Evocation
CraftHaus Brewery

Taster at brewery. Pale hazy straw color, small head, spotty lacing. Aroma of yeast and grain. Taste too is grainy, bready, some savory spice. Body a tad on the light side. Right in the wheelhouse.

Pours a clear golden straw with a finger of head that dissipates to a thin ring with little lacing. Faint aroma of citrus, and a bit tart. Taste follows nose.

Draft at the brewery tap room. Pours light gold with a medium white head. Aroma: faint citrus, grass, black pepper. Taste: clean grainy malt, not too farmhouse IMO. Ok but not a great saison.

 

 

Normally I'm an IPA, lager, and stout guy, occasionally I step outside of my comfort zone. This is definitely one of those times. Lee's Liquor had a "build your own case" with several different beers from Crafthaus, so I took advantage.

There's not much to the nose. Initial taste is light and lemony, moderately bitter. Some mild botanical spice. Similar "chaulky" mouth feel to other Belgian style beers. Overall, I think it's a pretty solid brew.

 

 

 

 

 

On top. Saison isn't my wheelhouse, but I enjoyed this one. Light flavor, plenty of banana and light spice. Faint grassy funk. A lot closer to a wit than a saison to me, which is fine for me. Overall a nice offering. I'd try again if I saw it on an otherwise weak tap list

 

An uninspiring saison. Pours translucent golden with a white head. Aroma and flavor is largely banana with the slightest hint of saison yeast and its barely contributing spice, just enough to let you know its a saison and not just a wheat ale. No depth. At 4.7 abv i didn't need a super complex beer, but this is underwhelming nonetheless. A local brewery to me, Dialogue Brewing, released their own sib 5% abv saison and nailed it so I think i am fair in being critical here and not throwing unrealistic expectations their way. A creamy, fuller body mouthfeel, not sure its working with the style for me here. I would have preferred/expected something light, crisp and active, which this was not. Overall, drinkable but one to pass on, imo.

 

 

 

 

Saison in a can? Now I've seen everything! Actually, this is nothing I haven't seen many times before: the bright golden body with a light haze but beaming highlights. Evocation looks like a Saison through and through, right down to the dense, long-lasting head... wait, cancel that. It collapses fairly quickly.

When I think Saison I think of two places: the farm and the orchard. But this aroma has a more tropical fruit smell, a distinct banana flavour (something more akin to a German weissbier) and very little, if any of those mildly funky, farmhouse qualities. It's definitely not the work of real Belgians...

Which does not therefore automatically make it inferior. No, what makes Evocation inferior is the lack of spice and prickly acidity to enliven the palate; the lighter-than-normal body and absence of an aftertaste; the faintness of the fruit notes; the weak and near flavourless malt and hop character.

Looking for a silver lining amongst all those shortcomings requires glasses even stronger than the prescription I presently have (and I'm legally blind in one eye). What I need to stress, however, is that there's not one unpleasant thing about this ale; it's perfectly drinkable, if unexciting.

CraftHaus' motto is "time well spent" - they aught to spend a little more time on Evocation. This Saison is perfectly acceptable for mindless consumption, but those of us familiar with the style's heights know this to be a lowly example; it evokes Belgium's great farmhouse ales in only the very slightest.