Stalks and Leaves
Forest & Main - The Brewery

16oz can purchased from the fridge as part of a mix-a-4-pack from the brewery for $20. From Instagram, this was canned/released on Februrary 18, 2022 so this beer is 14+ months old.

Look: Pours a solid golden color, perfect clarity, with a billowing three fingers of off-white head. Tons of small bubbles of carbonation quickly rising up the glass. The head is slowly falling and it stabilized at a half-finger of small-bubbled head. As I poured the bottom of the can, the beer became moderately hazy/translucent.

Smell: Spicy aromas of clove and pepper along with grapefruit zest and pith. Faint licorice note (this must be coming from the holy basil). The licorice/basil note is much more pronounced after swirling. Smells very nice.

Taste: Very tasty, very refreshing. It's hard to believe that this is only 3.7% ABV with the amount of flavor that it has. Up front, it has a nice acidity and a very crisp, spritzy mouthfeel. The finish is very dry, mildly to moderately bitter, herbal, and also very spicy/peppery/pithy. The finish lingers long.

Feel: Nicely carbonated with a slightly creamy, soft mouthfeel. Can conditioning has treated this beer well over the past 14+ months!

Overall: It's solid. Very creative and interesting use of ingredients with the spicy rye malt and herbal holy basil. Forest & Main is so good at making Saisons and sub 4% ABV flavorful beers! I like this a lot. It's not my favorite Forest & Main beer, yet it is certainly one that I enjoyed and I am glad that I tried it.

From Instagram:
Stalks and Leaves - 3.7% Ooooeee! Sub 4% Saisons are just the coolest thing! ⁣
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We brewed this one with malted barley and lots of malted rye all from @DeerCreekMalt. We hopped it with a fun blend of some of our favourite fresh and aged European hops; and steeped some Holy Basil from @OmaHerbalTeas. ⁣
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It was fermented with our 2021 Foraged Yeast Culture under pressure for extra flavors and lots of natural style bubbles. This is a little departure from our usual can conditioned saisons, but we’re pretty into it so far - it still captures natural fermentation flavors and carbonation, but at a different part of the process.⁣
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It has notes of fresh green cardamom, dried apple snacks, miscellaneous anise herbs, rainbow peppercorns, earthy rye bread flavors, summertime farmers’ market social hour, some rare chewing gum, and the confidence that only a sub 4% beer can deliver.⁣ #believeinsaison

Note: My 400th beer review!

Pours a fairly clear, straw color with nice fizzy head and a permanent ring. Aroma is hay and grass, with a light lemony funk. The rye malt comes through on the tongue and definitely leads the way. Beyond that the taste is somewhat of a generic, non-memorable funk. It's solid, but not noteworthy in any respect. Fairly lively feel. Solid, if unspectacular beer.

 

Thanks to Roy_Hobbs as part of his abuse during NBS BIF #!%. 16oz can (no date) poured into 14oz teku. Poured a cloudy dark gold color with a bit over an inch of white head that had good retention and light lacing.

Nice yeast at the front of the nose, providing the spice one expects from the style, with some earthy base grains, and a touch of Rye spice. Maybe some faint floral hops in the background.

Very similar on the tongue, with the yeast and Rye providing bite, especially at the back end.

The body was light and bright, with a dry finish.

Drinkabilty was very good, one could easily knock down a couple of these on a warm, sunny summer afternoon.

Overall, if this were local to me, it would be a regular visitor to my fridge and belly. Try it if you see it.