Hawbaker's Saison
The Farmers' Cabinet

Opener at the Farmers' Cabinet. In a small snifter.

A: The saison is pale, golden yellow and rather bright. A white head, nearly a half a finger, is like fresh fallen snow - no lacing though.

S: Aromatic? Of course! The saison brings an earthy hoppiness to an otherwise spicy yeast body. Even paler fruits (think pears) come through.

T: Spciy, fruity, and dry. The saison leads off with the earthy, herbal hops. From there, spices (anise, coriander) come through, followed by light fruits courtesy of the yeast. At the end of each sip, the ale goes very dry, as though all the sweetness was sucked out of the glass. It's not sour, just dry. All in all though, it's sure good to have another Hawbaker saison around.

M: Effervescent but dry, the saison packs more than enough hops and spices into a fairly small package.

Draft on 6/13

This along with Hawbaker's Sour Quad are head brewer Terry Hawbaker's(formerly of BullFrog) first house brews for the Farmer's Cabinet.

Pours a hazy dark golden yellow color with golden straw colored hues when held to a light and a frothy, pillowy two finger white head that has great retention, only slowly fading into a lasting cap/ring. Chunks of soapy lacing left behind.

Slightly spicy, earthy aroma with a decent barrel character with hints of earthy oak, funky saison yeast and crisp light fruit. Hints of earthy grass and straw along with some bread and sweeter notes of apple and pear.

Full bodied for the style with a surprisingly prominent oak barrel presence that counters the funky, bready yeast, zesty spice and crisp, light fruit notes. Slight creamy texture with some grassy earthiness and dry toasted oak. Zesty pepper and coriander up front followed by hints of straw, banana, apple and pear. Slight dry finish.