Dutch Door
Sante Adairius Rustic Ales

 

 

 

 

 

an absolutely expert beer, possibly my favorite one we had on our visit to their awesome new santa cruz location. its a wood aged saison with honey, brewed for the big toronado anniversary from what i understand. its a killer beer, pale yellow and effervescent from the bottle, holding its big bubbled airy head for quite some time, not losing any of its carbonation no matter how long it sits in my glass. the aroma is awesome, and there is definitely a raw honey character to it. i mean, its mostly fermented down to dry, no denying that, but there are some residuals from the honey other than the sugar that i like lot, a floral vibe for sure, polleny and possibly orange blossom, with a waxy richness to it, really nice. there is a now familiar sante funk to it as well, saison yeasty, white winey, and bretty without very much acidity. the lemony notes that are here go great with the honey and keep this feeling really springy and fresh, which the enormous carbonation level also helps with. horse barn, musty basement, and old wood seem to juxtapose the floral honey and citrus notes with an older, more rustic vibe. especially impressive beer, the right kind of wild ale for all day drinking, subtly complex, a gorgeous recipe that is on par with similar concepts from the likes of casey and side project that i have had this year. gorgeous bottle of beer!

 

Pours a slightly hazy pale with nice frothy bubbles that slowly fade away. Aroma is on point - tang, lemon zest, pepper, BA deliciousness in the realm of Hill Farmstead BA saisons. Medium light body with a nice kick at the end...flavor seemed to vary sip to sip. Nice crisp essence from the honey but little to no mead character. SARA does it again.