Turn Table
Bristlecone Brewing Company

i dont know that this is rightly a saison, in terms of base style they just call it table beer, and to me that always means saison, even if this isnt really yeast forward, its almost grisette like with the addition of oats and wheat and rye along with the barley, and the low abv, but im not sure i feel quite right calling it that either. in any event, its a neat little beer with nice subtle complexity, high drinkability, and somewhat unique overall, even if their lagers are what impressed me most here, this is pretty thoughtful and cool. blonde and light, fairly clear, nearly an inch of sudsy white head on it, great carbonation. this has a neat aroma, its done with citrus zest and comes across kind of orange forward, floral in a way that could be from a more expressive yeast strain, again kind of leaning belgian to me, a honey note, definitely not sugary but not dry to me either in the nose, very light rye spice, hop bitterness, and sharper lemon type citrus, springy and cohesive but complex too. the flavor is mild on the other grains, oats not a huge factor other than giving this a bit more body than would generally be anticipated in a beer this low in alcohol, but the citrus drives it, adds a lightly piquant thing late and is cool with the hops, herbal and zesty at the same time, a hint of chamomile, lemon soap, and again a sort of fermenty ester about it. well composed, i think maybe personally i like the idea a touch better than the execution, but that is not a knock on quality, this is really good stuff. table beer is a cool space that deserves more attention from american brewers, this is accessible but also original, and thats neat. the zest is kind of the lead note here at the expense of more gain nuance, but this is refreshing, flavorful, drinkable, and not at all thin. clever!