Mornington Peninsula Saison
Mornington Peninsula Brewery

Tried on-tap at the Local Taphouse in Darlinghurst. They seem to have had a good range of MP's brews in recently, which is great.

This one pours a cloudy deep golden colour, almost tending to orange, which I think is quite dark for a saison. Head is fine, but a little bit filmy, leaving some slight white sheeting lacing. Very fine bead. Good depth in the body. Looks good.

Nose is surprisingly spicy, and certainly lacking some of the saison organics and funk. Slight peppery notes and a leafy banana character, that doesn't have enough grunt to be earthy. More of a sweetly spicy and rubbery note. Interesting.

Taste is good. Smooth and sharp, but leavened with a spice character which refreshed and cleanses the palate. Organics come through here, giving a bit of earthy bitterness. Still, not a lot of acidity or funk, but it's pleasant. Finish is smooth with an almost vanilla sweetness.

Again, it doesn't strike me as classically "Saison", as it's missing some of the funk, the rawness, the acidity and the rustic genesis. However, it's a tasty and drinkable brew, and a nice one to see on MPBrew's rotation.

Tried on tap at the brewery.

Slight pale gold colour, mild brown tinge to it and considerable haze with light bead. Head is off-white and sunk quickly to a ring of whispy lace. Could use a more opaque haze - or at least it wouldn't be unwelcome in the style - and more head, but decent anyway.

Smells very funky. A salty, corporeal aroma with complex bouquet of fresh orange, barnyard animal smell, some peppery spice and lavender. Maybe a bit on the rank side, but it's plenty saison-y and there's plenty to like here as well.

Taste strikes me as a bit subdued at first. Quite sweet on the assault with mild caramel malt that then starts to gather steam, developing rich earthy flavours midway. Some barnyard funk with soil, hay and a corporeal edge round out the mid-palate. Some nice bitterness late, slightly phenolic with a twang of citrus at the very back. Really quite a drinkable saison with good complexities that aren't too heavy to lower its accessibility.

Fine tingly texture with a slight viscous body. Very nice.

Great beer here by the MP brewery. Saison seems to me a difficult style to get right and not many Aussie breweries are trying it. But this is stylistically bang on the money and has enough pleasant flavours not to put off the average lager drinker.

(Once I'd finished my reviews of my four-beer sample paddle, I put the half-full glasses in the midst of my three not-really-beer-drinking friends to taste, and this one came out the favourite.)

Nice job.

I had seen on twitter (@mpbrew) that they had just released their Saison a day or two prior to my visit and that was just what I wanted on this balmy end-of-summer afternoon.

Ice-cold with a touch of fruity yeast, a handful of doughy malts, a modest yet kissable hop-bite and a bright lemon-pepper zest made this glass of beer a winner. In fact, of the three I drank (plus the two others I sampled) this was by far my favorite offering.

A - Hazy, dark golden with a 2cm white head that falls quite fast.
S - As cliche as it sounds lemon citrus notes with pepper spice hints.
T - Light, clean pale malt with citrus % pepper flavours just like the smell.
M - Seemed to be undercarbed, which could explain the quick falling of the head. Body was the lighter side of medium but still quite dry.
T - A pretty decent Australian Saison. Well worth trying if you get the chance.