Rose | Night Shift Brewing

3.75/5  rDev +2.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

750ml bottle poured into my Night Shift tulip. Bottled 10.17.13, whoops...should've gotten around to this little lady sooner, methinks. Batch No. 11--this is one of the sour ones.

Pours a hazy amber with a frothy finger-high off-white head. Poor head retention--it subsides in under a minute--is counterbalanced by the stubborn collar and film of foam atop the beer. Almost no lacing to speak of--a handful of spots here and there, no more.

In the nose, tart floral rose hip notes, strong spicy and herbal rosemary, sweet honey, and a powerful yogurty lactic funk atop it all. Subtler notes of cracked black and pink peppercorns.

Taste follows the nose almost to a tee. Spicy peppercorn and tart vinegary citrus on the front of the palate is joined mid-palate by a sweeter rose hip note--which, alas, is almost immediately overpowered by wave upon wave of spicy, herbal peppercorn and rosemary. Finishes with one final kick of rye-like spiciness, a subtle note of honey, and a flash of what I swear is...vanilla? Am I crazy?

Medium-bodied, prickly carbonation. Feels slick on the palate.

On the whole, Night Shift continues to intrigue and surprise me...even when I don't necessarily love their end product. This is a very nice bottle, don't get me wrong--but the overlap of tangy floral and spicy herbal notes obscures a lot of the nuanced complexities that I look for in the saison style. Ignoring stylistic conventions, though, this remains a fairly impressive and nicely tasty effort.

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3.83/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from the tap at the brewery on September 8th, 2012.

It had an orange/pink-ish, cloudy hue to it, with an off-white foamy head. The smell was very sweet, fruity, floral, and a slight spiciness. The taste was similar to the smell. It had a spiciness to it with floral, honey and citrus flavours meshing nicely. Very great balance with the pink peppercorns, honey, and rosehips.

Would I buy it again? Absolutely.

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3.5/5  rDev -4.1%

4/5  rDev +9.6%

3.5/5  rDev -4.1%

3.5/5  rDev -4.1%

4/5  rDev +9.6%

2.25/5  rDev -38.4%

3.5/5  rDev -4.1%

3.5/5  rDev -4.1%

4/5  rDev +9.6%

3.75/5  rDev +2.7%

3.8/5  rDev +4.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

4.25/5  rDev +16.4%

4.2/5  rDev +15.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a corked & caged 750 mL bottle into a Brewer's Art goblet. Moderate hand. Bottled on: 4/1/14. Another take away from a trip to the brewery. I don't believe it was available on tap.

A: Cloudy amber body with orange tints at the periphery. 1 finger white head. Ok retention. Minimal lacing.

S: Fruity, floral Belgian yeast. Lemon juice. Peppercorn. Herbs. Rosemary. With effort I can pick out each listed ingredient, but taken together they create a harmonious, cohesive whole.

T: Lightly spicy initially with herbal and floral notes. A mild bitterness and tartness simultaneously develop to a semi-dry finish. A pleasant herbal astringency lingers on the palate. The tartness beckons another sip. Alcohol is light for 8%.

M: Moderate carbonation and moderate body that well suits the flavors.

O: Really nice saison with a bit extra tartness than average. Very impressed with much of Night Shift's stuff. Too bad I only grabbed the one.

Prost!

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3.5/5  rDev -4.1%

3.75/5  rDev +2.7%

3.5/5  rDev -4.1%

3.5/5  rDev -4.1%

4.25/5  rDev +16.4%

4/5  rDev +9.6%

3/5  rDev -17.8%

4/5  rDev +9.6%

3.75/5  rDev +2.7%

3.25/5  rDev -11%