Unchained #24: Spring Saison
Summit Brewing Company

Got in a trade with The-Adjunct-Hippie. 12 ounce can into tulip glass, no can dating. Pours slightly hazy/cloudy golden amber color with a 2 finger fairly dense and fluffy white head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice dense foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big lemon, peach, pear, melon, red apple, coriander, peppercorn, clove, sage, rosemary, hay, straw, herbal, floral, grass, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, light musty funk, and yeast earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of fruity/spicy yeast, pale/wheat malts, and light-moderate earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of big lemon, peach, pear, melon, red apple, coriander, peppercorn, clove, sage, rosemary, hay, straw, herbal, floral, grass, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, light musty funk, and yeast earthiness. Moderate peppery yeast spiciness; light herbal/grassy bitterness and yeast tartness on the finish. Lingering notes of lemon, peach, pear, melon, red apple, coriander, peppercorn, clove, sage, rosemary, hay, straw, herbal, floral, grass, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, light musty funk, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/spicy yeast, pale/wheat malts, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; with an awesome malt/spiciness balance, and zero astringent flavors after the finish. Moderate increasing dryness from yeast spiciness and carbonation. High carbonation and light-medium body; with a very smooth, moderately crisp, and bready/grainy/sticky balanced mouthfeel that is fantastic. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 4.7%. Overall this is an outstanding grissette/session saison! All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/spicy yeast, pale/wheat malts, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; very smooth, crisp, and refreshing to drink. Pretty sure they did not spice this at all, but it sure feels like it. Amazing saison yeast complexity; nice solid malt backbone with no residual sweetness. Extremely flavorful for the ABV. A highly enjoyable offering, and spot on style example.

I've had this Saison multiple times, and it's a fabulous beer. Gorgeous golden color with a tall white rocky head.

The aromas are of peach, passion fruit, peppery yeast, and clove.

Flavors follow likewise with peach, peppercorn, yeast, pear, and papaya.

Feel is awesome with an explosive carbonation and a creamy, spicy finish.

Overall one of my favorite Saisons. I revisit this every year.

Golden with light haze and thick Rocky white head
Smell is herbal hops with mild yeast scent
Feel is great with light bitterness and body moderate carbonation and low sweetness with dry finish
Taste is mild cracker like malt and peppery hops with gentle yeast with mild fruitiness and hops are there in the herbal flavored finish
Overall a great small /session raisin almost like Dupont-lite

L: pours brilliant copper amber permeated by streams of rapidly rising bubbles under a 3" white cap with good retention

S: Moderate levels of banana and Belgian yeast start the aromas joined by tropical fruit, some earthiness and traces of biscuit.

T: a fruit cocktail of tropical fruit, guava, banana, and light citrus and finishes mildly bitter and slightly dry

F: medium light body and high but very soft carbonation

O: A perfect beer to drink while avoiding mowing the lawn

12oz can that reads EB: 07/30/17

Great looking suds, tons of bubbles, slightly cloudy yellow, sticky, sticky soapy film. Looks like the beer homer simpson drinks. Smell is coriander and pear. Taste is a great balance of sweet fruit, Belgian yeast, and pepper/spice.

Should be in the main lineup

 

 

 

Pours a rather light bland orange color. Completely clear. Fizzy white head dissipates steadily leaving no lacing and a thin ring of white foam along the outside of the beer.

Smell has strong notes of corn, cracker malts, spicy yeast, and pepper. Interesting aroma.

Taste is rather spicy pepper with some strong yellow corn notes. Bit of a lager like funk is present here. Cracker malts form the backbone.

Feel is light and drinkable. Medium to decent carbonation provides a fizzy feel on the tongue.

Overall this is an ok saison, but that yellow corn aroma/taste is off for me. I wouldn't pick this one up again.

 

 

 

12 oz. can poured into a Summit brand tulip glass. 24th edition of the Unchained Series by brewer James Birnie. Made with Mark Stutrud's North Dakota farm-grown Moravian 37 barley, hopped with Saaz and Casacde, fermented with saison yeast from a Belgian brewery.

Spring is almost done but just in time to get this beer in. It was really hot today so this was a must open after today. Pretty neat batch here. The Unchained Series is pretty familiar on the page and it keeps the year-round line-up from going stale. The last one to appear on the page was the Dark Infusion Coffee Milk Stout which was sooooooo good. First saison Summit has made, so lets give it a whirl.

L - straw color, clear but a little hazy, super bubbly and effervescent, the heat is affecting the lacing and foam

S - basic saison yeast, baking spice, clove, licorice, soft wheat. peach. Fruit from the hops and spice from the yeast.

T - super balanced. Matches the aroma but on a well even plain. Soft wheat beer body, malty pilsner like crispness, clove from yeast, very subtle hop finish. Perfect!

F - the best part about the beer. Super smooth with just enough body to not make it like water. Spice all around, very carbonated. Best drinking saison by far

O - I like saisons but sometimes they are really boozy and spicy with too much going on. For their first saison, they really blew this one out of the park. Super easy for spring time festivities without the heavy weighted ABV. Everything you could want in a saison and have it again. Cheers!

pours clear and amber. nice head and no lacing.

this one is a bit too subdued for me. maybe a hint of spice here - i'm not getting as much of the clove but there's a muted pepper. under-ripe peach. lime, too.

at the same time, not everything needs to be turned up to 11. easy to put this one away. decent carbonation and a pleasant overall experience.

 

This beer pours a deep gold with a very large head. The aroma is rich with apricot, cantaloupe, peach, clove, kiwi, and something awfully like burnt plastic. The starts with spice, mostly lots of clove, some pepper, and then cantaloupe, white peach, and papaya. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with lots of sharp carbonation. Overall this is a nice, full flavored saison, with plenty of spice and unique fruit.

A fresh can from the brewery up the road. A clear, light amber por and a light head. The aroma is bread yeast and biscuits, vert clean. Taste is very flavorful for a saison, and quite refreshing with good carbonation and mouthfeel. A great beer for a warm spring day. If we see a second sixer, we'l certainly pick one up.

 

Pours light hazy gold. Thick, short, off white head fades to a ring after a little while.

Smells spice, clove, grassy malt, citrus.

Tastes funk, spice, fruit, bready malt, light citrus and grassy hints. Finish is semi dry with a short spice linger. Medium body and smooth higher medium carbonation.