Socks
Off Color Brewing

 

 

250ml bottle x2

Pours a half finger of fizzy white head into a stemless wine glass. Retention is poor and the head fades within a minute. Initial lacing looks poor as well. Body is a cloudy orange, with a medium amount of bubbles coming up. For a Saison, this looks poor.

Nose is sour, certainly a wild fermented Saison. You get some fruity Brett esters, gooseberry-like. Generally not a fan of Brett, but this smells pretty alright. You definitely get that lime, which is actually ok here and not overpowering. A little salty, smells more like a Gose at times. At first you don’t get any traditional Saison flavors, no clove or other esters, but upon agitation, this beer really opens up. The berries and citrus jump out at you, and there are some Saison spices that come through pretty well. Wild beers, Brett beers, sours, none of that is really my jam, but this smells pretty good all things considered, and pretty good for what it is. It has quite a bit going on.

Unfortunately, the flavor is heavily dwarfed by the sour, which lasts for a significant part of the palate. Towards the end you get some of those berry notes, some lime, but it’s hard to distinguish from the base sourness. Maybe a touch of oak. It’s not an in-your-face sour, and what minimal berry esters are here, do a nice job of balancing things. I don’t absolutely love this, but it’s actually one of the better sours I have had, considering I usually can’t pull any flavor out of these things.

Mouthfeel is pretty approachable, given the style. Carbonation is actually not super high, it’s medium-low. Body is quite light. It’s not overly sour, it’s on the drier side, but a little sweetness touches down for a second. Bitterness is not evident. Not bad.

Drinkability is also pretty decent for the style. This is moderate for a sour, and tasty enough to make it work.

Appearance turned out poor, zero lacing and no head, unsurprising for a sour.

Overall this is actually pretty decent, it definitely grew on my over time.

 

 

With this ale, Off Color ties New Glarus as the brewer I have rated the most; twice as many brews as the next. I've loved New Glarus from the previous Century and Off Color for only three years. But as a Belgo-phile, Off Color had an advantage to win my ale affections.

As for Socks, Off Color calls it a "Wild Fermented Saison" and it is that. I had Socks while cooking dinner and at the table. It nearly is a saison, but the Wild wins in the end... tart carries the day. But Socks does have other grains in it like the saison and it is good at the table... just not like a saison is. The tart lime and lemon also separates it from the saison.

I'm with Emerge77... I'd rather have Socks in the summer. But, I obviously have Off Color whenever I can. And I'm glad of that.

 

Released 10/8/20; drank 11/8/20 @ the Yarchives.

Cloudy orange/yellow appearance.

A violent pour yielded almost no off-white head; almost no lace.

Lemon, lime & tangy wheat notes in the nose.

Medium thin mouthfeel.

Lime & tangy wheat flavors up front; lemon notes on the finish. A bit tart, but pretty balanced overall. A nice beer.

Pale gold tone, a finger of frothy foam and random spotty lacing.
Lemon lime aroma, sort of a typical Off Color house character, familiar yuzu note, and an emerging nutty cheese rind funk as it warms.

Tart lemon lime fruitiness, mixed fermentation lends some funk and tartness. Light oak in the dry aftertaste. Lingering Brett funk, mushroom and cheese rind. Crisp and effervescent, easy drinking. Overall it’s good, fruit forward and funky. Makes me wish it was still Summer...

Thanks to Thomas & Jenny for this one!