Les Quatre Saisons: Saison au Blé de Minuit (Midnight Wheat)
Left Hand Brewing Company

 

It is back to/on The CANQuest (tm) fora bit as I CANduct CANother short brewery horizontal! This end of this adventure will segue nicely into a couple more horizontals & all in furtherance of TheCANQuest (tm). It's all very exciting!

From the CAN: "Les Quatre Saisons[:] Saison au Blé de Minuit (Midnight Wheat)"; "Employee Owned. Righteously Independent (tm)"; "Brewed on the banks of the mighty St. Vrain"; "Est. 1993"; "Saison Ale brewed with Midnight Wheat"; "Dry and crisp farmhouse-style ale. Mild tartness with Colorado barley and midnight wheat."; "10 IBU"; "Ingredients: Rocky Mountain water, Malted Barley, Rye, Wheat, Rolled Oats, Wildflower Honey, Hops, Yeast".

Being as that it was a Saison, I did some in-CAN agitation before I Crack!ed open the vent. I followed with an inverted C-Line Glug into the awaiting goblet. It quickly formed two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, deep-tan/light-brown head with very good retention. Color was Dark Brown to Very Dark Brown (SRM = > 27, < 34) with NE-quality clarity. Nose had a sour-ish wheaty-ish quality that was not Saison funk but Wild Ale sour & even then, imprecisely. It definitely had a wheat-like smell, though. My late-Pops was a hardcore bicyclist whose morning began with either Wheaties or Cheerios with a sprinkling of bran & honey. Wheat always conjures up such memories when I smell it. Mouthfeel was medium, probably the most solid of the three. The taste was mildly tart, as the brewery said that it would be. It was very much wheat-driven with wheat's unique flavor. If you don't know what I am alluding to, get some Wheaties! I felt like I was drinking a liquefied bowlful. Finish was dry and pleasantly refreshing. I deeply regret not getting the fourth, the Saison au Genièvre (Juniper) in a CAN when it came out. 8=( I did have a glass of it on-tap, though. Dummy me! YMMV.

Poured from 16oz can. Dark brown, clean with minimal carbonation. Slight, consistent head, down the glass with minimal lacing. Malty without the sweetness. Clean taste, different from other saisons. Mixed flavors that blend nicely together. Extremely easy to drink.

 

For a Saison and a wheat I was expecting something different, bit this surprised me and love how it's dark but it's a wheat

16oz can

Pours three big fingers of head into my willi becher glass. Just off white, and very fluffy/creamy. The body on this is no joke, pretty darn black, with a fair amount of reddish brown hues around the edges. Looks wonderful so far.

Nose is decent. Very dry up front, faint esters, a little roast hiding in the background. Malt character comes out more after a few further sniffs. At first I thought this was suffering from the same problem that my last Left Hand saison had; which is that it didn’t have enough aroma (or flavor). Too be sure, the aroma is on the lower side, but it’s sufficient. I’m biased to the lack of strong esters, but that’s unfair, and this does make up for it with some complexity in the malt profile. Not a bad nose.

Flavor is much the same. Not any flavors are hitting big, but they blend together well. Flavor overall hits harder than the nose did. Starts relatively dry, finishes roasty, sweet, with some esters and a touch of chocolate. The beginning is a little lackluster, but it more than makes up for it in the finish, this tastes really good. More of a subtle flavor, but I’m trying to be accepting of that, again, the complexity helps.

Body is certainly on the lighter side. Carbonation is medium-low which is high considering the glass I’m using always kills carbonation. Has a very crisp nature to it. Goes from dry to sweet over the course of a sip. A really great mouthfeel.

Drinkability is super high, I’m going to have to stop myself from chugging this one.

Head retention was fantastic, only lost half of the head after a good 5 minutes. Head mostly dissipated once I started drinking it, leaving only a small layer. Lacing was perfect, thick sheets all the way down. Overall a great looking beer.

Overall a complex saison with no real weak areas, great beer.

 

 

Appearance: The bubble show coalesces with the full three fingers perched atop the cola brown liquid; good stickage and a few strands hang around

Smell: Toasted brown bread, mixed grains, graham cracker, honey and a hint of raisin and date

Taste: Dark malt flavors with the toasted brown bread underpinning; graham cracker and honey with hints of raisin and date emerge; a little tart, after the swallow, with a very earthy, yeasty character in the finish

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation

Overall: Left Hand has brought the goods here with a dark Saison - a very rare style but very well done

 

 

 

 

From a tall can, this dark saison is interesting. It is a dark brown, almost black color with a think head. The aroma has a spicy, almost roasted wheat note. Pungent twang and earthy. The taste is balanced. Some toasted bead and yeast. Interesting and very drinkable.

A - Well for a beer called midnight wheat it's exactly as described deep dark blackness very stout like with a 1/2 inch of mocha froth on top.
S - smells sweet touch of spiced malt on top of the typical yeastiness of the style. Interesting
T - Very interesting smoky malt flavor mixed with a fruity yeast of the saison with a slight peppery bite.
M - Quite smooth light to medium easy to crush.

Love the flavor of smoke to saison yeasts. This beer is good!

Winter favorite !

 

Almost black with two fingers of tan head that lasts about five minutes. Splotches and rings of lace.
Smell is spicy with some roasted malt.
Taste is roasted malt with herbal grassy hops.
Mouthfeel is medium with good carbonation. The finish is mildly dry and balanced.
Overall a different Saison. Very tasty.

 

DATE: March 3, 2018... OCCASION: returning from visiting my parents and paying respects to the loss of Russ' mom...in the midst of thanking God for sparing our electricity after a ferocious wind/snow storm yesterday afternoon... GLASSWARE: Duvel tulip... pours a dark (expected?) near pitch-black body that takes up two-thirds of the glass; the other third is creamy, thick, brown foam that crags like latte froth... immediate aroma of funk yeast, sweet caramel, metallic hops. pungent flower, heavy baker's dough, and grainy roasted oats... a nose full, and one worth repeated inhalations... first sip is medium-bodied, lively, active at the teeth and throat... slightly oily at the finish, with a diminishing end of gas bubbles... a throaty cola, in other words--which messes with the milieu of the genre, and produces more of a porter's masculinity... the roasted oats pervades the flavor profile, dampening the expected dryness... a dark, wine-like warmth ushers in a smooth, caramel-sweet experience that also suggests banana and tea... on a roll with Left Hand lately, this one adds nuance to an already enjoyable style, but it doesn't overwhelm or rewrite the book on saisons....