Holden
The Commons Brewery

On tap at the brewery, Portland.
Oxblood with white crust. 3.75
Big sweet dark rye nose. 4
Brown bread, crisp autumn leaf, sweet malt, and spicy rye to end. 4.25
Crisp, medium, some chew. 4

Does what it says on the tine. Sweet and spicy sides of rye, but not hugely farmy. Very Munich-y. Easy but interesting in an altbier-ish kind of way. 4.25

holden is a dark rye saison, currently on tap at the brewery. the dark rye makes it a really interesting beer, as its less of the raw peppery spice you get from the pale rye, and instead more of a nutty rye character, really cool grain flavor for this one. their yeast in some of their saison type beers is very mild, its unique to them, but its not really funky or belgian estery or anything, and this beer definitely employs the same strain. looks like a brown ale in the glass, not too too dark, staying away from the heavy roast, but still allowing some chocolate aromas and flavors to come in. i get bakers cocoa, bitterness, i get nutmeal, rye bread, and then the yeast. earthy and understated, this is an easy drinking malt forward beer that is quite unlike anything i have had, even within the style. softer carbonation, this one doesnt really sing like some of the others, gives it almost an english real ale feel to it, pulled from the cask, but its dry in the end and smooth going down. another inventive grainy beer from the commons, staying way ahead of the curve in saisons...