'Merica
Prairie Artisan Ales

 

A - Pours a hazy gold with a large fizzy white head. The head fades slowly leaving a heavy amount of soapy lacing.

S - Aroma is Belgian yeast, white grapes, peppercorn and clove.

T - The taste is candied lemon, pear, apricot, white wine, Belgian yeast, white pepper and floral hops.

M - Light body with medium/high carbonation. Soft mouthfeel with a big crisp finish.

O - Really solid saison.

Small sample from bottle, at a 4th of July tasting. Nice farmhouse kitchen / brett and Nelson Sauvin character in both aroma and flavour. Might well sample again.

 

12 oz can from 4 pack, dated 5/19/20, into Plougshare glass.

A pale straw color forms a light straw-blonde with a creamy cap of 1 finger, receding quickly to a ring leaving bubbly lace up the sides.

Aroma of clove and funky cornbread, with some hay, fruity banana esters, and pale grain.

Flavor is of cornbread, spoiled hops, banana pudding, white grape, cactus, some clove, a little pale malt, and tin. It's complex I'll give it that.

Feel is crisp and carbonated but starchy throughout, and has a slight mild burn on the finish.

Overall, I've had this once before and wasn't super impressed with it, but for its price on the bargain shelf, I figured I'd give it another go. This was still a bad purchase.

Price paid : $4.99 / 4 pack
Would buy again : no

 

 

 

Pours straw gold and slightly hazed with decent creamy head and solid lacing.

Complex fruit aromas hit the nose. Orange, lime, lemon, white grape, peach, pineapple, papaya. Mild herbal, woody, and earthy notes.

Light honey sweetness on the tip of the tongue is quickly surrounded and overcome by tart, funky, dry goodness. Watermelon rind, green apple, white grape, and white cranberry on the fruit side; white pepper, oak, ginger, and chardonnay on the herb and spice side. Underneath it all, a steady, funky, astringent character. The finish is wheat-berry tart and mildly bitter with just a hint of alcohol warmth and background notes of apple cider. Very vinous in its delivery.

Medium bodied, well-carbonated with very small satisfying bubbles, and ashy-dry at the finish.

A top-notch saison with solid but judicious funk and bitterness

 

 

 

12oz can stamped CAN05.09.2020 poured into a straight sided glass at fridge temp 6.6% ABV. The beer pours hazy amber tinted yellow with off white head. The head recedes to a rocky cap and leaves bits of lacing on the way. The aroma is fruity with white grape and pineapple featured along with some funk. The taste is barely tart and sweet mixed as the malt body, hops and yeast all collide. Funky with hints of white grape, white wine and pineapple ending in a mildly bitter finish. The mouthfeel is soft, medium bodied with below average carbonation and a dry finish. Overall, good, but not my preferred saison package. Not a fan of the Brett and wine yeast.

Loved the can art!

Poured from said can into a tulip glass. Hazy light yellow color with good head and nice lacing. Refreshing floral smell and taste. Hint of lemon and grass. Excellent beer for food.

UPDATE 6/12/20 - I never edit reviews, or at least rarely, but I just had this on tap in the tap room, and it is noticeably better than it was canned. My overall for this on tap would be probably 4.25 or 4.5. Try this on tap.

Original review:
Poured from a 12 oz can, no date visible.

Pours a hazy gold color with a foamy, eggshell white head. Head retains fairly well. Some lacing.

Smell is faint, but very present is rose hips, honey, maybe even some lavender.

Taste follows the nose, but is much more powerful. Lots of clove, lavender, honey, some sweet fruit quality (honeydew?), lavender, and something skunky. Lots going on here - I only listed what I could clearly make out but there are likely more flavors there, specifically something grainy that adds to the texture.

Mouthfeel is medium. Carbonation is high and frothy but not in an offputting way. Aftertaste lingers and feels a bit acidic on the tongue.

Overall, I think I am finally starting to appreciate and enjoy farmhouse ales more, thanks to Prairie specifically.

 

farmhouse notes, banana, clove, pepper, white grapes, white wine, stone fruit, apricot, peach, lemony citrus, some leather, barnyard, with floral earthy herbal grassy hops

 

 

 

 

 

Bottled April 27, 2017 (117th day of 2017), hoping this has developed nicely.

Pours a great golden hue, with a pressured pop and lots of frothy white head that rises up and bubbles over the brim of the glass. It settles to about a quarter inch and leaves small spots of lace around the inside.

Really nice farmhouse nose to this. Wildflower honey, honeydew, and (agreeing with some other observations) a soapy quality to it. I'm getting a really noticeable rose hip aroma as well, giving the overall smell a perfumey quality. Not in any way offputting, more a unique, inviting profile.

