It's Raining Hops
Claimstake Brewing Company

Canned 01/21/21

Appearance - Pours hazy and mellow yellow/orange with a white, fluffy near two-finger width, showing good retention beofre settlingto a thin, broken layer of suds and a thick ring around the edge of the glass. Decent lacing, with splotches, broken webbing, lines and small spotting.

Smell - Fruity and equally floral. Heavy sage. Slight funk. Citrus. Tropical undertones.

Taste - Follows the nose. There's no denying a pleasant, though prominent floral sage character upfront and well throughout this brew. Lesser funk, citrus and hints of tropicalia, especially near the finish, complete the odd, but also strangely interwoven magic this beer imparts but... man that sage just pushes through, especially in the aftertaste.

Mouthfeel - Medium-bodied with soft but fair carbonation; almost creamy. Smooth as it goes down, before a mostly dry finish.

Overall - It's good in some ways, but unique all it's own; like a hybrid Hazy IPA / saison. What a crazy amount of sage character this beer imparts, using only the yeast collected off sage flowers. Just goes to show that old adage "You are what you eat" rings true. While super unique and experimental, and I applaud Claimstake for making risks like this, the final product is just too saturated in sage to make me really love it. If they do this again, maybe split the sage yeast used, and blend it with a traditional hazy yeast? Like 1/4 to 3/4 ratio? Half and half might even give it that magical balance. This beer isn't perfect, but tweak the recipe and it has some amazing potential.