MIES
Finback Brewery - Glendale

 

Got this a while ago as it was dated 8/3 and finally had a chance to review this tonight. Love the name and design and the "LESS IS MORE" inscription on the bottom was a nice touch for any of us architecture nerds out there! Minimalist reference aside, this was a good take on a Saison / Farmhouse Ale that had plenty of spice in it with enough complementary flavors underneath that.

Not a bad pour to this as the beer was golden, cloudy, and thankfully not full of any sediment. Enough fluffy head topped it off but there wasn't much of any lacing to be seen once I started to work my way through this. Plenty of farmhouse funk, yeast, and melon in the muted nose with all of those being present in the taste as well. Loads of citrus juice, apple, pear, earthy wood, and spice in the taste as everything meshed nicely together. Quite slick and low in carbonation, the flavors lingered for quite a while as the funk was kept to a minimum...which was probably for the better!

Not a lot of booze here but there was just enough that I warmed up before my time with this was over. While not as deep as something from Ommegang, this was a great take on the style that had enough complexity to keep me reeled in from start to finish. Just would have liked to have seen it turned up a notch or two!

 

 

Another Finback get, another review. Dry hopped Saisons are something I usually love when done well and this is not an exception.

Pours a super cloudy yellow. Average lacing for a Saison. Still, looks good.

Smells of a fruity dry hopping, and a slight touch of funk.

Thw hops really add a new level of depth to a Saison. Pine, melon, and citrus springs from it. Maybe even a bit like pears or apples, but this is a great fruitiness mixed with funk.

Funk character is slightly missing, so as to amp up the fruit, and I get it. This is super fun to drink, if it isn't a classic Saison at all. Funkiness is definitely not as prominent as most Saisons should want but oh well.

I love me some dry hopped Saisons. This one is great and I wish I had more, especially since it's hops cover a handful of bases with funk and fruit.

 

 

Bottom of the can reads "08/03/2017."
This was poured into a tulip.
The appearance was a nice looking sturdy thick hazy pale orange color with a quickly dissipating finger's worth of white foamy head that softened nice and light to leave some sticky messy lace.
The aroma had a nice sweet to spicy rye floral character weaving in some light wheat notes and then some melon and a tickle of citrus at the very end.
The flavor leaned towards the sweet side and quickly developed into a fine meshing of the spicy rye and peppercorn to hit the citrus and melon notes and dip on into the aftertaste.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied with a fair sessionable to sipping quality about it. Carbonation felt just a tad under but still fine for the most part. ABV felt fine.
Overall, very nicely done saison, a bit thicker on the body than what I expected but still done quite well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canned on 8/3/17, drank on 8/31/17; very good saison from Finback, who in my opinion has been making excellent beers as of late