Bellini Saison Wheat Ale
Schlafly Beer - The Tap Room

 

Let the trend of making beer taste like cocktails commence. And as the popularity of mixology festers, the Schlafly brewers turn to the Bellini wine infused drink for inspiration, layered gently on a Belgian styled Saison, and with an infusion of peach for safe keeping.

After pouring a hazy golden hue, the soapy froth leads with a scent of tropical and orchard fruit with a spicy twinge of wine, pepper and perfumy clove. Creamy malts layer onto the early palate a whole wheat taste with sweeter hints of vanilla, cereal and cream.

A swift transition to dryness starts with a recession of malt that dries beautifully on the middle palate. Along the way, the stronger flavor of peach comes with a background of apple and lemon before giving way to a spice forward finish of white pepper, clove, ginger, eucalyptus and lemongrass. Moderately bittered, the hops only aid the beer's spicy balance.

Medium bodied and creamy early on the palate, Bellini Saison trails into a spicy and dry finish after its firm malty structures release. Its a perfectly suitable Belgo-American Farmhouse styled ale but lacks the earth, effervescence and the hop spice of more authentic rural Wallonia examples.

Look - slight haze pale yellow
Smell - banana clove herbal
Taste - sweet banana slightclove some ginger and little oak barrel
Feel - crisp carb but still slightly creamy medium body
Overa - a lot of a hefe taste for being a saison but pretty good