Dark Saison
McKenzie Brew House

App: Pours from draft at the brewery into a standard pint glass. Moderate head that settles into no head at all. Color is a deep cloudy orange-amber.

Aroma: Slight apple fruit aroma with some phenol notes, a light hop bite and a subtle farmhouse funky earthiness. Moderate Belgian quality.

Taste: Spicy candied apple. A honey-wheat front followed yeasty, earthy farmhouse middle. Moves to a fruit splash followed by a nice solid hoppiness and fruity citrus with a tangerine finish.

Mouth: The carbonation seems a bit off for a good saison - not quite full enough and not the fine bubbles characterized by other Belgian saisons. It has a medium body and perhaps too big for the style.

Drink: Yeah, despite the distance from the style this is a quaffable beer.

McKenzie's Dark Saison displays a lightly hazy, crimson-tinged, not-quite-chestnut body with brass and orange highlights beneath a creamy white head. The retention is good and it leaves some nice lacing about the glass.

The aroma is a bit limited for the style, but offers some very nice apple and non-descript dark-skinned fruits over a subtle, bready and darkly caramelish malt.

It's smooth and lightly creamy across the palate with a medium to medium-full body and delicate carbonation.

The flavor offers fruit, delicate spice, sweetish hints of dark caramel, a bready edge, and more dark fruit. It has a restrained bitterness, even with a listed 35 IBU's, due to it's rich maltiness; and it finishes drying with a fading fruit/malt combination, and a wash of yeasty and alcoholic spiciness.

Quite charming! It's rich and complex without being overdone. Very nice!