Dripping Sun
Ex Novo Brewing

mixed culture saison type in a modern looking pint can, the first of this sort of thing i have had from these guys and a tasty and refreshing brew after a long day of physical work, but not amazing from a fermentation standpoint, at least to me, and not uninteresting, but somewhat generic in a style that should be anything but. its more tart than funky by quite a bit, but isnt overly sour either, an easy can to rip though, especially with its light body, high carbonation, and almost can conditioned refinement, its objectively excellent in terms of quality, and that is obvious right away. the pour is clearish golden, bright and shiny in the glass under an inch and a half of white wispy beaten egg white froth, gorgeous glass of beer. past the tang in the nose there is a modern fruity hopping to this, with elements of white wine, green gooseberry, and ripe melon, not overdosed, but identifiable in here beyond the old world varietals. there is some light and emergent funk as this warms, but not as developed as i hoped it would be from these guys given their sterling reputation, although not for this sort of thing i suppose. the wood profile is super light, neutral oak perhaps, just a kiss. overall this is light for the style, summery and well flavored, but i bought it hoping for a unique house type fermentation profile, but its really not anything interesting there. that said, real good beer still, and even without the fermentation hitting for me, it makes me curious to try others in this style from ex novo...

Can from Uptown Market.

A clear light orange with a rapidly receding white head that leaves no lacing, this looks decent. The nose is funky, lactic, snappy, mildly yogurt-like and with a punchy Amarillo dry hop character, mildly catty with grapefruit, complementing the lactic acid nicely. The combination also calls to mind cider, and there's a mild sulfur note. The palate opens tart, oaky, lactic with earth, mushroom, a little bit of a gin character, a blend of juniper and orange peel. I wonder if they used this in Deep Fried Frenz. A mild cider note is present, and the dry hops add a blend of dried grapefruit and some mild musk notes. Drying, tart, mildly oily on the finish with lingering lactic acid. A shade overcarbonated, leading to a slightly frothy mouthfeel. Quite excellent.