Saison Ynez
Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

complex enough with the barrels and the yeast that i actually like it being clean, as in not a bretty funky wild type, which is how i generally prefer my saisons, but this is exotic and nuanced and woody and anything at all but samey or generic, way cool to find it on tap in idaho! golden and unassuming from the tap with a frothy and lacy cream head, pretty good clarity for the style. this has been aged an oak and definitely has a real maturity to it, takes on a lot of that, a white wine note to me, some vanilla type sweetness in the new oak sense too, and it plays so well with the esters of the yeast, belgian more than french to me, rustic but still what i would class as clean, even though this is off dry overall. i get white florals, green gooseberry, aromatic white wine, dandelion, poached pear with the skin off, orange candy, and vanilla sheet cake. faint white pepper and coriander notes as it warms, and i can both taste and feel some sturdy wheat malt in this, and so in that sense it hits almost oak aged witbier for a second, especially at temperature. nice ester profile, good mineral support, bready and cakey on the grain side, a hint of honey. the wood is as flavorful in this as any other element, and it does add a bit of weight to it. good carbonation, pretty expressive, and it changes quite a lot from start to finish in both flavor and mouthfeel. not the most dramatic beer ive had from firestone, but a really cool strong saison to almost belgian golden hybrid, smooth and different, more spring than fall to me but im into it!