2nd Beer Of The Apocalypse Series: War
Backlash Beer Company

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a small fizzy head that fades fairly quickly, but nice bubbles streaming up to reinforce it, bit of lacing, very clear honey orange color with a slight rosy hue.

Nose has light saison and light Belgian aromas, a bit of a golden Belgian malt aroma, faint straw, some wheat characters, very light grainy grassy thing, touches of citrus and rind, pretty much no spices and farmhouse like aromas, faint candi sugar and sweetness... just a touch of an earthy spicy rye.

Taste starts with a weird earthy character, actually it gets a little plasticy, some phenolics that cut through and bring an unhappy taste, then into some esters and what seems like it should be booze but not quite. A light yeasty bready taste too, and just a touch of straw and grass, a little wheat and grainy flavors but not much. The wheat really seems to come through more and it almost becomes a white beer, with light lemon peel and very faint coriander like spice, and little citrusy orange zest too. Again faint candi sugar and sweet malt characters. Very little farmhouse, and I get very little of hte spicy rye character. Bitterness comes through with light grassy hops and a bit from the rye. Finish is sticky sweet, more grassy slightly herbal bitterness, more phenolics and long lingering phenolic taste and slightly tingly character (probably from the phenols and not booze).

Mouth is med bodied, lots of carbonation too much actually.

Overall quite a letdown. I had huge hops for a farmhouse beer with rye, but it had very little of either character... it had way too much on the phenolics and candi flavors, bitterness isn't great either, not a great beer, esp for Backlash.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

War opens to a spicy nose that perfectly represents farmhouse ales: peppery, funky, slightly lemony sour, and yeasty, with a good bit of fruit thrown in to balance things out. The fruits here bring mainly pineapple and banana, with lesser touches of cherry, berry, and orange to lessen the tartness, these mixed with bits of brown sugar and caramel. The spices are hard on pepper, thanks to the rye, with clove not far behind. There’s also a good bready base, with rye bread, toast crust, wet grain, and bits of chewy marble rye. Hops add a touch of lemon, as well as a smidgen of pine. As a whole, the nose is very nice, the aromas present in decent strength and being nicely nuanced, maintaining a good balance.

On the tongue, the beer introduces itself with a spicy, funky, sour kick, peppery rye and clove mixing with pineapple and banana in a manner reminiscent of Belgians, but these joined by the funky sour Saison notes, as well as bits of lemon from the hops. Lesser flavors include berry, cherry, and orange fruit esters, as well as marble rye breads and toast crust, and bits of brown sugar. The aftertaste is largely a continuation of the main mouthful, with even more peppery kick, and lingers for a good while on the tongue. Mouthfeel is medium-light to medium, and carbonation is medium.

Overall, this is very nice Saison, and the rye addition brings out a very nice peppery kick that nicely complements the funk and sour, and plays well off of the lemons and breads. The beer as a whole is nicely flavored and mostly well balanced, edging perhaps slightly more toward the sour funk than is necessary, but still being very drinkable.

 

 

 

Large bubbled head that settles to a single layer. Leaves some spots on the glass. Lightly cloudy with a dark gold/light amber color.

Very earthy smell. Think split pea soup.

Crisp body with a higher level of carbonation. Tastes "darker" than the color indicates--as if there is a dash of chocolate malt added. The finish features a light pepper flavor. Moderate aftertaste time-wise.

Appearance: Mild haze on a golden yellow beer. Looks the part although clarity is a small issue; Great retention and surprisingly strong lace

Scent: Very German; couldn’t possibly be the smoky scent emanating from the surface, could it? Flowery, deeply malty with some mineral-rich earthy scents and light spicy hops/rye

Taste: Deep malt foreground fights with and subsumes whatever bitter hoppiness was supposed to be in the finish. Black pepper, floral hops, spicy rye, caramel

Mouthfeel: A bit on the prickly side with some sharp touches of carbon dioxide. Feels under-attenuated given the weird slickness/sweetness of the malt

Drinkability: This beer tends to shine here as it drinks easy and is fairly complex despite its flaws. Not bad at all, but kind of off and seems like it could be pushed further

Overall: Not sure this is exactly what they were going for but it's drinkable and enjoyable. In terms of art direction and label quality, it's fantastic and unique. I think the recipe might be in need of tweaking.

Read full review @ http://blogs.lowellsun.com/beer/2013/01/21/backlash-war/