You Can Call Me Al
Level Beer - 1 Brewery & Beer Garden

wild saison, a style i adore right now, but i had way higher hopes for this, even though this is obviously not the main kind of thing these guys are known for. its not bad, but its not amazing either, a neat effort i guess, but in this town there are a fair few higher order options than this, to be sure. dullish looking in the glass despite nice carbonation. the nose on this is weird, its slightly funky up front but also rather sharp, more bacterial than anything else, a little sort of yogurt tanginess to it, a wet and almost musty vibe, damp, and with some cereal grain underneath. it also smells slightly vinous with a rotting wood element, could be some white wine barrels in play here, light oak tannins i think too, subtle pear and white grape, lemon, mildew. the flavor is similar, but most of the acidity is up front, its not harsh but its piquant for sure, a hint of grapefruit and lemon citrus to the sour profile, but also a little stinky cheese aspect too, which makes this less good to me. its not immature, but its also not very well refined, and whatever wild mix they have here, it either needs more time to evolve into a better version of itself, or its just not quite right under whatever conditions it was treated to. id love to know more about their process, but this just doesnt end up elite in the glass for me. i like the light body and the low alcohol and some of the general ferment weirdness, but this is a little sloppy, backyard bucket kind of stuff, even with the effervescence. hoping the funky bottles i picked up are a little more put together than this one, but i didnt hate it by any means...