Bayside Farmhouse-Style Ale
Saint Benjamin Brewing Company

 

 

 

A thanks to the captain of the canquest, woodychandler, for this beer. Poured from a 12 oz. can. Has a bright golden color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of yeast, spices. Taste is yeast, light spices, salt is present, a bit dry at the finish. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is an enjoyable beer.

 

 

The clear pale yellow beer pours out into a Duvel glass with a 1/4" white head that soon recedes to a small ring and a thin layer of foam on the surface. Both eventually mostly disappear. For most of the beer, sipping creates some scattered small patches of lacing, many of which soon slide back down to the liquid.

The aromas include some Belgian yeast, a hint of salt and a bit of coriander.

The flavors initially follow the nose with the Belgian yeast flavors showing up strongly, but in the background there's something else going on which seems to be light coriander and a touch of salt. While it's not clear from the flavors and bitterness which hops are used, the touch of sweetness is well balanced by some background bitterness that seems mostly herbal rather than than earthy.

The mouthfeel is on the light side of medium medium bodied and there's just a hint of prickliness from the very light carbonation. The finish begins as the yeast, salt, sweetness and coriander all slowly disappear, to be replaced by a smooth bitterness that seems more herbal than earthy.

On the whole I thought this a well made beer that I'd be fine with having again. But that said it's not one I'll go out of my way to have again, not because of the beer itself, but mostly because I've already discovered the Boulevard Tank 7, the Ommegang Hennepin, the Goose Island Sofie, and the occasional Dupont Avec Les Bon Voeuz, which are all near the top of my "have-once-in-a-while" list and this one doesn't displace any of them.

I am now waffling between the eradication of The Bottle Backlog here at Chez Woody & the CANtinuation of The CANQuest (tm) since I have made signifiCANt strides on the former & the latter dovetails nicely with some upcoming bottles. In the interim, I have enough CANs for a brief brewery horizontal with Saint Benjamin so that will be my next focus.

From the CAN: "A classic saison with a twist. With New Zealand hops and a touch of sea salt, this brew was designed to pair with seafood."

Sea salt in a Saison?!? How innovative! As such, I did some gentle agitation in the CAN before CANducting the Crack! & inverted Glug in order to ensure that everything was in suspension. I got a brief finger of foamy, soapy, off-white head that disappeared like a cool breeze. Color was a slightly hazy Straw-Yellow (SRM = > 2, < 4). Nose had the typical lemony funkiness that I have come to associate with the Saison style. It was not as funky as some, however, nor was I smelling seas salt. Mouthfeel was medium. The taste had a lemony tanginess & a light funkiness, but I really was not getting the sea salt. Finish was dry & refreshing, but without an assertive presence of sea salt, I CANnot say that I was terribly impressed. I am not much for the style in the first place & when this lacked Ooomph! as well as a perceptible presence of an adjunct that they displayed prominently on the label, then it was a swing & a miss.