Early Glow
From The Ground Brewery

Botttle from the farmers market in Rhinebeck, NY. Pours a clear pale gold with a flash of bubbly white head that is reduced to a ring, minimal lacing, smell is musty grassy peach skin, peach rings, peach flesh, hints of white grape skin and mossy wet earth, taste is grassy and earthy underripe peach flesh, peach skin, and sparking white wine, feel is light with bright carbonation, medium carbonic bite, dry finish. Effervescent and earthy peach wine.

A: The beer is clear light yellow in color and has a moderate to high amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a half finger high bright white head that died down a bit but consistently left a short head covering the surface.
S: Light to moderate aromas of peaches are present in the nose.
T: The taste follows the smell and has light to moderately strong flavors of peaches, which are delicate but still stand out in front of underlying hints of malt and yeast. No flavors of hops are detectable, but there seems to be enough of them as to mask any sweetness from the fruit.
M: It feels light- to medium-bodied on the palate and has a high amount of carbonation.
O: This saison is very light, bubbly and refreshing. In some aspects, it shares semblances with a sparking peach cider.

Serving type: bottle

From The Ground Brewery "Early Glow"
22 fl. oz. brown glass bottle, no apparent freshness or production dating
$10 from the brewery stand at the Union Square Greenmarket

Notes via stream of consciousness: So what do we have here? Belgian (or French) style farmhouse ale brewed with peaches and clocking in at 6.5% ABV... sounds OK to me! It's poured a hazy amber (not quite copper) colored body beneath a short head of off-white foam. The aroma is quite earthy. It's interesting. It really smells like dry soil. There's even a bit of a background barnyard note to it. Normally I'd say that's off-putting but not in this case - although I wonder why? What's making me think differently here? There's some peach fruitiness behind it, but that's not why... or is it because that's the only thing that's there and there's no other funkiness to it. This is something that I'm going to have to reflect upon for some time. (This is like when the judge calls a recess so he can go to his chambers and go over everything). I'm not sure how I'll score it, but for some reason it's not bothering me right now. It's a little like pizza crust with a hint of char on it, or maybe whole wheat pitas, or even tortillas OR am I totally wrong and it's like tomato seeds? Is it the barley? It's locally grown barley from Red Hook, NY which is about halfway between NYC and Albany, but still pretty nice farmland and along a good latitude. I'm not sure, but I think it might be the barley as I recall a similar flavor from Dogfish Head's Shelter Pale Ale years ago when it was brewed with locally grown barley. - I don't know. - Moving forward, the flavor has some of the same character as well, and it seems a bit drying, but that's pushed back by the peachy fruitiness and a slight touch of acidity. I like the peach, it comes across as more than peach, or is that some apple and pear coming from the yeast? Probably, but at the very least it's an authentic peach flavor, and not that syrupy and enhanced "peach" that you get from extracts, or even canned peaches. It's mildly bitter, and yet it finishes dry, quite earthy, mineralish, grassy, and slightly tart and fruity. Is that earthiness or mineralish note coming from the saison yeast? That's possible, or perhaps it's a combination of things. In any case it doesn't really bother me but it might bother others. This is a farmhouse beer, an ACTUAL farmhouse beer at that, and it tastes like farmland and I can live with that. I applaud it for its originality. In the mouth it's medium bodied with a very fine bubbled natural carbonation that lends a gentle caress to the tongue before warming to become velvety smooth. The head did not hold up well, which is a bit disappointing, and it didn't leave much lacing behind. I just sampled another beer from the same brewery that was quite nice so I find that a little odd. In the end it's quite a unique beer that I'm sure people would lap up if it was actually coming from Belgium, but as it's an American brew they'll probably poo-poo it quite a bit. I like it and I'll stand behind it.
Review #6,763

22oz bottle from the Union Sq. Farmer's Market.

Sat in my fridge for a good month. Pint glass pour. Foamer. :/

Pasty, eggshell white, sturdy cap of head. Body has a bit of haze, but otherwise, a cheerful yellow orange blend.

Smell is a mix of baby powder & clovey Belgian yeast. Lacks any definitive peachiness in the nose.

A big splash of tartness hits upfront, followed by a surprising pepperyness, then a hit of peach juice. Too soon though, my sip turns incredibly chalky & harsh. Just being dominated by yeast & booze. The body, the flavor, the follow through, all coating my throat & gut with yeast.

Basically (sadly), the peach felt like a big afterthought. Overwhelmed by a yeasty, bland milkshake of a beer.