Ibex Series: Barrel Aged Saison
Schlafly Beer - The Tap Room

Copper colored with a light sedimentary haze from the barrel aging. There’s a fingernail of beige almost entirely around the rim and a third of the middle. The aroma is of Chardonnay. I’m tasting Chardonnay, oak, and light cereal grains. The mouth is fairly carbonated and dry.

Tap. Hazy gold with thin head that quickly disappears. Light malt with bubblegum, banana and other fruit. Some barnyard funk with subtle clove and peppery spice, plus faint oak. Slightly sweet, slightly tannic. Fairly heavy mouthfeel.

Lightly hazy burnt gold with a tall fuzzy white foam settling to a persistent blanket curled at the edges leaving some wobbly lace.

Perfectly tart, funky and crisp with no flaws, at least that my wrecked palate can detect. Flavors of mild brett and toasted cracker commingle with tart pear and crisp apple in the medium fluffy body that finishes tingly and semi-dry with a bright but mild white wine barrel backing.

Pours foggy golden-copper with two fingers of white foam. A ring of white foam lingers long after the head dissipates. Barrel and fruity bubblegum and banana pop out immediately in the aroma. Beyond this trifecta, subtle yeast, clove, and oak swirl together to further develop the aroma in an approachable complexity. Flavor profile is fruity bubblegum, banana, yeast esters, clove, spicy and herbal hops, with smooth oak and barrel rounding it all out. There is a faint dryness that helps curtail the fruits and bubblegum slightly, although they continue to linger a long while. Mouth feel is medium-thick with a fuzzy, effervescent, silty, filling texture. It delivers a lot by way of texture. Overall, a splendid use of saison and barrel, allowing fruity, yeasty, spicy notes to ebb and flow with the barrel imparted notes.

Served in a 15.5oz Speigalau tulip from a 11.2oz bottle.

12oz bottle. Poured a slightly hazy, golden color with a fluffy, white head of foam. It smelled fruity and white wine-like. Sweet caramel and fruitiness with a very dry finish.