Cascade
Hopkins Brewing Company

an oat based saison, must be done with cascade hops, hence the name, but its not real hoppy to me. also not really the kind of saison i generally prefer to drink, i like them more rustic and funky and wild, but for something done clean and with what seems like exclusively a french saison strain, its about as good as it gets. the oats add a lot, a nice starchy sort of intentional bland balance, earthy in a good way, and they cream up the feel a bit. its cereal forward and simple, but its also exceedingly well refined for this sort of thing, not just a hot estery brew, its on purpose in a lot of ways, slightly juicy from some hops, a little raw like some unmalted wheat could be in the mix, and there is nice layers here, its not as simple as most of these are, the extra hops, the white wine notes in the yeast, the stone fruit essences, the mixed grains in the mash, it all comes together to yield something rather dynamic, even though its samey on the ferment. better than most of its kind, id love to see this with a well established brett pitch, but thats almost always the case when i taste clean saison. this shows a lot of competence though, and i am glad to have had a chance to drink on it!