Four Flower
Beau's All Natural Brewing Company

600 mL bottle from the LCBO; dated Aug 20 2018 and served at cellar temperature.

Pours a bright, clear golden-yellow hue with a bit of flocculence, generating one finger of smooth, creamy white head that survives for the better part of ten minutes. An eighth-inch cap of meringue-like foam lingers on, surrounded by a bubbly, frothy collar and a narrow band of lacing - looks great to me. The aroma is flowery and herbaceous, but not quite perfume-y, backstopped by notes of oatmeal, doughy pale malt, nectar and light caramelized sweetness. A tad woodsy and fruity, too, with muddled suggestions of orange, apple and stone fruit.

A reasonably well-balanced, mellow-flavoured herbed ale - perhaps even approachable, at least when compared to some of the other Beau's gruits I've sampled in the past. The malt backbone is clean and flavourful, imparting notes of doughy bread, grainy wheat and oats, which come through alongside subtle nectar sweetness and indistinct fruitiness - orange, apple, blueberry and elderberry all come to mind. Meanwhile, the quartet of flowers gives the profile a distinctly floral/herbaceous character that lasts throughout the sip; hints of earthy bark and a weakly bitter, herbal note round off the back end, with the aftertaste leaning dry. Medium in body, with middling carbonation levels that start off crisp and prickly, but soften considerably as you sip your way through the glass - by the midpoint, it started feeling more smooth, soft and slick on the palate. Easy to drink for the style, but still not something I'd want to session all night.

Final Grade: 4.03, an A-. I wasn't expecting much from Four Flower, and yet it turned out to be one of the best Beau's gruits I've tried in quite a while - up there with their NooBroo and Original Gruit, which are my two favourites in that category. The flowers are an interesting addition - easily noticeable, but not obnoxiously so - while the yummy malt bill ties everything together admirably. Even at $6 per, I'd be willing to buy a few more if the opportunity arises... unfortunately, the 2018 stock is starting to dwindle, so I'll have to keep my eyes open for a summer '19 batch.