Wild Series: Cucumber Fizz
Sunriver Brewing Company

awesome beer here, a wild and strong saison with grapefruit zest and hibiscus aged in both white wine and cucumber gin barrels! super unique, funky, woody, mature, and boozy, i was impressed with this, the cucumber really comes through, cool to get it all from a flavored gin and not by adding any actual cucumbers to the beer, their character is both obvious in this and also very well incorporated, wow. it smells like white wine, floral and springy and lighter than it is with some clean acidity and a citrus thing, sweet lemon, piquant grapefruit, no real sign of its strength at this point, and the gin part is subtle, less juniper than cucumber for sure, a light red berry note maybe from the hibiscus, almost a currant thing, well developed brett, some high tone classic saison notes too, light spiciness which brings up the waxy green cucumber, verdant and fresh to me, a whole lot going on here, and the flavor stays true to the smell, cucumber forward, fresh and clean there and awesome with the grapefruit, a strange combination but its wonderous! more of the bitter even medicinal gin now, and it hits an almost lambic note with the brett in here. its pretty sour, and as it warms the alcohol announces itself, which recalls the gin pretty effectively, a bit less of the white wine character now, some late bitterness, but a lush fresh almost refreshing aspect too, tonic water, aloe vera, old oak meets fresh flowers with the hibiscus, and all the while the cucumber stays central. super weird and good, not a ton of body, multiple fermenting agents all playing nice together, original saison character is not lost to funk and barrel, super impressive beer, these guys dont get enough credit for this sort of thing, this is special!

edit: equally impressive the second time around. the cucumber so is punchy in here it seems hard to believe its from the gin alone and not an additional cucumber element, but i do get the gin too, sharp citrus puckering with the tartness of the beer, some funk and earthy grain too at the center, highly aromatic, maybe somewhat less outright alcoholic to me this time, it drinks almost refreshing with this flavor and sourness together, wow!