Saison Borealis
The Grizzly Paw Brewing Company

 

1L howler from Sherbrooke Liquor store - another preferred grab for a kegged brew around here, as opposed to paying more than twice as much at one of the local craft beer taprooms. Just sayin'.

This beer pours a slightly hazy, medium golden yellow colour, with two fingers of puffy, silken, and somewhat creamy dirty white head, which leaves a bit of random ocean upswell lace around the glass as it quickly blows off.

It smells of bready and doughy wheaten malt, a further sweet graininess, off-dry white wine, very minor yeasty notes, a touch of benign citrus rind, tame rainbow peppercorn spice, and some weak earthy, leafy, and floral green hop bitters. The taste is gritty and grainy caramel malt, a strangely lesser cereal wheatiness, white table grapes, faintly phenolic yeast, muddled domestic citrus pith, faded mixed ground pepper, and more leafy, weedy, and estery floral hoppiness.

The bubbles are adequate in their merely servile frothiness, the body a decent middleweight, and generally smooth, with perhaps a hint of yeasty astringency taking things down a notch or so from the ideal. It finishes off-dry, but not by much - the mixed malt, yeast, and citrus fruitiness doing well to linger in a sort of harmonious fashion.

Overall, this is a decently rendered version of the style, with the hops and Lemon Verbena providing an enlivening dose of citrus goodness. Not quite sure how this all relates to the Borealis, but I'm equally not sure that I care right now.

 

We headed out to Canmore for our semi-yearly trip to Grizzly Paw, to enjoy a meal and try their current seasonals.
A quick peek on FaceBook gave us this short entry / description from the brewery:
"Come on by and try the latest seasonal on tap. A Saison Borealis! Made with french saison yeast, it gives this easy drinking ale a dry finish; and a spicy fruity flavor. This beer was finished in the fermenter with Lemon Verbena, for a bright, citrus taste."

Slightly cloudy pint with a short, shiny white head. Nose has the expected spicy yeastiness. Lots of citrus, almost lemony taste. Dry, spicy yeast finish. Smooth, crisp, easy to drink, and worked well to cut through any heavy flavors from our food. Some beers of this style have a strong and lingering aftertaste, but this was very clean. No overpowering 'funkiness'. Another winner from The Paw.