Liquid Swords (2018)
Oxbow Brewing Company

Drank 09.29.23 - Gotta say, this is a damn near perfect beer. Aged beautifully. Tasty as fuck. Wow.

 

Poured from a bottle purchased from The Cheese Shop

Look: Pale gold with a thin white head

Look: Hay, funk, dried apricots , smarties, oak, and lemon zest.

Taste: Much like the nose. Hay and lemon zest on the attack mellows to a whole wheat and honey body with smarties like flavor on the edges. Finish is clean and a little salty with tons of oak.

Feel: Medium bodied. Dry and clean. No alcohol. Bright carbonation. Light plus acidity.

Overall: Another banger from Oxbow. I enjoyed this year better then last year.

oak barrel aged wild saison type here, a stronger one from these guys, and a unique little beer, quite distinctive from a lot of their stuff, and nowhere near as delicate as a lot of it, a fun bottle of beer to be sure, but maybe not my favorite in their portfolio. to me there is more residual sugar here than there needs to be, a honey and vanilla note to it, obviously some of that is an impression left by the barrel, but this could be drier than it is, the sweetness seems almost generic to me, like its not really contributing much to the flavor. there is some sourness here, but its slight and its balanced, the funkiness is where its at, which is what i generally know and love oxbow for, rustic and farmy certainly, but there are also some cleaner saison notes to this, esters of white wine, peach, mango, and green pear. the woodiness is strong, as flavorful almost as the yeast in this, with a newness about it that contrasts with the overall maturity of the beer. slightly herbal before the slow fade at the end, lots of brett in the mix, and vinous overtones as well. good carbonation but this still feels quite dense as they go, and there is just a little alcohol peaking through. i thought this might be more dramatic in terms of flavor, its not boring, but its not as captivating for me as a lot of the oxbow stuff has been. a fun one to share, and the yeast profile measures up to much more sought after beers in the style, which is always the case with these guys, but i would go back to many of their other saisons before i would reach for this one again...