Watermelon Basil Saison
Tomoka Brewery

this is decent beer, but might be more appropriately described as a wheat beer, rather than a saison. i think they got the hard parts of this one right, which is to say the watermelon and the basil are on point, go great together, and really create a cool and unique summery vibe to this beer. the saison part however, just isnt there. you look for a yeast character of any kind in the style, and really this is pretty close to flavorless on the yeast front, no belgian, no funk, no rustic old white winey deal, no fruit, no spice, just nothing there at all and it really is missing. as a wheat beer, i love it. the watermelon is sweet and pulpy and fleshy and juicy and fresh, while the basil is the essence of late summer, highly herbaceous and really makes the mouth water for more. the wheat malt is real light, not as sturdy as it could be, but the flavor is great and its the right amount of grain for these added flavors, there is great balance here and its still beer first. i think the expectation of this being more yeast driven had my hopes a little higher, and i would have liked this better just as a wheat beer. cool use of some interesting ingredients you dont often see together on the table, let alone in a beer. give this some funky yeast and its instantly a letter grade better...