Lounge Saison
Finback Brewery - Glendale

First: I have to say, Finback's labeling annoys me. I mean...could they possibly make the writing on the label any smaller!!? OK, rant over. Like a lot of Finback's beers, this one is actually pretty decent, but not as good as the hype. I paid $5.00 for a single 16 oz can, which was too much. Despite calling itself a "saison", It mostly reminded me of Night Shift's excellent pale ale "Whirlpool".

A: The beer is rather hazy yellow in color. It poured with a quarter finger high bright white head that left lots of patches of bubbles on the surface and some lacing down the sides of the glass.
S: Light to moderate aromas of gooseberries and limes are present in the nose.
T: The taste follows the smell and has a lot of flavors of gooseberries along with notes of limes.
M: It feels light- to medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation. There are hints of dryness in the finish.
O: I found this saison to be quite fruity and taste. At first inspection, I thought the aromas and flavors where that of lemongrass but then they seemed to be more in line with gooseberries and limes.

Serving type: can

 

Pours an extremely hazy pale bronze yellow, with just about two fingers of thick, rocky off-white head. The head doesn't stick around very long, and is fairly small for a saison, although it is rather tenacious.

Nose: Big, deep, funky saison yeast notes. Farmy/barnyard notes. Grassy/straw/hay notes amidst some strong hoppy notes - grapefruit, lemon, pine, some overripe tropical fruit, and spicy dry-hopped notes of black pepper.

Palate: The beer opens up with a base of pale and pilsner malt. The spicy yeast phenols step in, and bring your typical farmy saison flavors, along with some grassy/hay notes. Gentle hop oils step in, coating the palate in lots of gentle citra flavors - namely grapefruit and pine, but the bitterness is nearly nonexistent. I do get some of the more unique notes from,the Ekuanot hops, but they're hard to pin down. Some melon, lime, and herbaceous notes. The hop oils, pale malt, and saison esters linger well into the flourish, bring a creamy note, and a hint of mint. Zero bitterness in thr finish.

Mouthfeel/Body: The feel of this one is absolutely incredible. The effervescence is so fine, and it's so oily, that it feels frothy in your mouth. Foamy, almost. Like whipped cappuccino foam. The beer is dry, and refreshing, and has a nice oilyness to it. Quite nice.

Overall: I'm very glad to see Finback doing a saison, and doing a damn fine one. Saisons are seriously overlooked today, and I think they deserve a lot more focus. Most modern craft examples of saisons I've had have missed the mark, but this is a truly great saison, with a modern hoppy twist. Would seek out again.