VII - Pu-er Saison
Wicked Weed Brewing

A: Pours a clear pale golden yellow in color with slightly more than moderate amounts of active visible carbonation rising from the bottom of the glass and some faint honey orange highlights. The beer has a finger tall mottled off-white foamy head that reduces to a patchy thin film covering the majority of the surface of the beer and a thin ring at the edges of the glass.Moderate amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate aromas of pale malts, spicy saison yeast, and earthy green tea.

T: Upfront there is a moderate flavor of pale malts with a moderate to slightly stronger flavor of spicy saison yeast. That is followed by light flavors of herbal hops and slightly stronger than moderate flavors of earthy green tea. Light amounts of bitterness are present in the finish but do not linger for long.

M: Medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Light amounts of dryness in the finish.

O: Easy to drink with well hidden alcohol and enjoyable, The green tea is a little more subtle than I might have preferred but still present and enjoyable.

 

On-tap at The Publick House for the Wicked Weed launch party on Wednesday, February 3rd for EBF week. Beautiful color and an interesting, unique beer. You get a bit of the earthy tea but not enough to put this over the top. Nice yeast character and that good saison finish. The best part was learning that "Pu'er tea" is a fermented and aged dark tea from China that can be aged from 8-75 years!

 

 

On tap:
Pours a straw-colored pale yellow, and somewhat surprisingly from its light color, not very clear (hazy). Head is fluffy white, and seemingly ever-lasting. The sides of the glass still hold some of the head.

The nose is undeniably saison, fleshy fruit (pear) notes, light Belgian yeast funk. Added to this, perhaps replacing earthy/farm/hay notes is an herbal, tea-like note, undoubtedly the namesake ingredient, noticeable mainly on a deep inhale.

The taste starts with a "sugar-deficient" apple. The tea notes are there, but the seem to compliment more typical farmhouse hay and dirt tastes than replacing them. Feel is sadly a bit watery, although I could definitely see it being tea-like, so maybe that is intentional; if so, kudos, but it still seems a tad weak. Body is light to medium light, carbonation feel a bit low, despite obvious carbonation.

As a borderline saison drinker, I appreciated this beer without loving it. Wouldn't mind having it again, but wouldn't bother me if I never got the chance.