Bandolier
Oxbow Brewing Company

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From:
Oxbow Brewing Company
 
Maine, United States
Style:
Saison
Ranked #417
ABV:
5.5%
Score:
89
Ranked #11,641
Avg:
3.99 | pDev: 8.52%
Reviews:
9
Ratings:
61
Status:
Active
Rated:
Oct 20, 2022
Added:
Apr 06, 2014
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  6
Bière de Printemps. A Malt-forward springtime farmhouse ale, with a delicate noble hop aroma.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by cufarley:
Photo of cufarley
Rated by cufarley from Maine

4/5  rDev +0.3%

May 22, 2014
More User Ratings:
Photo of tone77
Reviewed by tone77 from Pennsylvania

3.56/5  rDev -10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Poured from a 12 oz. can. Has a golden color with a 1 inch head. Smell is of green grapes, bananas. Taste is crisp, malts, banana, spices. Feels medium/full bodied in the mouth and overall is a pretty good beer.
Oct 20, 2022
 
Rated: 3.75 by HarlotBronte from District of Columbia

May 14, 2022
Photo of dano213
Reviewed by dano213 from Pennsylvania

4.31/5  rDev +8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
12oz can purchased from the fridge as a single, don't remember the price. Canned on 3/16/21, so this is exactly 8 months old. Says enjoy within 1 year on the can.

Look: Pours a beautiful slightly hazy copper color with a compact beige head that is staying put at half a pinky finger tall.

Smell: Nice aromas of mulled apple cider - cinnamon, clove, a bit of sweet, and a bit of tart, and a few shakes of black pepper. Very subtle orange peel aroma. Also, a malty and yeasty bread crust aroma. Lovely nose. If I didn't know, I might guess that this is a cider or an Oktoberfest marzen-style beer. The aromas are not bold or in your face, but they work together very nicely and allow for each component to be detected.

Taste: Delicious. The flavors very much echo the nose. Up front - subtle apple cider sweetness along with a touch of fall spices. There is a malty core to the beer, for as long as it lasts, before a wave of effervescent carbonation and dryness transform the experience to French saison territory. The finish is almost bone dry, with hints of spice (bigtime clove and ginger) and pepper and mild to moderate bitterness from the hops.

Feel: Spritzy carbonation and medium bodied.

Overall: Does Oxbow make some of the best Saisons this side of the pond? I think so. The amount of variety that they offer is also quite impressive. I'm not sure if I have seen another American brewery put out such a "country ale" malt-forward farmhouse style ale. This is a perfect beer to enjoy on a crisp fall evening.
Nov 17, 2021
 
Rated: 3.75 by bigred89 from Maryland

Oct 24, 2021
Photo of Parmesan
Reviewed by Parmesan from Colorado

4.09/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
L:. Pours a slightly dull pinkish orange with a small foamy white head and no lacing on the glass.

S:. Strong saison yeast, notes of lemon and pepper, some banana. Smells very farmhousey.

T:. Strong saison yeast, notes of lemon and pepper, a hint of banana and a light bitterness, this has a nice farmhouse taste.

F:. Medium body, spritzy on the tongue.

O:. A very enjoyable saison.
Sep 16, 2021
 
Rated: 3.72 by biteme398 from New York

May 29, 2021
 
Rated: 3.86 by cambabeer from New York

May 17, 2021
Photo of metter98
Reviewed by metter98 from New York

3.67/5  rDev -8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
A: The beer is hazy yellow in color and has hues of amber along with a light amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a quarter finger high white head that quickly settled down, leaving a patch of bubbles on the surface and a narrow collar around the edge of the glass.
S: Light to moderate aromas of biscuit hops and floral hops are present in the nose.
T: The taste follows the smell and also has hints of toasted malts. The hops contribute a light amount of bitterness.
M: It feels light- to medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This saison is easy to drink, but lacks the dryness that you would normally expect from this style. The malty flavors seem to make it more of a beer for the spring than one for the summer.

Serving type: can
Apr 22, 2021
 
Rated: 3.81 by MrDarcy from Massachusetts

Apr 20, 2021
Photo of npolachek
Reviewed by npolachek from New York

4.08/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Biere de printemps. Malt forward french farmhouse style ale beer. Great for springtime as well as the summer. crisp and great balance. Highly enjoyed. My second favorite out of the six beers on draft at the brewery.
Jul 07, 2019
Photo of Lone_Freighter
Reviewed by Lone_Freighter from Vermont

4.26/5  rDev +6.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
The appearance was a nice ruddy semi-transparent burnt yellow color with a modest white foamy head softly dieing off barely leave any lace.
The aroma had some lemon sweet to bitter rind-like character softly touching down on some grassy and earthy notes then colliding with some crisp herbal to cracked peppercorn sweetness.
The flavor leaned towards the sweet side while adding in some floral hop particles. Grassy hops and lemon rind add a spunky yet semi-soft zesty glow just before the aftertaste hits with some spice and sweet character.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied, perhaps just a touch under with a fantastic sessionability about it. Good carbonation. Mostly mellow as it rolled around my tongue. Not much of a finish, but somewhat dry, light, grassy and zesty.
Overall, it's a saison and drinks like one. I'd have again.
Jun 29, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by paulish from New York

May 17, 2019
 
Rated: 3.6 by smithj4 from New York

Apr 16, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by BEERMILER12 from Maine

Oct 11, 2018
 
Rated: 4 by Rimbimhoot from Illinois

Jun 30, 2018
 
Rated: 3.78 by acurtis from New Jersey

Jun 14, 2018
 
Rated: 4 by thoglund from New York

May 28, 2018
 
Rated: 4.25 by AirBob from Massachusetts

Apr 21, 2018
 
Rated: 4.25 by ivyman from Massachusetts

Apr 05, 2018
Bandolier from Oxbow Brewing Company
Beer rating: 89 out of 100 with 61 ratings