the aroma though, so perhaps there's a silver lining. The brew itself is a very dark brown oily color that reveals nothing even when held to a bright light. The smell is delightfully thick with chocolate malts and some berry-like overtones. The body is thin and dry with a nice bit of roasty malt backing which balances the carbonation well without making it heavy. The taste has a mild chocolate malty base, some soda/ saline kinda aspects (typical of a farmhouse style). The hops and yeast profile manifest as a pleasant sour cherry bitterness. Overall this brew is very flavorful in a unique way, with a light but complex body that lets it go down very quickly. A super drinkable brew.

Glad that my local Craft Beer Cellar got a drop-shipment of this along with a couple other thought-to-be-discontinued Smuttlabs goodies. Didn't get this when it was originally released during 12/15 but now I have one to sit down with, sip and ponder and that works for me.

I've been a proponent of dark saisons for a while even though pretty much no one else likes them. Hell, I like the idea of them more than I like the idea of "black IPA" or "blonde stout" or other similar, seemingly-sacrilegious style-blending. I think part of the reason for my feelings on this is that saisons don't really have a color or flavor-profile associated as closely with them as, say stout or IPA do these days. A saison has, as far as I know, never explicitly been a light-colored beer, just a farmhouse ale traditionally brewed in the winter in Belgium.

Anyway, on to the beer itself. What falls out of this bottle into my glass is a thick, black liquid with a massive foamy, light mocha-colored cap. Almost looks like a good ol' stout though there are some ruby-colored edges here and there that speak to this being almost, but not completely, dark as pitch. Sits in the glass nicely and bears some solid cobweb lacing as the large, three-finger head dissipates to a finger and a half over time.

Nose is laden with peculiar yet somehow familiar notes befitting the combination of Belgian yeast and a stout-esque grain bill. Notably, I'm picking up ashy tobacco, bright earthy funk, clove, baker's chocolate, musty yeast and roasted barley. Slight rustic and barnyard-y notes with some fig jam and red apple as well.

Hits the tongue with a big dose of roast, dark chocolate, espresso and yeasty esters. Some of the chocolate notes here remind me of Tootsie Rolls; this kinda has that dusty cocoa powder flavor. Lightly hoppy and earthy/woody with a big cellar-like mustiness. The red apple from the nose comes across a lot here, even bringing in some "cider-like" qualities, though they mainly feel ephemeral. Slight chalky aspirin and farmhouse yeast tang join the party near the end of each sip.

Drinks more like a stout than I was led to believe by the "dark farmhouse ale" tag, but alright, I can go with that. Feel is rather heavy, almost dessert-like in stature. If it weren't for the drying, medicinal qualities of the chosen fermentation method, this would probably be quite a brutal mid-range ABV stout indeed. With the yeast presence, it's a lot quicker to barrel from start to finish of each sip, lingering very little other than some quickly-fading chocolate and roast notes on the tongue. Carbonation is on the high side of medium with a big showing towards the middle of each sip. I feel like this is probably only for open-minded beer fans, as a lot of it feels off-kilter from the outset, but it surprisingly comes together decently.

I wouldn't say this is really a "dark saison" at the end of the day and that's unfortunate as the "style" could use more flag-bearers. It's really more of a Belgian style stout when all's said and done, and I usually find those less interesting. That said, this is a pretty fun (though expensive) drink. A one-and-done, though, for sure.

 

 

 

 

Bottle from the Brewery
Dark brown with faint garnet at the edges, huge frothy tan head that persists forever. Roasty fruity light chocolate nose with plenty of yeasty esters. Fruity chocolate dipped fruit with a bit of warming alcohol in each sip. Somewhat of a cross between a dubbel and a saison imho. Alcohol is a bit too present as a spicy note for my tastes.

 

Dark saisons often get dominated by the roast, and it plays a big part here as the farmhouse spices amplify the dry, bitter flavor. But as it warms there are light hints of cocoa and dark bread crust. Overall it's a little heavy on the bitterness for my liking, but I also appreciate that it's big character without a thick body. Definitely try this out.