French Lager Bièr Ambrée
Banded Oak Brewing Company

a lager beer that sort of defies classification in the traditional sense. their board calls it a dark saison, which i think it has elements of, at least on the saison side of things, but its also listed as a lager, which is confusing, perhaps there are multiple yeasts and/or fermentations at work here. in any event, its nice beer, easy enough drinking and relatively unique as they go. amber in color, no darker than that, so i think the dark saison tag is a little misleading, i think of those as generally far darker than mid copper. there isnt much head but the feel is lively and rich, even creamy, but also dry and crisp, the best of both worlds really and one of my favorite aspects of this beer. i smell some saison elements here past the malty maple chestnut sort of base, white wine and herbal notes, white and black pepper, subtle nutmeg, its nice with the more robust grain foundation, and it doesnt take over the beer because the crackery drying lager yeast element cuts it off before it can get that intense, a really nice call and response in the glass here. it has a soft feel, a finishing european flare, and really is pretty interesting and good. nice to see these guys evolving and making some high quality beers!