Side Chair Table Beer
Exhibit 'A' Brewing Company

 

Thanks to JLindros for hooking me up with a can of this.

A - Poured into my Duvel tulip a nice slightly hazy straw colour with a big rocky three finger white head that faded super slowly to leave lots of sticky side lacing and a fat one finger blanket. Nice.

S - Aromas of esters, light bananas, nice saison/farmhouse yeast going on. More estery than funky, little bit of phenols and some solid biscuit notes.

T - Taste is similar to the nose. Big fruity esters, very nice farmhouse yeast. Little bit of phenols as well still, fair amount of 'raw dough' flavour as well as that biscuit note as well. Very, very subtle bitterness on the finish that peeks out every now and then. Not getting much else hop taste or attribute.

M - Mouthfeel is almost brightly carbonated and the body is rather light. That almost gives a thin/watery type of mouthfeel. Would like to see it a bit more creamy/fluffy.

O - Overall this was a solid table beer offering from Exhibit A. Maybe super fresh the hops would have given it a bit more but two months shouldn't completely nullify things. The base saison is quite enjoyable, wouldn't mind seeing them experiment with this one.

Serving Type: Can

 

 

Canned 8/17/17 "Have a seat"

Pours a huge frothy bubbly 2 finger head that fades at a med pace, soapy lacing, semi hazy golden pilsner yellow color.

Nose little earthy fruity saison yeast but not a big funky farmhouse, toasted biscuity bread, some mild phenol spices, a hint lemony and fruity esters, floral grassy hops, grassy all around.

Taste brings sweet creamy wheat, almost hefeweizen like wheat base, a bit toasty and biscuity, raw dough notes, plenty grassy all around again, malts/wheat and grassy floral hops, noble like grassy hop notes, fair to lighter bitterness, a bit of a saison yeast spices but again not really funky just a dry French saison kinda thing, but some fruity ester notes banana, tinge of pear, citrus, lemon water, clove like spice phenols but just a hint.

Mouth is a bit creamy, med to lighter bod, lighter but decent carb.

Overall not bad, an interesting beer, not quite a typical saison with so much wheat and other notes, a nice enjoyable end of summer beer.

 

Tastes like a very light, fairly earthy Saison. Some wheat and simple cracker malt with maybe another earthy malt mixed in. Very short finish, with a hint of bitterness. Eh, it's nothing special but oddly appealing. Very drinkable.

 

 

I've generally found Exhibit 'A' to be above-average, but their hoppy stuff tends to have some issues in my opinion, whether those issues be mouthfeel-related or weird flavors such as diacetyl. This will be my first dry-hopped beer by the brewery that isn't categorized as some kind of IPA. Instead, this is a table beer (or maybe "grisette"?) style ale which features malted maize and Warthog Wheat, both from Valley Malt in Hadley, MA. I love VM and think what they're doing there is extremely important for the future of New England beer, so I'm down with this in concept. Does it live up to this concept in its execution, however? Guess we'll see!

Pours a pale light-golden color with a moderate-to-heavy haze, obscuring all but the silhouette of my fingers when my glass is held up to light. Some very fine particulate matter seems to be showing through here, and the head is really retentive though somewhat patchy. It builds up to a few fingers and kind of just lingers there with some mild lacing and macro-bubbles. For whatever reason, this is not a hugely inspiring beer to look at, but it's not bad at all.

Nose is very nutty and wheat-forward with some dank, pine-y, herbal and semi-citrusy hops punching through. The yeast seems mostly on the phenolic and spicy side, but there are some light farmhouse estery notes as well. For whatever reason, this almost has a peanut butter-like smell to me, but it also has some honey, toasted bread and light vegetal elements. Pretty interesting stuff... I like that the dry-hop feels like it's on the safer side for the strength of the beer and its grain bill overall. This seems like a respectful treatment of the Pekko hops that were used instead of being over-the-top, and I appreciate Exhibit 'A' for going that route.

Flavor has very nice balance between nutty, grainy and chewy wheat with a slightly herbal and citrusy hop balancing act going on. For such a small base beer, this has a pretty big, dense palate; the yeast isn't afraid to get in on the action either, with some dusty notes and slight rustic funk coming across toward the finish. The corn/maize seems to add a little bit of a sweet note here, but it definitely feels less apparent than the Warthog Wheat, which is a hard, red winter wheat variety. I feel it's very characterful in this recipe, and stands out from the rest of the elements that I find unique. I've read a decent amount about Pekko hops, and I think, as I mentioned prior, the treatment of them here is good but also feels a little conservative. I would like to see some of the more specific descriptors I've read (juniper, thyme, sage, mint) come out a bit more, as it mostly seems lemony, lightly grapefruit-like and vaguely green in this recipe.

Feel is a bit heavier than expected for a 4.6% beer, but this is an adequate representation of a farmhouse grisette/table beer style saison ale for sure. The carbonation is moderately effervescent despite its rather stagnant appearance in the pour, and the palate feels suitably coating yet, at the same time, refreshing as one of these beers should be. This beer has its ups and downs, but overall, I feel glad to have purchased a four pack and will definitely enjoy my other three cans!

Hazed yellow with a half finger of white head. Modest lacing.

Sweet aroma of peach, honey and saison yeast.

Saison yeast-forward taste with light bitterness but not much depth of flavor. Very watery mid palate with a clean, dry, slightly puckering finish.

Light bodied with fairly strong carbonation.

Lives up to the "table beer" name, but too watery to my taste. Session IPA fans may find this saison-like crossover an interesting change of pace, though. I'd recommend anyone who is interested give it a try.