Summer Saison With Fire Roasted Citrus (for Albert Hoffman)
Zebulon Artisan Ales

Appearance: Pours a slightly hazy amber color with a fluffy head that persists nicely and leaves a lot of splashy lacing behind

Smell: Floral and funk, with a lemony character

Taste: Bready, at the outset, with the tart lemon and grapefruit pith flavors developing; through the mid-palate, the Brett takes over, bringing a funky cast but the finish has a modest amount of tartness lingering

Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate to high carbonation

Overall: Pretty nice and a great beer to pair with food

Poured from a 25 oz bottle into a tulip glass. Appearance is light brown and fairly transparent with one to two finger thick head.

Smell is roasted lemons and grapefruit, some funk, and floral notes.

Taste follows the nose with the roasted citrus dominating the palate. There is some light sweetness up front but fairly dry overall. Yeast flavors appear on the finish.

Mouthfeel is a nice medium body with some light tartness and good carbonation (slightly soapy).

Overall this is a very enjoyable Saison except the lemon flavors tend to dominate. However, this flavor profile grew on me over time and was quite unique. I didn't get a ton of Brett, but the yeast character was quite enjoyable. I would prefer less lemon allowing the yeast to come to the forefront, but this was a good effort and enjoyable Saison nevertheless. I assume that it would go very well with the summer grilling season.

A: Pours a very hazy pale golden yellow in color with moderate to heavy amounts of active visible carbonation rising quickly from the bottom of the glass and faint straw yellow highlights. The beer has a three finger tall frothy foamy bright white head that slowly reduces to a large patch of thick film covering the entire surface of the beer with a thick ring at the edges of the glass. Moderate amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Slightly stronger than moderate aromas of lemon citrus and grapefruit peel citrus over the top of light to moderate aromas of floral hops and cereal grain malts with a light presence of funky brett.

T: Upfront there is a light to moderate flavor of cereal grain malts with a light amount of slightly spicy saison yeast. That is followed by moderate flavors of lemon citrus and grapefruit peel citrus and a light presence of slightly funky brett. Finally there is a light flavor of floral hops which impart a touch of bitterness which fades away quickly leaving a light lingering funkiness.

M: Slightly heavier than light bodied with moderate to heavy amounts of carbonation. Very light hints of acidic prickliness initially with moderate amounts of dryness in the finish.

O: Easy to drink and refreshing with a light effervescent body. There is a nice citrus presence but I'm not getting any fire roasted citrus notes. Enjoyable.

Hazy golden yellow color with a tall, crackling white head that quickly settles to more of a frothy ring. Aroma is fragrant lemon, sugar cookies, grapefruit peel, and anise-like yeast esters. Not too much funk at this point, but the Brett is certainly there. Clean citrusy flavor...perfume-y flowers, lemon tartness, moderate pulpy grapefruit sweetness, soap. Medium-light, crisp, dry on the teeth. Better in smaller quantities at this point, I'd love to see how this one tastes in a few more months.

Hazy gold color with a head that stays for days. The aroma is tart, funky and full of lemon and grapefruit. The taste is at first sweet with grapefruit and lemon and then the funk and bitterness hits. Tastes a little soapy in the aftertaste and I don't get the caramelized fruit. Pretty solid beer.