Melo Rainbow
5 Stones Artisan Brewery

 

 

pretty good beer right here, have had almost no beers ever with melon in it, but i wanted it to be a little funkier on the yeast side of things. pretty pour, pale wheaty color, goldenrod, several inches of pure white foam on top. the aroma is nice, peppercorns jump right out, a little briny quality, and very pungent orange and green melon notes, a little citrus, and a french saison yeast that is clean and a bit one dimensional, but appropriate in this context. juicy melon on the flavor but not too sweet. i was a little skeptical about this ingredient, i mean, there has to be a reason nobody else is doing it right? well, they have nailed it, so fresh and bold, perfect grain base for it too, wheaty but dry and not too heavy. the yeast dries it out nicely, a little salt seems to be there too to help with that as well, is there salt in here? but its not the most flavorful strain, and i wish it had a little more funk to it, this would be lights out with a farmy brett pitch. really nice brew overall though, perfectly summery and as good as i could imagine it being with these interesting ingredients. not sure the peppercorns are needed, but i like the beer a lot, and have been impressed with these guys in limited exposure.

Pours a hazy golden color with a thick foamy head. Head retention and lacing are both very good. Has a farmhouse yeast aroma with a good amount of pepper. Maybe a small amount of melon to the taste, but I may have not picked that out, unless I knew that it was supposed to have a watermelon edge to it. Aroma is very appealing, though. Strong farmhouse yeast taste with big black pepper bitterness, ending in a slightly fruity edge. Again, melon. Medium bodied with heavy carbonation. I really think this beer is better than what it is being given credit for here.

Really nice light pepper flavor.

 

 

750mL bottle poured into tulip glass.

A: Darker than I expected, and darker in color than most saisons I've ever had. Very nice coloring though. Not the most bubbly of saisons, either.

S: You can definitely smell the canteloupe, as advertised on the bottle. This can be either good or bad, depending on your opinion on canteloupe.

T: Not the most flavorful of saisons. Really mild finish. Sadly, the least good thing about the beer, which is also the most important.

F: As stated before, this isn't the most bubbly of saisons, so the mouthfeel was pretty mild overall. Easy to drink, but I didn't really find myself wanting to do so quickly.

O: The art on the bottle was great, which is why I picked this up while in Austin the other week. Would not buy again, and would have a hard time recommending it to others, to be honest.