Life On Biére De Mars
Oxbow Brewing Company

Bottled Nov 2017, best within five years so missed a bit.

Deep gold pour with a short, white soapy head that lingers. It's a tad bit hazy.

The smell is oaky, very light sweet smoke, yeasty, slight sweet and lightly roasted malt - thinking a caramel malt. Mild spice and light funk. Sour apple.

There is a bit of oxidation in the taste, unfortunately, but not too bad. The smoke is very mild, the sweet malts come through with a little bit of toastiness. The barnyard funk is a bit stronger, and there's a pleasant level of tartness. Earthy. There's a clove/peppercorn spice, and I get a lot of Granny Smith apple. It sounds like a mess, but it's actually pretty clean and tidy. The smoke shows more in the aftertaste, but never overpowers.

Feel is medium bodied, pretty decent carbonation but not prickly. No bitterness. Strikes me as "heartier" than a lot of Oxbow offerings I've had.

Tasty and interesting, well-made, quite drinkable. Slight oxidation aside, 4 to 4.2. If I find another one, maybe try it when it's young. Oxbow beers go well with food - this seems to call for something hearty to pair up with.

 

500 mL bottle. Clear deep golden. Smells of oak, light yeasty esters, light medicinal notes. Tastes of oak, light oxidation, the slightest hint of smoke. I might not even have discerned it from the barrel and oxidation if I hadn't been told it was "lightly smoked." As I drink it, though, it does linger in the back end. Lightly tart, mineral notes, and touches of herbs. Medium body, low carbonation. Pleasant and dynamic. Nice.

 

 

2016 bottle, drank November, 2020, out of small stemmed Tree House wine glass.

Great look - clear light orange with some white head that remained through the pour.

Smell - tiny bit of smoke and a little bit of dank.

Taste - again, a tiny bit of smoke and that little bit of funk sour dank grass. Lightly Brett and mildly acidic, very accessible.

Feel - light bodied.

Overall - the light body kinda turned me off initially but after it warmed, I warmed to it. But as it warmed, I lost the smoke a bit and gained a bit of the biere de garde. Overall, a weird beer that it took me a while to enjoy, but enjoy I did. A very very light mild take on a bier de Garde, but an interesting take at that. Don’t think I’d get it again, but glad I tried it as I like to to with everything Oxbow puts out. Cheers!

November 2017 bottle from Blending and Bottling in Portland. Pours clear tan orange/amber with a finger of white head, decent lacing, smell is funky sour grassy, hints of grain/honey sweetness, taste is tart grape skin, green apple flesh, slightly tannic, finish is slightly acidic and dry, feel is light with nice carbonation. A nice blend of sweet and tart, sour apple sauce.

 

 

Pours a mostly hazy light copper amber orange color with a lasting white foam head. Smells like woody smoke, dried fruits, oak barrel, caramel malt, funky yeast, phenolic peppercorn spice, with some dusty earthy notes. Tastes remarkably clean and dry with mild smoky wood notes, tart sour dried fruits, oak barrel, caramel bready grain malt, some funky farmhouse yeast, phenolic clovey peppercorn spice, hints of banana, vanilla, with some dusty earthy grass. Feels medium bodied, smooth and slick with moderate crisp carbonation. Overall a real nice and interesting lightly smoked Bière de Mars blended barrel-aged farmhouse ale.

 

 

 

Take care this beer gushes at opening, it serves an orange body with a decent white head.
Nose is a mix of complex fruity and funky aromas, there is hint of smoke perceivable as well.
Taste is a nice tartness, lots of yeasty component, not so dry, very long after taste, we get some of that wood barrel aging.
Pretty nice texture for a 6% abv.
Quite a nice blend!

this one started with a bang, quite literally. we popped the top and it started to gush. not wanting to waste any beer, especially one that i was so stoked to crack, and one that someone else brought, my instinctual reaction was to take my mouth to the bottle and try to drink it enough to stop it. the pressure was too much, and this promptly invaded my sinuses all the way up to my eyes, beer literally spilling out of my nose, still effervescing inside my skull. an interesting (and quite painful really) way to start this experience, but once i settle into it, its well worth this small sacrifice. the is an obvious smoke to this, sort of birchy and earthy, subtle i guess, but the beer is pretty light and for me, along with the yeast, this is its most pronounced element. its got some iodine type weirdness to it, woody, this must be at least partially oak aged, musty and funky too but not acidic to any meaningful level. i get some of that acorn or fallen leafy earthiness i often get in some of the beers scratch is making, this decomposing, composty sort of organic property, its part of the smoke profile, rich not acrid, uncommon, awesome. there is some nice farmy yeast here too, an oddly delicate and refined white wine flash amidst it all, and a lightly lactic finish. its super unique overall, with gnarly carbonation, strong woodiness, but also malty in a cool way for a saison, a little more hearty and cooked. delicious beer from these guys, another one of those breweries who kills it with everything they make and doesnt get talked about all that much. very cool take on the biere de garde style!

 

Bottle: Poured a hazy bright amber color ale with a large foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of complex Brett notes with light fruity undertones, some tart notes and oak presence is quite nice. Taste is a mix of fruity Brett notes with some dry oak notes with some tart notes with some malt presence that is detectable. Body is fuller then average with great carbonation. Another solid creation from Oxbow with great balanced of Brett notes.