A pretty similar flavor profile to what became indicative of the nose, with a return of that floral rose as well as barnyard funk, and malt. A more present lavender quality also comes out and compliments a predominance of Brett throughout. Not too bad, but a little all over the place. These qualities worked more for the nose than they did for the flavors.

Frothy, full mouthfeel. The carbonation was heavy yet soft, giving a breadiness to the overall feel. There's a finishing hint of boozy warmth on the back end, but the mouthfeel was good and familiar for a more Brett-forward farmhouse ale.

 

 

 

 

Merica is close to a great saison. Refreshing. Distinctive. Paired well with a simple summer meal (a herby potato salad.)
This ale Looks inviting, big fluffy head that sticks around. Smells get interesting with the brett and fruity Nelson that, later, take on a lavender scent. Tastes largely emerge the same way; fruity then herbal/floral. As this warmed , it became less enjoyable and all the herbs (including hops) left my mouth a bit too dry.

The bottle I have is quite different than the one below. I don't know if the new owners (Krebs) are updating the packaging as they often do. But Overall, this was a good experience and I look forward to more from Prairie (this being only my 2nd.)

As a quick brewer review... Prairie Artisan Ales has come a long way since 2012. Tons of accolades. But most interesting to me is their two main styles are so different: imperial stouts and farmhouse ales. I am going to stick with their saisons for a couple of years until I figure out their complexity. They seem to have the yeast mastered and innovate the grains also.

 

There is a ridiculously small date code printed in yellow lettering which is located about half-way between where the shoulder and neck would be on a regular bottle. I didn't even notice it until 2/3 of the beer had been poured out. The code is: "0977100 09:33 11617"

Appearance: The beer pours with a massive white head that lingers forever, seemingly never wanting to go away. It has a hazy body that is a light shade of gold. Fantastic retention and lacing.

Aroma: It smells a bit like old honeydew melons and wildflowers. After smelling the beer for a while it takes on a bit more of a floral soap aroma. A strong perfume aroma starts to build as the beer is consumed. When the mouth and nose are left alone from the beer they have this urea-like quality that steeps the senses.

Taste: Oddly there is a good deal of alcohol that comes through noticeably on this beer. Even on the first sip it came through along with the potpourri of retronasal aromas and complementary flavors. The beer tastes like a perfume of flowers. It has a very light tart fruitiness.

Mouthfeel: The beer feels light and well carbonated. It ends perfectly, giving way to both flavor and aroma. The character of the beer on the palate is such that it acts like a canvas. Rather than standing out on its own it acts perfectly as a base for this beer.

Overall: It's always nice to find a surprise, and this beer was one. It is exactly what you want to see, smell, and taste when somebody hands you this style of beer. It's a bit funky, a bit fruity, a bit spicy, it's floral, and it gives you all of it at once. It delivers everything in large and copious amounts. I would buy it again. Farmhouse Ales and Saisons can change from year to year given their unpredictable nature, but for 2018 I can whole-hardheartedly say that you should buy and try this great beer out.

 

 

 

Picked this up on my trip out west last month, somewhere in Nevada. Finally got around to this tonight and boy, was this one funky and crazy beer! It exploded out of the bottle when I opened it as it was quite "live" as it tasted that in every sense of the word. This was a slow sipper that had a lot of nuances to it and wouldn't appeal to every imbiber, but I did appreciate how different and unique this was!

Interesting pour to this was the beer was a muted gold, cloudy, and full of head that streamed out of the bottle as I opened it. Lots of sediment on the bottom too, as that had to be swirled out. Once that settled, this looked pleasing as it filled up my pint glass and was oddly pleasing to the nose. Lots of white wine, funky good, yeast, and floral spice. Most of the lacing was scattered and not in the form of rings but it was present, which was on par with the level of thickness of this beer. The hops took a back seat to the funk and earthiness of this beer but it was enjoyable once it warmed up, as it felt like it was aged in wine barrels. Somewhat dry and not as carbonated as the onset of bubbles led me to believe, this had a faint slickness in the aftertaste; serving as proof of the presence of the Nelson Sauvin hops...

The amount of alcohol was just right as I could feel this warm me up a bit when all was said and done. Loved the label and this beer was a good example of the state of American craft brewing - well-done, unique, and artisan. Worth the price for something different from the norm!

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoyed on draft at Brew and Co. Bedford, NY, and now reviewed from a 1/2 growler.

Pours light and hazy, delicate cap leaves minor spotty lacing.

Faint sniff, with some leafy funkiness.

The excitement here really is when this one is experienced over the palate...light earthy/leafy/forest floor/yeasty/wheaty notes, some ripe subtle fruitiness, dry hops in the finish...gotta love a brett saison...complex, smooth, soft in the mouth n quite tasty....went great with a bite of cheese, crusty bread and peppery salad