Lil' Relief
Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

Batch 001 bottled 5/9/16. Consumed the final weekend at the pool, September 2019. Picked up from the brewery. Limited to 200 cases? Well it must be good then (rolls eyes).

Pours a light honey like color. 1/3" virgin white head. Aroma comes with that white wine barrel saison like influence. Has the grape must feel to it.

Taste reveals a similar amount of massive barrel exposure. This thing is draped in white wine barrel. I mean seriously, I don't think I've ever had a saison that went so big on the barrel. On a scale of 1-10 barrel exposure/influence, this is a 10. When I think of say, barrel aged stouts, there is definitely a point of diminished returns with age in the barrel, but here there doesn't seem to be such a limitation. This shit slaps as the kids say. The sourness isn't simply a saison meets wild ale, it has far more of a musty, funky kind of sourness to it. Very wine like. Green apple and grape all day while maintaining a light body and good carbonation. It's a winner.

Appearance: Clear straw-yellow color with a medium sized white head that subsides to a thin white cap. A nice looking beer.

Smell: Mild musty notes with some grassy hay notes.

Taste:Tart fruit notes, modest hay notes, and mild tannic notes come through in the taste. The beer finishes moderately dry with a hint of tart fruit notes and grassy notes on the tail end. The lack of any alcohol presence is impressive.

Mouth-feel: Light bodied with a moderate level of carbonation.

Overall: A good Saison/Farmhouse ale. The flavors that are typical of this style are fairly subdued but the beer has a nice taste profile.

A good saison, nothing very special. A little let down as firestone barrel works beers almost always wow me.