Pi
Propolis Brewing

2020 bottle. Cloudy golden orange, lasting surface foam and lacing.
Aroma is funky and fruity, a little bit of dry oak.
Taste is tart and juicy, strawberry and rhubarb are noticeable.
Oaky aftertaste, a little bit of chlorine unfortunately.
Medium bodied and effervescent, medium acidity.
Overall good, though not all that distinctive for a GABF winner.

 

On draft from the brewery. This is a lovely saison: bright, some sour, balanced with the fruit flavors which are present on the nose but very subtle on the palette. Nicely carbonated, barrel aging add complexity to the flavor,

 

This is a completely underrated and complex beer. I see how it took a medal at the GABF! This had a perfect balance of funk, tartness, wine barrel, and strawberries! The flavor layers were delicate and enjoyable with a touch of sweetness from the rhubarb.

 

This is the 2018 edition, aged in Cabernet Franc and Cabernet barrels. Sharp in the nose, old, fermenting fruit, and a whiff of vinegar. The rhubarb seems to be used liberally, in all its astringent glory. The Brett yeast is kind of lost in the mix and something makes it very bitter. Like green tea and grape stems with an unfortunate touch of aspirin.

I'd be more inclined to call this a Wild Ale than a Saison. Taste is completely dry with a bitter yeasty finish. Some of the fruity flavor manages to hold on. Acidic aftertaste and I'm ready to wash the stuff off my teeth. From the 375 ml bottle purchased at the brewery tasting room.

2018-10-13
375ml capped/corked 2018 bottle served in a tulip.

Pours clear golden, slightly brassy shine. Biggish head, fades into a very fine head, not much carbonation. Smell is woody, tart, strawberry and lemons. Some funk.

Taste is funky and tart, soft -- strawberries for sure, but not too strong. Funk gets stronger.

Mouthfeel is smooth, light, soft. Overall, I like it a lot.

Pour is a nondescript but enjoyable golden amber colour with a nice half finger of fuzzy white foam. Settles in to a light dusting/5-oclock shadow type settle after carrying it over to the table and setting it down to start typing.

Nose is pleasantly and refreshingly tart in this heat. I'm not getting as much of the berry influence as others have suggested as my experience is much more closely set to the farmhouse side of things. Maybe a faint light juiciness at the edge.

Flavour comes through though where the nose hadn't Immediately tart with some of that same farmhouse musk, but there is a bright flash of unmistakable strawberry sweetness that just darts across the top. Towards the end is where I feel the presence of the rhubarb as it takes the base tartness of the beer and funnels it towards that earthy/vinous tart that is what rhubarb tastes like. There's a fair amount hiding in the layers here.

Swells to a sour head just post finish and sticks with a dry dull bitterness that lingers on for a while, and just seems to build.

While it didn't come out to be quite what I was imagining, I'm still quite enjoying it, especially with this slice of strawberry rhubarb pie.

man this one is really good, maybe my favorite i have had from these guys so far and something a little different. wild beer aged in syrah barrels with strawberries and rhubarb, quite a bit more mature and interesting on the yeast side than the others i have had from them have been, and really pretty complex overall. its clearish in the glass for what it is, the head is tall and white and belgian looking, and the tartness of the rhubarb is immediately evident in the nose, almost turning this piquant and complimenting the obvious bretty funk like a lacto element might. the strawberries smell sweet but seem to have a little tang as well. the flavor is brilliant, with the rhubarb out in front of the berries, the first time i can recall that in a beer where both were added. the funkiness is rustic and farmy and awesome, hay loft and wet basement and sweet oak. some red wine tannins but not a ton of fruitiness from the syrah, less than i was hoping for, but it lets the beer remain fairly delicate. great carbonation, very dry even with the natural strawberry all over this, and wonderfully well refined. complex and really drinkable, this is a new highwater mark for these guys in my experience and has me excited to open some of the bottles i have picked up!

A 2018 corked and capped 375ml bottle

Even with a gentle pour, it produced a pretty thick white foam. Good retention with aayer that remains on top of an opaque, reddish tinted dark gold beer.

I wished I wouldn’t have read the label after I saw strawberries because I wanted a non influenced experience since I rarely notice it in most noted beers. This is not one of those. You can smell deep red berries like you were sticking your face in a fresh quart. They really come through in the taste too. More sour than sweet. I also smell the a vineous wine aroma with a bit of dark fruit, farmhouse yeast with some hay, and musty oak.

There is a very strong tartness. Like a green apple with lemon rind, but a strawberry wine flavor dominates. A little bit flowery at times. The only thing I don’t care for is a lingering green flavor that is hard to describe, but it is like a vegetable. Asparagus maybe?

The acidity level is lower and it is not super crisp/sharp with a lower carbonation. It has a dry finish though. It is very easy to drink.

An excellent beer. Refreshing, with just enough sourness to give all the fruitiness something to bounce off of.

 

 

Look: Very hazy orange body, two finger white head.

Smell : Red wine, oak, some mild rhubarb and strawberries. Mild malt presence, mild funk.

Taste : See above.

Feel : Medium carbonation and body, tart, slightly dry.

From the waxed and corked 750 into a Samuel Smith's perfect pint glass results in a hazy orange body capped by a mountanous fluffy white head that refuses to die, small bubbles climb up keeping this beer sparkling. Very appealing.
Aroma is subtle with a very clean wheat like note, a subtle funk note slips in, but just barely.
Taste is superb, tart and clean with no discernible off flavors, the rhubarb is noticable with it's tangy sourness and the strawberries seem to just play in the aftertaste with a slight sweetness, as it warms a welcome slight wet hay funk creeps in balancing things out nicely.
Not dry in the least and very thirst quenching just a stellar brew.
Bravo!