White River
Ferment Brewing Company

 

 

Head is abundant, made of evenly sized bubbles, and dissipates moderately quickly.

The smell is delightful for fans of saisons, to perhaps a bit simple compared with more standard versions of this style. Peach, lemon peel, cut grass, the brettanomyces funk you expect.

The flavor starts almost woody, perhaps cedar? Peach, lemon peel, white pepper, all play parts in the opener. Next comes a really unique and interesting creaminess with vanilla. But then perhaps bitter lime peel tones down to a bitter walnut finish that makes me think this beer is more heavily hopped than a more typical saison.

Quite interesting, relatively unique take on the saison style, but in a saison I'd rather be left with something other than this bitterness.

 

Big rush of fine-grained foam in the snifter; beer is clear and gold colored. Quite rich with a lush mouthfeel. Initial flavor seems little overly yeasty. Quite aromatic with pencil shavings, grain, and the distinctive fruity esters. Quite a mouthful of flavor with cereal and that touch of dried pear.

Faintly sourish, touch of resiny hops, and scratchy aftertaste with some astringency. Overall, though, this is quite sippable and interesting. From the 500 ml bottle purchased at the brewery restaurant in Hood River.

16.9oz bottle (no date) poured into 14oz teku. Poured a hazy/cloudy light gold color with 2inches of white head that had long lasting retention and light-moderate lacing.

Nice yeast spice at the front of the nose, with a touch of fruitiness, and a solid grain background.

Similar on the tongue; yeast forward, solid, earthy grains, and a floral aspect.

The body was light, crisp, carried good carb, and had a dry finish.

Drinkability was good, I could have a couple pints on a warm day.

Overall, a pretty nice take on the style, worth a shot if you see it.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a hazy, medium golden amber with a fine, two finger white head with great retention and thick lacing; looks nice. Aroma of grainy malt, saison yeast, a touch of lemon and funk. Flavor follows with with classic grain forward malt and yeast, with a touch of lightly floral hops, lemon and a touch of funk with slight tartness. Hay and dried floral notes in the finish. Medium bodied with sharp carbonation. A nicely made classically profiled saison, somewhat on the dry side. Grain is clear, but a little subdued, which is appropriate for the drier style of farmhouse. This is my preferred profile for saison, some of which push the envelope on tartness and/or funk. Well made and balanced. Nicely done.

 

a tasty and simple beer, very well refined, and unique because it uses a locally captured yeast, which already puts it ahead of so many american made saison types that just use the same french and belgian cultures that yield such samey beers. this isnt wild or funky or weird or anything, its not even really very rustic as they go, but for a clean saison, its interesting enough on the fermentation side to hold my attention, and the proportions and balance and tidiness here are on point. some neat esters from the yeast, less belgian to me than a lot of these, some pear notes, earthy spices like black pepper and even licorice, but all real subtle. along with this, there are some cool floral layers, almost a clover honey thing going on among the malts, light jasmine and grassy character too. wheat and pils malts in the base seem super clean, and they are fermented to very dry, which i love in a clean saison like this. combined with lively carbonation and a lighter medium body, this beer really sings on the palate, super alive and fresh, peppery at the end with some dried fruity character from the yeast, hay and straw as well, and maybe noble hops too. overall a really subtle but delicious beer, seems like they have a pretty good handle on a wide range of brewing traditions in here from french to belgian to german and american. awesome place if you havent been yet!

edit: had this from the bottle and liked it even better, seems like some conditioning in the package has taken place, made this effervescent and crackling dry to an almost impossible degree, insanely lively, pale and clean looking, delicate as can be, still subtle on the yeast side for being unique as it is, and just summery, refreshing, and satisfying. this is professionally refined and really great, memorable for being so minimal, champagne-esque. i am thankful for my in laws picking up a couple of bottles to share, and i am excited to see how the other one ages! dont sleep on this one! improving some scores from original review.

Well sheeeeeeeit! We've got a mighty fine US made Saison right here, folks.

All pilsner when it comes to looks. Classic deep straw body with almost perfect clarity. A tight, fine bubbled foam that leisurely descends and leaves fine spotty lacing.

Soap overload in the aroma. Pepper and wild flowers galore (lavender comes to mind). A dash of lemon for both sweet and tart.

And bam... as if the aroma were telling you straight up, a field of flowers slams the taste buds. Not quite potpourri intensity, but soft and wild. Honeysuckles and a dash of pepper. Very nice.

Light and spritzy with a natural honey like sweetness balanced by a herbal like bitterness. So refreshing and very, very easy to drink.

4.25s across the board. This is a wonderful Saison. It's missing that touch of funk that only a classic Belgian has, but God damn, this would be quite the template for an American version.

Cheers.