Marianne
Haint Blue Brewery

my first beer from these guys, i have had so little craft beer from alabama, but obviously it is happening everywhere now, which of course is awesome! this is pretty clear for the style, a little copper tinge to it, but pretty bright in the glass under a short white head. it smells a little funky to me, and i dont mean wild yeasts or anything, but like a french saison type that got a little infection to it or something, oddly medicinal and mineraly, with some astringency to it, white wine notes but also kind of stinky or even toxic in a way, like a detergent or a paint or something. it could just be it was fermented way to hot and it got all phenolic and weird, but this tastes beyond even that to me. its unfortunate because it has a nice clean grain complexion, a little belgian flare to it, tidy and dry, with some subtle apricot and red apple fruit notes as well, definitely cleaner and less rustic than i like them to be generally speaking, but its not a bad beer at all save for this yeast issue. i dont know how fresh this is, which could have something to do with it. it also has that flavor i sometimes get in beers fermented at ambient temperature in those plastic fermenters that exist out there, plasticy, but i have no idea what their setup is like. this has promise, but i cant get past a yeast issue like this very well...

L-Pours a two-three fingered headed beer with a dark amber color. Hazy body. The head immediately dicepates to a smaller quarter inch head, bubbly. Very nice looking. A saffron color is present.
S-Saffron, phenol notes, sweet hoppy notes as well, slight spice.
T-Phenol, spice, sweetness, bitter hops, honey, saffron, lemon. Very very nice flavor.
F- Not very dry like you'd expect. A bit off for a saison, but still decent.
O-I really like this beer. This brewery is in the very beginning stages, which will noticeably show it's youth through the beer. I've gotta say, this beer is extremely well grounded and unique for such a young concept. Extremely excited to see what comes of this brewery and I can't wait for their success.