The Muse
Branding Iron Brewing Company

750ml bottle from SHINE. Lightly cloudy, dark golden pour. Aroma is honey, floral, yeast, orange peel with light wine notes. Taste amps up the citrusy flavors, but still has the nice grassy, floral essence of a saison.

with the bottle price at twenty bucks, the packaging gorgeous and suggesting farmhouse and wild ales to me, and the rural location of the brewery and its name, i expected this to be a little bit more unique, fermentation forward, and maybe even objectively better, we were all a little disappointed at first, but as it sat in our glasses and warmed up, it also totally transformed. hazy but bright pale amber to deep rust colored brew, frothy headed at first but settling quick. aromas of sweet wheat and barley malts, light honey, and red apples and fresh pressed cider, a curious yeast ester but nothing bretty, bacterial, or wild. there is a ton of apple character in the flavor too, almost an apple brandy thing with just a bit of alcohol coming through, heartier than expected and less fermentation forward, sweeter than it needs to be, but somewhat distinctive on the malt side, and really almost tasting like a cider hybrid with how much apple character is here, for whatever reason. a little heavy, sweet, and chewy, but increasingly interesting as it sits. toffee and golden raisin, fortified wine, and even corn. its good, but its not what i hoped it would be, and its a little rugged and less refined than it could be, even if the flavors were to remain the same. not sure ill jump on the next twenty dollar bottle i encounter from these guys, but i am interested in what they are doing and would be curious to taste some more of their stuff. this didnt meet expectations, but we liked it anyway.