Diane
Fair Isle Brewing

2021 bottling; consumed on 5/7/2024

Pours a murky, plum-orange hue capped with just over a finger of ultra-pale white foam; weak head retention fades to a spotty few paper-thin islands of cap, slight, frothy collar, and minimal-no lacing holding to the walls of the glass with any longevity.

Aromas waft soft blueberry jam encased in a rounded lacto-funk, with sweeter fir tip accents progressing to notes of loam, florality, and riverbed minerality over time.

Taste opens to a blueberry juice underscore contrasted with musty grain silo, wet malt, and a tinge of white pepper proceeding through the mid-palate; heavy loam lingers on the back end as a dew-soaked potpourri of florality finishes.

Mouthfeel brings a light body and a modest puff of airy carbonation, leaving a delicate spritz fading to a clean glide past the mid-palate into a mild tartness/acidity on the back end.

A fresh, terrain-representative saison toying with excessively musty characteristics against a tentative funk and gentle, oaky resolve; expressive if lacking refinement.

Pours an orange-plum color with fog to the translucency. Head is two fingers of khaki-pink foam. Aroma is blueberries right off the front. Grapes come in second forming a jammy initial layer of mild sweetness. Fir, wood, and grass mingle with fruity yeast, straw, and biscuits for an earthy leaning finish. It never comes off as sugary sweet, despite the jammy blueberry notes. Flavor profile follows a similar path, unfortunately, it develops a cough syrup-like flavor. Otherwise, blueberries come through, softly compare to the aroma, along with fir and wood. Supporting notes of grass, earth, bread, and straw form the bulk of the flavor profile, keeping it within balance, and washing away that initial cough syrup quality. Mouth feel is medium in thickness with a soft expansive effervescence. It has a slight chalkiness underneath, but is otherwise pillowy - very interesting. Overall, blueberry is fine, but the balance feels a little off center as a whole. Cough syrup and the start and the mild chalky texture interrupting the otherwise fluffy champagne effervescence are deterrents along the way.

Served in a 15.5oz Spiegelau tulip from a 375mL bottle. Reviewed from notes.

imperial saison with blueberries and fir tips, definitely one of the shining stars of blueberry beer night last night, i am loving what these guys are up to, everything has been magic so far, and this is among their greatest. its pretty and pink from the bottle, epic label by the way, love their aesthetic, decent clarity through most of it, a little thicker toward the bottom, fizzy head rising and settling fast, a stained glass tone to it. the nose is awesome, more blueberries than pine, tannic and vinous to me, not overdone either, still all the nuances of the base saison underneath coming through, including some neat earthy almost nutty wheat malt. i am also picking up some neat esters in the yeast, this isnt bretty its clean, but its still kind of rustic too, which is something these guys do extremely well. the flavor has a little more of the fir tips, more right up front than later on, subtle, an accent, but its enough to make this really stand out as unique and they work so well with the blueberries, almost adding a little foresty sweetness to the mix, even if i could take a little more of this element here. the berries are natural and juicy, some acidity pops up as it warms but its pretty mellow, and i am blown away this is as strong as it is, its super light in body, clean to drink, and hides its alcohol exceedingly well, no sign of it at all here. love the gentle hand these guys seem to be doing everything with, i think they are already one of the best breweries in the northwest, and all at our table loved this one last night! special occasion worthy.