La Bière De Fantaisie - Fancy Beer (Blend #1)
Side Project Brewing

4.75/5  rDev +10%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

Several times over a few months. Aged quite well. Absolutely fantastic overall. Tart golden fruit, apricot, hint of mango. Full body, yet quite dry. White wine, faintest hint of sulfur.

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4.5/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

wonderful side project treat from my regular. wow. super great treat...smarties saison. that magic side project brett. simply delicious blend of oak and happiness. mmmmmmm mm mm mm mm

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4.4/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Light golden orange in color and white head that dissipates pretty quickly. Tart lemon, grain, little fruity, mostly citrus on the nose. Flavor has more wheat/grain flavor and just a hint of funk. Tart but not sour. Really easy drinking beer. Good stuff.

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3.88/5  rDev -10.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This collaboration reminded me of a lot of the many group projects I have completed over my lifetime...

Let's just say that if Off Color had not contributed to this beer, the product would have been better.

Take a base Side Project beer, add the characteristic Off Color Band-Aid and medicine smell, let it linger in a bottle and serve over time.

As the beer warms, it gets a little better, but it never got past the okay stage.

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3.6/5  rDev -16.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

750 mL bottle poured into a snifter. Hazy orange with an ample white head. Strong wheat aroma. Tropical fruits and yeastiness. Light grape aroma. The grape is very strong in the flavor. Really dominates. Some wheat and herbal flavors. Yeasty finish. Medium light with high carbonation. Smelled really nice, but a little too intense on the wine flavor.

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4.5/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours light and golden, very crisp, good carbonation. Taste is tart and refreshing, lemon zest. Not on the same level as SdF, but still a very enjoyable saison from Side Project. Hope to try more from this brewery, so far been very impressed.

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4.48/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Love this style of saison, light and tart with a great funky smell; a perfect summertime farmhouse saison/wild. This beer is fantastic, very reminescent for me of Hill farmstead florence

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4.26/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

750 ml bottle. Hazy golden orange body, pours with a small white head but fizzles out into nothing. No retention or lacing. Aromas are citrus juice, oak, and white wine. Flavors are soft and delicate but delicious. The oak and white wine shine in this. Tart citrus fruits give a nice snap in the middle. Finishes dry.

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4.36/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Bottom line: Taste/drink this beer if you can. Downright delicious. A bit light in color is deceiving to the wonderful dry fruit, citrus rich tart tones. Nose is light sour, oranges/lemons/limes and earthy oak. Flavors are just plain gulpingly good. Good all around and super well integrated and balanced. This one just tastes great! Nice all around and typical of why so many covet Side Project.

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3.99/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Thanks to GRG1313 for sharing this one at his tasting.

Batch 1.

Pours a murky light yellow with a foamy white head that settles to wisps of film on top of the beer. Small dots of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is sour with grain, fruit, earth, and acidic aromas. Taste is much the same with sour grain, fruit, and earth flavors on the finish. There is a mild amount of acidity on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good beer that is tasty and easy to drink.

Serving type: bottle.

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4.44/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Very approachable saison with notes of a wild farmhouse ale as well as a Belgian inspired saison. You get the yeast character of both base beers. Very smooth and light lemon character throughout. Nice soft body to the beer and a smooth lingering finish.

Bottle is much more tart than the draft. Major stone fruit presence. Brett balances the tartness and the dryness makes it quite quenching. Bold yeast and tartness.

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4.03/5  rDev -6.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Served at DLD15. Snifter glass.

Appears hazy, lighter yellow-orange hued body, one finger white head with short retention time, a bit of lacing. Smells mostly of minerals, Belgian yeast- spices, coriander- and a bit of tart lacto, some wheat, fair amount of Brettanomyces character with a bit of funk, leather, citrus zest. Flavour is mostly minerals, spices, coriander- a large contribution from the Belgian yeast strain. Quite a bit less of the Side Project character. Mild oak presence, a bit of funk. Mouthfeel is reasonably soft, medium bodied, good depth, not too much of one component over the others. Overall, pretty solid collab saison that has a good bit of that Off Color presence, only thing is that I'm not a big fan of the Belgian yeast flavours in general.

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4.49/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

Poured into a Side Project long stemmed tulip from a 750ml bottle.
Collaboration with Off Color from Chicago.

Pours a gorgeous rich and vivid golden yellow color with mild orange hues. Nice half inch dense creamy head rises and stick around the sides of the glass. Beautiful bright saison.

Nose starts off with some citrus notes and juicy saison phenols. Then followed by hay, funk and barnyard notes. Musty notes of bretty funk. Upon further inspection there are notes of tart citrus fruit mixed in with the funk. Juicy tartness will be apparent.

Flavor starts up front with a majority of the OC yeast notes that bring some funk and slight phenolic notes. Fruity, barnyard notes are present. Then end show more of the Cory King lacto trademark with mild fresh lemony tartness. Such a good interplay between both yeast profiles. There is also a nice earthy oak note that interplays with some vinous character. Fluffy mouthfeel with a good dry, tart and fruity finish.

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4.53/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

A- Pours a very hazy and bright golden orange in color. A soft and fluffy head of about a finger's thickness. The retention of the head is pretty good, leaving a smattering of foam about 2mm thick in most places. The lacing is also very good. On the whole, this beer kind of looks like orange juice in the glass.

S- Hay and slight tartness hits the nose first in a semi-funky overall impression. Yeast and spice kick in after the tartness to bring the scent back towards the farmhouse flavor. There is a touch of black pepper mixing in with the overall musty type of funk.

T- Starts off just like the scent, with a dash of barnyard funk and then a quick dose of mild tartness. The hay and almost orange-like tartness move into more funk with the same yeast and touch of black pepper from the smell. Dryness from the funk and spice and just a touch of bitterness end the drink.

M- This beer starts off a little on the aggressively carbonated side, but the light and fluffy body softens the blow a bit. It is very easy drinking and light on the palate, and gives me the impression of a good spring time, outdoor sipping beer.

Overall, this is among my favorites of SP's saisons. I haven't had any Off Color offerings, but if they brew in this light, softer style, I will also love their beers. Keep up the good work fellas.

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4.41/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Another excellent beer from Side Project. The nose has distinct notes of vanilla, oak and citrusy lemon rinds. Once this warm up a bit, the sour & Brett funk shine through nicely. This is a delicious beer; drank a whole bottle by myself and loved it.

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