Flight of the Rooster
Steep Ravine Brewing Company

 

Taste: some hops, but mostly, wheat, white pepper, wine yeast, dry finish. Spicy white grapes, bready, nose. Straw colored hue, unfiltered, white head and lace.Medium to full body. 25 IBUs

 

Appearance: Pours a clear orange color with a strong foamy head that lingers.
Aroma: Very pungent fruit aromas. Strong aroma of sweet fruit. Some green grape, red grape, with tropical melon. Also sweet biscuit aroma. A little Belgian yeastiness underneath.
Flavor: Absolutely delicious. Strong Belgian fruit flavors initially. Grape, apple, stonefruit, melon. This is followed by Belgian spices of some coriander. Ends with a sweet stonefruit and malty profile. MInimal bitterness or funk.
Finish: A rather sweet finish, like a tripel. A strong body with good carbonation. A rather sweet finish. Finishes relatively sweet for a saison.

Overall: A delicious saison right here. Strong aromas and flavors. Fruit forward. Slightly on the sweeter side, yet clean and refreshing. Drinks more like an attenuated tripel. It's perfectly crafted and just hits the spot!

This is a really nice, balanced saison. Love the faint white wine element.
Bonus points for higher than expected ABV!
And, the tap room is a charming little spot with summer beer garden and incredibly engaging staff.

 

 

First review. So, I make it my responsibility to do some research. And while Ravinia only has two beers on BA, there are four on its website. And it is an impressive site. I particularly liked reading about a carefully thought-out partnership with a restaurant in an expensive Northshore suburb. This gives them a good testing ground for making beers that go with food. (After all, I view craft brewing as saving the world from wine.)

Back to this saison which, IMHO, is surprisingly good. But first, let me disclose my bias: I much, much prefer aromatic hops over the bitter. So, I read on the label that Flight of The Rooster uses only Nelson Sauvin hops. Sounds promising since that hop started in a fine wine growing region of NZ and it really exudes the terroir. So, Flight of The Rooster has some good genetic material to lure in the wine drinkers.

Flight of The Rooster has a very abundant head that recedes, but stays present enough in an effervescence that bubbles up and gives me the fruity, aromatic hops. For Smells, I also get malt. And the Taste remains true: tropical-like hops balanced by sweet malt. There also is a nice yeast (hard to find and keep in the Midwest) that accentuates the balance.

My big test of a saison is: does it go with food? This one was so delicious (and I'm approaching 100 Hads of saisons) that I drank the can before dinner. So, I went down to the cellar and got another and enjoyed dinner even more. A simple sandwich and soup and salad. Flight of the Rooster went well with all three. I bought a six-pack, so I hope I found a new friend. I will invite the Rooster over for lunch soon.

4/18/18 Finished the last can of the 6 pack... and I think I'll go get another 6-pack. It is a decent go-to with marginal food (which is what I seem to cook lately.) I see this Rooster in stores some. So, c'mon guys... go get your can and review it. It is lonely being the only review.

5/26/18 I had to get another can. Had this one with pesto, which was particularly good because it has lemon and goes with the "tropical" hops. I still can't believe I'm the only review. A lot of BA raters are missing an interesting saison.