Lake City Farmhouse
Dageraad Brewing

 

650ml bottle - I don't know why I'm reminded of Rush by this one's moniker, but I just am.

This beer pours a hazy, pale golden yellow colour, with a stupid amount of teeming tower, puffy, and creamy off-white head, which leaves some high-flying cloudy lace around the glass as it very slowly sinks out of sight.

It smells of grainy and bready wheaten malt, a mixed tropical fruitiness, some edgy yeast, coriander and black pepper spice, and a tame grassy, leafy, and piney green hop bitterness. The taste is gritty and crackery pale and wheaty malt, a more laid-back generic tropical and domestic fruitiness, battened down yeast, semi-sweet coriander and white/black pepper dust spiciness, a minor sense of wafting smoke, and more testy leafy, piney, and floral hops.

The carbonation is quite heavy-handed in its obviously bottle-conditioned frothiness, the body a so-so medium weight, and not particularly smooth, as the yeast, smoke, and spice essences can't be expecting much in that respect. It finishes trending dry, in a nicely traditional Saison manner.

Overall, this is a genial enough version of the style, with maybe an overabundance of the typical spice quotient, but that's my only real quibble here. Interesting, for sure, yet one of the only offerings from this stellar brewery that I have had any sort of truck with so far - I think it's the overwrought carbonation, and that should be an easy fix, amirite?

Appearance: Cloudy pale yellow, almost like lemon juice. Big fluffy and bubbly white head, and nice lazy dissipation and some good lacing drapery down the glass. Don’t pour too aggressively, you want to keep that yeast sediment in the bottle.

Aromatics: Tropical and fruity: plenty of pineapple, mango, guava and passionfruit. Some hints of green mint-like grass and an ever so subtle pine/spiced car airfreshner smell under the sweet fruitiness.

Taste: Has a little bit of everything - a little tang, a slight sour, a dash of salty spice, throw in some fresh mowed grass, and green hops. The bitter “flavour” comes in more so as a sensation rather than a flavour, it almost feels like a byproduct of the sour mash rather than from the hops that are thrown in.

Feel: Pretty pizazzy carbonation, not loud and poppy like a seltzer but small fine fizzes that mildly tickle the palate. A thinner middleweight - I might even say it just might sit more in with the light body family. It was a wonderful fresh water delivery, and just a slight acidic finish but clean and dry otherwise.

Overall: Is a good autumn harvest type beer. Taste a little like some organic farmhouse beer, but still carries a bit too much of an urbanized “process”. Has a good clean finish which I like, and the flavour of the sour mash was really great. And though it says it was brewed with spices, they are not as apparent as you’d think. There is a tingle here and there on the palate but you really have to be in tune with your tongue to sense them.

Pairing : I feel like pie with this one. Or dessert. Something with some tanginess and/or sweet fruits and flaky pastry. Lemon or Key Lime pie would be really nice, as would a heated apple or cherry strudel.