Wren
Fair Isle Brewing

oak aged saison with meridian hops, which we never really hear much about. as always, subtle and excellent from fair isle, they never miss, and its quite impressive just how many original little saison types they brew up, im such a fanboy now its insane, buy all i can find. this one is a little more grain forward and hearty, still effortless to drink, but not quite as delicate as some that ive gotten into recently. this has a lot of character though, and is unique with these hops. the pour is slightly cloudy and with more apparent body than i am used to from fair isle, a tad on the stronger side as well but thats not really part of the experience with this at all. the nose is lightly spicy like there could be some rye malt in it, the saison yeast is familiar and seemingly enhanced by the oak character, light vanilla and tannic essence, white grape, mandarin oranges from the can, and a real freshness from the hops, peppy in the back half. the flavor runs the same course, hops have distinctive orange notes along with some grassy almost noble personality, bitterness is low and balance is great. the carbonation moves it along perhaps quicker than it would naturally flow, but i dont mind. the wood is there the whole way, there is some middle malt sweetness, and finally some bitter on the swallow, a nice evolution to this. light funk but more almost astringent character from the yeast without being tart really. white wine, white pepper, and dried grass clippings. impressive in quality, which is the fair isle calling card, sturdy and bright at the same time, lovely and subtle.