Colaborador Espanol
Big Rock Brewery

 

 

650ml bottle, Big Rock's first international collaboration. Hey, Minhas has done the same thing, just sayin'.

This beer pours with a retarded amount of super fizzy, aggressively rising, and chunky off-white head, which essentially fills the whole of the glass, before very slowly settling, to reveal a liquid with a foggy medium golden amber colour, along with some arched and webbed lace for our patience.

It smells of bready, grainy pale malt, a twinge of caramel sweetness, Belgian yeast, banana chips, prominent black pepper and clove spice, lemon and dried orange peel, and edgy leafy, weedy, and spicy noble hops. The taste is fairly sweet grainy pale and caramel malt, banana pudding, sassy old-school yeast (not yer typical BR strain, it would seem), that clove/coriander thing that I always have trouble differentiating, cheeky white pepper spice, a strange bit of meaty umami, muddled citrus flesh, and a bit of burbling, threatening alcohol warming.

The carbonation is obviously overwrought beyond belief, the egregious fizziness and bubbly overdose not for the timid or remotely impatient, that much is certain, the body just on the lee side of medium weight, and more or less smooth, once that froth settles down, i.e. before the next top-up. It finishes off-dry, a tad, as the caramel malt gets spent, the yeast puts 'er in neutral, and the spices, hops, and understated fruitiness mixes and matches with little aplomb.

What the hell - Big Rock finally makes (with Iberian assistance) a (new) decently rendered and flavourful brew, but they have to go and fuck it up with the crazily overdone carbonation, gah, I was involuntary belching throughout this challenging affair. Which is a shame, as I don't want to be hard on this brewer, but c'mon already, an outfit as large as yours must pay their quality assurance group better, or fire the lot.

Appearance - Pours a hazy gold with three fingers of bubbly white head.

Smell - Belgian yeast, clove, banana, fruity esters, spicy hops, orange/lemon peel.

Taste - Pleasant start with a pungent hit from the Belgian yeast followed by the clove, banana, fruity esters, spicy hops, and orange/lemon peel.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes with the lingering Belgian yeast with the clove and banana.

Overall - A pleasant surprise from Big Rock. This Saison hits all the elements of the style. An interesting international collaboration brew. This one is a definite try and shows promise for Big Rock going forward.