Distant Relatives
Casey Brewing & Blending and Barrel Cellar

750 mL bottle. Hazy orange. Medium white head. Smells of lemon lime hoppiness. Oak. Maybe some wine barrel. Tastes much more of white wine barrel. Lemon hoppiness. Light grain. Very pleasant. Medium light body. Again, simple and delicious from Casey.

Presentation: 750mL corked and caged brown bottle with the bottling date (01/03/2019) printed on a sticker in the back. Served in a Rastal Harmony glass.

Appearance: The bright white, one finger head stays around for a little bit and leaves behind a foam ring and a lot of lacing all over the glass in patches and big sheets. The first pour is a beautiful, bright, crystal clear, pure gold color. It gets hazier with subsequent servings but that gorgeous hue never goes away.

Smell: There's so much going on in the nose and it's incredible how it all unfolds in a balanced and orderly fashion. It starts with fresh fruit aromas of lemon, peach and nectarine. That's followed up by some subtle, herbal notes of lemongrass, dill and fresh rosemary. Then towards the end there's yogurt funk, damp wood, a touch of pine resin and even some flowers.

Taste: Just like the smell, it's a rich and complex flavor profile but it's so well put together that it never overwhelms. There's tart, fruity notes of lemon, lime and peach with some sweet cantaloupe melon. Then a touch of soft, pickled ginger acidity and freshness comes through. Towards the end, there's a mild, earthy oak note too.

Mouthfeel: It's medium to light bodied, moderately crisp and refreshing. It coats the palate with a bubbly, medium high carbonation and finishes with a long, tart, tingly finish that stays around for a while.

Overall: This is simply a work of art and a showcase of craft beermaking at its highest level. What Casey and Cellarmaker put together here is nothing short of the perfect beer. Simply fantastic in every aspect.

 

 

 

dude! this is amazing! one of the best i have had from casey in a long time. not so sour as many of them are now, and with a hop profile that is truly unrivaled. its cool that these two operations, casey and cellarmaker got together, nothing but love for both of them, and of course the beer this meetup yielded is brilliant. drinking perfectly right now, regardless of whenever it came out, the hops taste and smell super fresh still, pineapples and kiwi fruit and sexy perfume, high end white wine, pheromones, dripping wet. i am literally aroused. its clear for the first part of the bottle, more sedimented later on, but never heavy. its got a nice head, steady carbonation, and an amazing mix of piquancy and savory richness, balanced in a cool way, especially for a saison. the dry hop is amazing, whatever it is, and the fruitiness and vinous nature of it are mouthwatering even after i already sip on it. great funk, not too much acidity but the right amount of pucker to bring out the best of the hops. southern hemisphere for sure, oily to an extent, yet still some pine and orange to my tastes. its a little thick in feel but super active, feels and tastes really well developed,and has a classic casey twangy funk. better colder than warmer oddly enough, but world class beer overall. not surprising from these two. stoked i got a bottle!

 

 

 

750ml cork and caged bottle. Says "Thank You Cellarmaker", bottled 8/20/2016 on the back. Served in a Casey stemmed glass.

Pours a hazy, golden yellow body, slight orange hue, one finger thick white head, fantastic retention and lots of lacing. The retention isn't typical for Casey beers- the head typically always bows out super early. This is a nice change of pace as far as appearance goes. Smell is rich citrus, lemon and grapefruit; presumably this dry-hopping really added quite a bit to the base Casey saison. Grain, minerals, leafy resin and grapefruit zest. The dry-hopping is unreal on this beer; it reminds me of the Dry Hopped Oak Theory that I had yesterday, to be honest. Flavour is even more juicy grapefruit; this is unreal how much this tastes like a DHOT. Citrus, grapefruit, slight resin, lemon, light leather and funk, slight grainy sweetness. The grapefruit is almost overpowering but of course it could never be so. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, crisp and dry, good carbonation, bitter grapefruit juice on the finish. Again, this is mini-DHOT, period. The hops did really well in this base Casey saison.

 

Massive funk and tropical on the nose. Tasted like drinking pineapple/guava juice. Big fan of dry hopped sours but this rises to the top of my list. Drank several months after release - if it was this good aged, can't imagine fresh

 

 

 

From a 750 ml bottle (bottled August 30, 2016) to a tulip. Cellarmake collab.

A-The beer is quite murky and light yellow-golden in color. A dense, tall head of white foam has good retention. The head leaves a little lacing in patches and chunks. No carbonation is visible. It looks like other beers of this style, but it isn't terribly attractive.

S-The aroma is surprisingly aggressive. I sniff tropical fruit like guava, star fruit, and hints of citrus, and well as lemongrass and floral notes. The beer smells juicy, but there is an earthy not-quite-pine undertone and the bitterness is higher than many "sour" IPAs.

T-The taste is much the same as the smell. Assertive, acidic tropical hop notes combine with assertive lemon-like acidic barrel/wild beer notes to provide one of the more punchy hopped beers that I have tried from Casey. The beer is almost too astringent and dry on the finish for my taste.

M-The body is substantial and the carbonation is assertive, but fine and almost soft of the palate.

O-This is a really well-made beer and some hop fans are sure to enjoy it. I found it a touch too acidic and astringent to be ranked among the best beers of this style.