Classic Saison
Blackberry Farm Brewery

Appearance: Slightly hazy, pale gold. Big frothy white head with excellent retention. High carbonation. Fast rising bubbles.

Aroma: Light stone fruit-like esters. A little floral. Very pleasant, not overpowering aromas.

Flavor & aftertaste: Follow aroma. Stone fruit-like flavors with some spicy notes. Low bitterness.

Mouth feel: Medium body. Drying. Highly carbonated.

Overall: This was very nice and one of the best Saisons I've had. Medium body and palate feel. Lots of effervescent carbonation helping it to maintain a frothy white head. Label mentions lemon, but I got more pear and apple with some subtle spicy hops notes. This is just a solid, well crafted drinkable saison. It's not going to overpower you like some with crazy phenols and esters, but they are notable and pleasant. So glad I picked this up on a whim. Outstanding and approachable Saison.

 

 

Imbibed at a restaurant in Nashville. 12 ounce can poured into a tulip glass
Look: Slightly hazy yellow. Head could not be accurately assessed, since the glass was poured by the waiter before it was brought to the table.
Smell: Fruity yeast aroma.
Taste: Follows the nose. Flavorful and smooth with yeast tones. This is a great tasting Belgian-style ale.
Mouthfeel: Light-bodied with moderate carbonation
Overall: Definitely a beer that I would be happy to try again.

 

12oz can. Poured out a slightly cloudy, golden yellow color with a small, off-white head of foam. It left sudsy sheets of lace on the glass. It smelled of sweet fruity notes with crackers, caramel and some spices. Nice fruity taste with toasted bread, caramel and a mild spiciness.

 

L: Deeper hazy straw yellow, moderately carbonated, thin lacing, glossy surface. Pour -inside- the glass, 35 Fahrenheit. Classic.

S: Big powerful malt aroma. Yeast at play. I'm picking up the bare minimum of hops on the nose, it's roughly 25 IBU. They are present though, hops definitely exist within this beer.

T: Tangy and bitter. There are actually plenty of hops, they are just mellow--If you used the same volume of citra and mosaic, this would be an IPA. Regardless, real fresh hops have a desirable effect. And they are fresh, there is no extract bullshit happening here. It seems most of the ingredients were imported. How they're handled have a large effect on the flavor after. I noticed that this is floor-malted barley. The barley is going to take on the flavor of the wood, like Jack Daniels does.

F: Savory on the finish due to the inclusion of wheat.

O: It's a great beer. I'd personally first have a St. Feullien saison though. I prefer a sharper and more biting hop profile. What I'm holding here would be preferential for the many someones who want an American non-IPA small batch craft brew.

 

 

Bottle from Apex. Not sure how old this is, but Mike this is for you.

The first pour is a crystal clear straw yellow with a dense, white head with excellent retention and lacing. The nose is a beautiful floral, spicy, fruity saison base, a blend of snappy, spicy notes, moderately peppery, along with a marvelous fruity note, a blend of bananas, jasmine and light rose notes. Dried hibiscus, Astounding nose. The palate opens crisp with a riot of flavor, a blend of clean, bright fruitiness, banana, melons and a little orange to go with the rather raw yeasty flavors. There's phenols, spices, just a riot of flavor but relatively reserved, coming in waves, allowing the spices to mingle with the banana, the melon with the phenols. Beautiful balance, beautiful integration, though a hair sweet? Highly and creamy carbonated, with spicy and a fruity finish. Quite excellent.

Canned on 4/22/20

Pours a translucent lemon gold body, quaintly effervescent and topped with two fingers of soapy, white foam; decent head retention yields a slight, chunky cap and lightly frothy collar alongside a moderate spread of webby lacing.

Aroma is equal parts bubblegum yeast and zesty, herbal hops leaving the first impressions; bubblegum tones prevail, leaning into lemony wafer, dried herbs, banana, clove, and hints of cracked pepper further deepening in the background.

Taste opens with grainy cloves accented with hints of bubblegum and mushy banana before neutral, earthy hops over the mid-palate bring wisps of pear and apple; an increasingly mild yeast profile leads to a finish fading fast and becoming slightly watery by the swallow.

Mouthfeel features a light body lifted by an ample, puffy carbonation decompressing fairly quickly along the palate and evening nicely to a soft, steady grit; mild and crisp by the back end, the texture verges on powder-dry into the close.

A simple, refreshing saison that has its moments, and while the hops aren't completely without merit here, they end up hindering the profile more than they contribute, leaving the yeasty tones to never quite peak. Straightforward and quenching, though you might be disappointed if you look much deeper.

 

 

 

 

A- 12oz can pours into a tulip glass. The body of the beer is a cloudy golden yellow and the cap rises up to about three fingers high with great retention. The head has a thick, foamy texture and lacing sticks on the glass with massive sheets coating half of the glass.

S- Yeasty aroma that is spicy, fruity and very bready with contributions from the grains coming through as well. Belgian yeast spice opens things up for coriander, pepper, citrus peel, vanilla sweets, whole wheat bread and pear/estery pale fruit notes.

T- Very much yeast spice driven flavor profile on the palate as it hits you right away with a strong yeast presence that is spicy and fruity with intense phenolics and some fruity esters. Mostly dry but a hint of residual sweetness and pale malts. Peppercorn and bitter zest are strong alongside notes of pear, apple, pale grapes, earthy and spicy hops and yeast bread.

MF- Very puffy and thick foamy texture to what is a light overall body. The carbonation is extremely high and effervescent in nature and the beer finishes with a spicy bitterness.

In a yeast driven style this beer brings plenty of that action. Crisp, dry and very spicy flavor profile with fruit and hop notes in there as well.

