Saison
Cascade Brewing / Raccoon Lodge & Brewpub

On draught at the brewpub, served in a cervoise, Raccoon Lodge's Saison is a hazy dark orange with a small off-white collar that leaves light, scattered lace.

Smell is a perfumey, with a big herbal, tonic like vibe. Some maltiness, clove and fruit esters, but on the light side of yeast character for the style.

Taste is pretty robust on the adjuncts, but not quite overwhelming. However, the maltiness and light esters are not what I look for in the style, and the adjuncts make it come of more like a kitchen sink Belgian amber.

Mouthfeel is kind of oily, and it's lacking the dry, crisp light body that is so key to the style.

Drinkability is, eh, ok as an amber, but pretty low by my standards for a saison.

Poured into a taster at Raccoon Lodge.

appearance - transparent orange glow with a foamy head, moderate lacing

smell - floral and citrus hops, lemon, some sweet funkiness

taste - herbal belgian hops, floral nw style hops, anise adds some unique character, some sweetness, fairly complex

mouthfeel - medium bodied with medium/big carbonation, slightly dry finish

drinkability - fresh, complex, a relatively session-built beer at 6.6% abv

From the brewery:
Saison: 6.6Abv, 34 IBU
Our take on the traditional Belgian summer beer is warm conditioned and has a bright, clear orange color with a light taste that hints of licorice root and star anise. Hopped with Brewer's Gold and Golding's for their herbal flavors and finished with the floral Centennial to bring it all together.

Sampled out of the cold storage room at the brewery, had a few glasses of this, color is a clear golden yellow color, 1 1/4 inch soapy white head, some lacing at the beginning aroma has malty sweetness, floral hoppiness, lemons, bread, grapefruit, and a bit of funk, starts off with mild fruit, yeast and some Belgian qualities in the middle, finish is floral and has hints of being more hoppy later on, lots of bread later on too, slighty sweet, dry, and chewy mouthfeel, medium carbonation, medium bodied, could drink a pint or two of this and I actually did, could get heavy on the stomach later, smooth and pretty drinkable for its style though, would drink again and hopefully those guys plan on brewing more of in the future, worth checking out if possible