Saison Du Vin 2016
Alesong Brewing & Blending

 

another winner from alesong. this one is a strong saison with muscat grapes in it, aged on oak and acacia wood, which i think is new to me in beer! the muscat is uniquely subtle here, i mean, its clearly a sweeter white wine grape, but muscat is usually so obvious to me as such, so intense, vinous, sweet, perfumy, and distinctive. here its fermented down a bit closer to dry, and it tames the grapes a lot, i like that in an oddly subtle saison for its strength. i cant believe this is as strong as it is! the acacia wood is something interesting, but i dont necessarily appreciate it as unique here, maybe lost to oak and wine tannins a little bit, but still cool to have it here. i am amazed to see the first three quarters of this bottle pour absolutely perfectly clear, blonde and frothy, but without a trace of sedimentation at all. never seen a beer in this style look so refined, its gorgeous. there is some increasingly heavy haze in the bottom inch or so, and even some chunks of settled coagulated yeast if you pour all the way to the bottom. there is nice mature bretty funk to this, but also its really clean, the muscat coming on right before it dries out. light sourness, but more old school rustic saison character than anything else on the yeast side of things. impressive depth of flavor and scary drinkability. delightful beer overall, these guys continue to impress me. i hope they keep this beer coming out each year, but perhaps featuring a different grape. i thought this was outstanding!

edit: had a digital bottle with the boys yesterday afternoon, four years old now, and wow, this is still on point, lively carbonation, a ton of unique woodiness, and just soft sweet from the grapes and tang from the wild yeasts, but this hasnt gotten sour at all, and still seems to have plenty of pep to it, probably good for for another four years in the cellar at least. dynamic and distinct, highly refined, and just enough fruit. very very high quality stuff, thanks to claystation for the old bottle, what a gem! sneaky strong too, wow!