Clouds Of Pale Gold
Urban Family Brewing Co.

Odd sized bottle. Poured out a hazy, pale gold color with a huge head that came close to foaming over. It took multiple pours. It smelled funky (Brett) with some grains and caramel. Funky taste up front with sweet caramel and a subtle spiciness.

 

 

Poured into a tulip with some gushing but I was able to hold back and slow the pour to get enough into my tulip.
The appearance was a soft golden dark yellow to almost paper orange color. The head was contained enough but was allowed to slide off at a nice pace. Sly messy lace.
The aroma had a nice level sweet to brisk sour lemon pulp and rind lending a hand slightly to some bitterness with the rind part. Fresh scents of dandelion/grassy/floral qualities play with the overall aspect about it.
The flavor was moderately sweet flowing through the lemon pulpiness and ultimately pulling in a sour sort of stickiness over the floral/dandelion notes. Sticky sweet lemon aftertaste.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied, perhaps a slight touch under with a fair sessionability about it. Carbonation felt fine along my tongue. ABV felt appropriate. Finish was semi-sticky and floral, light lemon here.
Overall, as a saison, it works. Me, I didn't mind the "Meyer lemon" in this, but I can understand why not a bunch of people are going to like this. It could be a bit too much for some.

i love the concept and i love the execution, this is definitely one of the best beers i have had from these guys, if not the single best, and they have either dialed the recipe in over successive batches, or this has aged with the best of them, i neglected to check a date, but wow is this drinking expertly right now. house culture wild saison with dandelion flowers and greens as well as meyer lemons, simply beautiful. remarkable clear and bright in the glass for what it is, looking more refined than a lot of their others in this style, and with a puffy white head that looks like a summer cloud itself, floating lazily by high in the summer sky. the nose is great, but the flavor is incredible, the fresh meyer lemons front and center with the mature and funky brett complexion. i get a little of that french saison white wine type yeast with this, but a lot of funk too, but almost no sourness, or rather very little of the classic bacterial acidity, despite some clean lemony tang here, yeast or fruit derived it doesnt much matter. i love the dandelion flowers, but the greens give it a wonderful earthy and peppery bitterness, like arugula, green tea, and burdock or something, organic in a cool new way, and the base beer seems delicate enough to allow these to be tasted honestly and wholly. its amazing, and the carbonation effervesces and this feels alive and special on my palate. the flowers with the zesty sweet lemons are fabulous too, and this is one of a kind. great use of some cool ingredients, and for once with these guys, the execution finally matches the ambition of the idea. great to see. dont miss this one!

 

 

Moderate pour yields a 3/4 inch white head over a straw colored body with minimal lacing. Head is gone in a few minutes with the head not quite coming back after a few swirls. Nose of citrus, herb, and slight spice. Taste of citrus, grass, and pepper. Nice feel with a nice crisp finish. Overall, another solid offering from UFBC.

 

 

 

 

 

Reaching past the pantry and into the orchards of southern California and into the botanicals of the vast midwest prairies, the funk and fauna that puts Urban Family brewers on the craft beer map leads them to soak their saison in dandelion and meyer lemon for extra floral grassiness and a bright citrus pep.

Clouds of Pale Gold pours an expected goldenrod color with a doughy, foggy haze. Its pillowy white froth carries the musten perfume of weathered woods, damp cellar and faint horse hair. Its grassy and floral scent is bright and citrusy before leading into a taste of fresh baking bread, honeysuckle, a soft powdered sugar sweetness and a hint of vegemite.

The ale's funk-forward flavor retreats along with its low lying sweetness. What replaces those flavors are a dry and peppery melange. Peppercorn, soft and fragrant woods, cumin and chive promotes those Belgianesque qualities but the zest of meyer melons allows for a tangy, bitter and bright taste. Nuances of white wine, green apple, gooseberry and melon roll on, just behind the lemon zest. Firmly bitter, the hops and dandelion allow for a strong grassy undertow to frame a bitter and herbal finish.

Medium-light and trending dry over the course of the session, the beer's strong peppery and earthy character wins out even with the piquant acidity of lemons working hard to balance. Peppery chardonnay and cider once again reintroduce the earthen mustiness of its scent in a retro olfactory sort of way with a brief aftertaste of lemon and burlap.

Poured from a 375ml bottle a hazy yellow under a one-inch thick white head which fades slowly to a thin cap and yields spotty lace. Aroma is yeasty, lemony, Brett funk, grass/hay, herbal spices. Flavor is twangy/tart from the Meyer lemons, bright and clean Brett, county springtime in a glass. Light body and medium carbonation. Finishes tart/lemony and yeasty/herbal. Refreshing.