Pentecost
Holy Mountain Brewing Company - Interbay Brewery + Taproom

 

16oz can from bif 15 did half as mystery beer.

Slight haze yellow fluffy white head
Yeasty notes lead the way lemon/ citrus
Light crisp easy to drink

 

Has that yeast-forward spice, esters and a mild sweet grain backbone with a slight hint of straw and hay. Lighter medium bodied, medium zesty bitterness providing nice balance. Good carbonation. Easy drinking and doesn’t require a lot of thought.

16oz can

Pours a finger of white head into my Willi glass, somewhat soapy looking. Retention is average or maybe a little below, and the head fades within a minute or two. Initial lacing looks ok. Body is a pretty light shade of yellow. Clarity is very high, maybe the smallest cloudiness. Medium amount of bubbles coming up. Looks decent so far.

Nose is mineral, light sulfur, big esters when agitated. Light notes of fruit, touch of clove, very spicy, comes across citrusy at times, floral character to it as well, some sweetness. Very lovely.

Flavor is pretty good, but surely different. Not all the flavors are represented, citrus is the most forward, faint clove. This drinks far more subtle flavor wise, leaning a little more on feel, which is very refreshing and crisp in its own right. It’s coming across as more of a sessionable Saison when compared to the complex nose. I’ll revisit this when it warms, but right now it’s only good.

Carbonation is very high, which leads to a pretty full feel, despite probably having a light body underneath all the bubbles. Bitterness is noticeably pronounced for a Saison; I don’t mind too much, but a little more flavor to balance that out would probably work. Sweetness is pretty low, and any perceived sweetness is likely from the fainty esters that are here, it’s generally pretty dry. Overall very effervescent and bright, with a little bitter kick. Not perfect, but a pretty engaging mouthfeel.

Drinkability is very nice, the bitterness flirts with getting a little high at times, but definitely does not reach that point. Otherwise it’s tasty and refreshing.

Appearance turned out ok, lacing took a while to grab on, but was decent.

The flavor got a little bigger as it warmed, but I never really pulled out much more complexity. Certainly a nice beer, but the nose does a lot of the work. It tastes better out of the can.

This is a very enjoyable saison. I wish more NW breweries, or more breweries in general would tackle saisons. It's a style that seems to be a bit out of fashion, I guess. This beer is a clear golden, with a light head. It's got a spicy smell, and a spicy hoppy taste. It reminds me a bit of Tank 7, a classic.

On tap at Beermongers today.

The beer pours a bright clear gold color with decent head retention and light lacing. On the nose, I get considerable honey, clove and light rose water. The flavor profile replicates the nose, but with some noticeable hoppy bitterness on the finish that really dries this beet out on the finish. The clove is a bit heavy handed on the palate, but regardless, there's an impressive amount of flavor in this (relatively) low abv. beer. Mouthfeel is medium bodied to full, with a long, dry, light bitter, clove infused finish.

Nothing extraordinary here. Just an enjoyable, easy to appreciate saison from Holy Mountain.