Midwest Gold
Perennial Artisan Ales

 

 

16oz can. Poured out a clear, straw-yellow color with a small, off-white head of foam. It left sudsy lacing on the glass. It smelled of honey, yeast, caramel and cracker. Sweet honey taste with caramel, toffee and subtle spices.

 

Tastes pretty good, but not a top-shelf Saison!! Poured from a 16 oz. can into a tulip glass, this beer poured a clear bubbly gold on the first pour and hazy gold after that. The clear pour really featured lots of bubbles and every pour displayed a bubbly white head with average/some better than average retention. There were faint wisps of lacing on the glass. Aroma and taste included a lemony presence and Belgian style yeast, Overall very pleasant. What was missing was the "funk" - the "horse blanket and barnyard" dankness present in the great Saisons. Mouthfeel was light with great carbonation. In all, a tasty brew but if you are in the mood for a classic Saison, this ain't it.

This is my 11th from Perennial and 9 have been saisons. That tells you lots about both of us. They like to brew my favorite style (I have over 200% more saisons than my #2 style, the wits) and I look for Perennial's saisons. (This one courtesy of Chicago's The Beer Temple.) But, it hasn't always been that way. My first Perennial attempts were Brett-heavy and I'm Brett-shy, Brett-moderate at best. Yet, I stuck with Perennial and I'm glad I did. Midwest Gold proves my instincts. This 13 year old knows how to brew saisons well in excess of its young age.

This is a very good table ale. Tonight, I had it with not much... a simple soup and a bowl of brown rice. And Midwest Gold made it all better.

Poured into my Beer Temple tulip, Midwest Gold Looks only slightly above normal without much foam or protein swirls. But putting it to my nose is a different story: Smells are a full-on light fruit medley. Tastes are largely the same, a nice semi-sweet beverage flavored modestly with herbs and honey that help serve to wash down a not-so-good meal that is lightly flavored. In my mouth, Midwest Gold is light... but that's OK because it has rice and we need to accept rice more as an acceptable substitute moving forward into the weird world of climate change and crop failure.

Be sure to pour the whole can to get the cloudy saison look of pale yellow with this beer.

Nose is pretty muted, maybe some lemony pear notes.

Taste is similar yet far more pronounced on the tangy lemony side. I get tart pear with a good helping of white grapefruit from the hops or some lemon pith. Just a tinge of honey as it warms .

Feel is crisp and on the lighterr side of medium body.

Overall a really nice tangy saison.