Magnolia Redux
Urban Family Brewing Co.

 

 

 

 

05/26/2017

 

 

 

great beer, one of their best so far, and while i think they all have basically the same brett profile and i am not in love with it, it works better here than in most of their other uses for it, and this represents some of their best work. the label art is stunning, and the beer is just as pretty, really pale, mostly clear, straw colored, and with a rising airy champagne bubbly head on it. a tiny bit of the cat pee hop thing, but its something i get from amarillo more often than not, not a beer flaw. the hops are maybe a little faded, not sure my bottle is fresh, but i like the way the brett and the hops interact, fruit notes and fruit notes, green apple, lemon, lime, white grape, its great! the grain base is really light, pils and pale wheat types it seems, not much else, but really perfect for the other flavors, it all stays so light ad alive. the brett is warm and overly flavorful, i think thats often true in their wild beers, like its not all the way figured out yet, but it has a real rustic farmy mustiness about it that i think is a cool contrast to the freshness of the malt and the hops. some juiciness in the finish, highly aromatic almost makes me taste ipa notes here, tons of funk, simple but layered, and real good. the best part is the feel, which is bone dry and pops like champagne, past effervescent to almost frenetic. i hope this is a sign of things to come from urban family, who has been all over the map in my experiences so far...

 

 

I don't see any bottle date listed on the bottle or label.

Appearance: The body is hazy with a light gold straw color. The head is thick, white, and fluffy. It slowly fades down to a shorter head. It retains a very nice looking head and leaves some spotty lacing.

Aroma: It has a strong urea aroma with lemon and what smells like the oily and sticky outside of a hop bine. The aroma is addicting.

Taste: It has more of that strong herbal character reminiscent of the outside of the hop plant more than the straight lupulin; not vegetal but just a deep earthy and herbal character. There is also this bright lemon and grapefruit flavor without all of the bitterness. Not a lot of flavor at the end. It's a great tasting beer but the finish just drops off.

Mouthfeel: No sourness and very little bitterness to the beer. It is light bodied and easy to drink. Good carbonation. Off-dry finish.

Overall: It's an amazing farmhouse ale. I think that this would also be a good bridge for either hop lovers or farmhouse ale lovers looking for something transitional. It has a lot of hop flavor without the bitterness. The herbal character of the beer goes a long way to compliment the farmhouse style and the bright lemon character really elevates the beer. I would highly recommend it and I would definitely buy it again.

 

 

 

 

I'm not a huge saison fan but this is good. good color with better mouthfeel than most farmhouse beers. taste is typical funk but end palate is nice with notes of fruit and melon. overall a good saison that leans toward a crossover ale like a light Belgian ipa. i would reccomend this beer to anyone interested in belgain stuff. only drawback was the price.