An Ear In The Grass
Forest & Main - The Brewery

Straight pour from a 16oz can to a flared pilsner glass—AZ Wilderness’ Wilderpils glass. This has a canning date printed in black ink on the underside of the can which reads “TUBE TIME 06/08/18”, making this beer a bit over three and a half months old.

Appearance (3.5): Two and a half fingers of crackly, enthusiastic foam rise quickly off of the pour, capping an almost-clear, straw-yellow golden body, dissipating quickly to leave a rocky, wavy cap of fat, crackly bubbles chipping away. Not a lot of retention, but it does look very nice (and Old World) while it lasts.

Smell (4.0): Replete with bucolic aromas of hay bales, old grain, cracked wheat and oats, dusty blankets, and a touch of green grass, the beer kind of pivots from dusty, atmospheric smells to common crackers and toasted sourdough. Hints of coriander and a pinch of clove, this saison is definitely earth- and spice-forward. Very Old World.

Taste (4.25): Whoa, okay so I had a can of this when it was maybe a month old and another a couple months later. This holds up well, even if the hops—which were bright, grassy, and clean, giving a strongly Noble impression—have receded a bit into the background. What time has laid bare is a balanced mixture of subtle esters and phenols, offering underripe pear flesh, ice water with lemon in it, and a tangy, microscopic amount of soapiness (like just a hair too much lavender), a touch of leather, and a strong herbaceous character that straddles the line between soapy and bitter and bright. Underneath it all is a soft, doughy malt character that’s like a dumpling made of country oat bread dough. Kind of hard to describe. Barely sweet, round, soft, and full without being heavy, notably sweet, or starchy. It’s lovely. No sign of booze. The beer tails off with a nice balance between malt and faded hops, sliding into a gentle bitterness.

Mouthfeel (4.25): Soft, full-feeling but light in weight, this beer is, again, very Old World in character. The body comes in soft and smooth, propped up by a subdued but simultaneously fluffy carbonation, before evening out with a gentle, drying bitterness, boosted by soft phenols, as the carbonation gives way under this pressure and fizzles away as the beer washes down. Quenching, but satisfying at the same time.

Overall (4.0): This is a really, really solid saison. I remember enjoying it quite a bit fresh, probably when it was best, as a brassy little hoppy saison, but how well it holds up speaks volumes as to its base structure and the fundamentals that Forest and Main display here. It’s lovely, still. I bet it will be lovely in three more months, too. Here’s the short of it: if Forest and Main puts out a saison, buy it. It will be satisfying, excellently made, and a good reminder of why saisons are special.