Saison DuBois
Santa Cruz Ale Works

Draught at Seabright Brewery. Slightly hazy straw with a thin white head. Resiny hop aroma with some pepper and dusty yeast in the back. The flavor is pretty dry and hoppy all the way through with some light fruitiness and peppery dryness in the finish. Strong bitterness is apparent against the dry malt backbone. Medium-light bodied with ample carbonation. Very clean and drying on the tongue. If I didn't know better, I would call this a slightly funky west coast IPA; dry and hoppy. I can just see the saison influence under all those hops though. A bit overt in the bitter department, but that seems par for SC Ale Works

On tap at Barclays.

Hazy golden color with a nice head.

Not too much here. Maybe a bit of pear/belgian fruitiness (location may be a problem. In a bar with a straight walled glass is not the best way to evaluate aroma).

This one is quite bitter. There is some fruit and graininess up front, but the flavor is dominated by an astringent pill like bitterness with a bit of plastic phenols thrown in. Quite hoppy, but not a very pleasent hoppiness.

Mouthfeel is fine. Not overly carbonated,

Drinkablity is low. I did not even finish my pint. The astringent bitter finish in combination with the phenols did not make for an easy drinking beer. There are MUCH better hoppy belgian beers out there (Stone Vertical Epic '08, De Ranke Bitter XX, Houblon Chouffe, etc.) Overall, an interesting style to tackle, but this one is not that great. Pass.