-golden-amber can pour with a fluffy foam cap and rich, saison-yeast aroma. The flavor is semi-sweet with estery notes and a mellow, woody, malt base. The finish is appropriately dry. This is a tasty Belgian-style saison.

 

Blackberry Farm Brewery "Classic Belgian-Style Ale"
12 fl. oz. can without production codes or freshness dating
$3.49 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

Look: Hazy gold body beneath a tall head of white foam. Excellent head retention and lacing.
Smell: Fruity with notes of orchard fruits. Mildly grainy, and lightly spicy, grassy and herbal.
Taste: Surprisingly fruity from the Belgian yeast, and a little spicy as well. Floral and softly herbal hops with just a hint of lemon. Gently sweet and grainy malt base is balanced by a medium firm bitterness that leads to a dry finish.
Feel: Medium-light in body and initially crisp but then smoother once it warms a bit.
Overall: An excellent example of the Belgian saison style.
Review #6,968

An easy pour from a 12-oz. can makes a finger sized soapy white head with long retention and sticky broken rings of lace. Hazy yellow gold color, translucent and almost cloudy.

Funky lawn mower bag grassy smell with spicy clove and citrus-both sweet and sour greet the nose. Pitted fruits, unripe apple and wet horse in the background. Floral and herbal hops rise as the funk subsides to wet ground.

Semi-dry with moderate bitterness, the taste differs from the smell in that the funk and citrus are subdued as biscuit-like malt rises. Multiple fruit flavors and some fresh bread dough are added along with toasted multi-grain bread and wheat.
The finish is long as it dries while bitterness rises to above average, the aftertaste lingers with hops, spice and grass.

Medium light body, soft abundant carbonation. Alcohol is well hidden, dare I say session-able. Smooth drinker with plenty of tastes. Matches style guidelines except for the bold hops, it's made in the USA so no points off.

 

 

 

 

Poured from a can (labeled Classic Belgian-Style Ale) into a pint glass.
Appearance : Pale, transparent gold with a frothy head. Head dissipated fairly quickly
Smell : Sour, acidic, tangy, slightly citrusy
Taste : Aggressive flavor that comes on quickly. Slightly bitter with of tones of resin. Soapy aftertaste
Mouthfeel : Light, crisp, fizzy
Overall : Full-bodied flavor for a light beer

 

12 oz. can dated 8/14/19

Clear gold hue, two fingers head, persistent, full curtain and cap
Pear, lemon, noble hop aromas
Apple, pear, pepper, clove, grass flavors
Dry, medium body. Lasting carbonation.
Well done, as all the BFB beers that I have tried. May be my best local saison option.

 

Currently #23 in the Top Tennessee Beers list.

CAN: 12 fl oz pull-tab with a white label purchased as a single at Martin Wine Cellar in New Orleans, LA for $2.89 USD plus tax. "Classic Belgian-Style Ale" per the can (though the label confirms it's a saison...I guess they rebranded it when they started canning). 6.3% ABV.

APPEARANCE: Cloudy golden body. Fluffy white head of excellent retention (~10 minutes). I see no yeast/lees within.

Looks true to the style. Certainly inviting.

AROMA: Subtle fruity esters from Belgian ale yeast...pear, nectar, lemon, apple. Grassy Noble hop aromatics. Dry crackery malts. Grains. Clove, peppercorn spice. Attenuation seems ideal.

A very dead-on aroma for an American stab at a saison...seems traditional and true to the style to say the least. I'm eager to try it.

Worth noting there's no brettanomyces funkiness or tartness or anything.

TASTE & TEXTURE: Not as intricate or subtle in execution as the aroma suggested, but still very competent for an American-brewed Belgian-style saison. Faint pear esters, clove, peppercorn, spicy yeast flavours, dry crackery malts, grassy Noble hop flavours...these flavours are all here, but they just don't come together into a cohesive organic gestalt whole like the best Belgian brewed saison style beers do. The esters are a bit flat...subdued instead of subtle. The dry malt backbone (pale and pils) is apt but is too emphasized in the finish.

This should be more yeast-driven instead of malt and hop driven. Lacks the delicate yeast profile that guides the best saison style beers I've tried.

No brettanomyces is present, but it's not "that kind" of saison if you know what I mean.

Dry yet kind of refreshing. Smooth. Medium-bodied. Well-carbonated.

OVERALL: I'd sooner drink Boulevard, Ommegang, or Prairie's efforts in the category over this, and while it's one of the better executions of the style I've had from an American brewery lately, it's far from top tier compared to traditional expressions of the style as well as those farmhouse ales from the aforementioned breweries.

It's very much a classic saison and in that sense the brewers succeeded, but at $3 a can (i.e. $18 a sixer) it leaves a lot to be desired (not that pricing affects my rating). Very competent fare, but not extraordinary.

High B- (3.46) / WORTHY

 

 

 

Nearly perfect traditional example of a classic Belgian Saison. I could not ask for anything more. Smooth pear flavor, high carbonation with sticky lacing, mild sweetness, slightly thin mouthfeel. DuPont class of this style, but from Tennessee!

A solid saison. Strong peppercorn taste and nose. Gold color

Wow! Been wanting this and saw John's has cans now. Wonderful head, absolutely nailed the saison flavor. Belgian character but soft.

Light copper and lightly hazy in complexion with a fingernail of off white covering nearly all of the top. The aroma is of sweet pale Belgian malt and a hint of spicy and earthy saison yeast. I’m tasting a very dialed in saison with very balanced sweet light Belgian malt and just a hint of spicy, earthy saison yeast. The mouth is dry, crisp, and very refreshing.