HomeGrown Saison
Amsterdam Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bomber from the LCBO; dated Feb 12 2016 and served slightly chilled.

Pours a cloudy golden colour, fitted with one inch of puffy, creamy, long-lasted white head. A full collar and patchy cap remain behind afterwards, along with a respectable quantity of lace left to cling to the interior surface of the glass. Visually outstanding, but very subtle in terms of aroma. I'm getting notes of apricot, citrus and wheaty malts, with undertones of spicy, somewhat funky yeast.

Interesting flavour. Pale malt carries much of the weight here, with wheaty, grainy, freshly-baked bread/yeast and lots of orchard fruitiness. Apricot, lemon and orangepeel, with some mild funkiness and a spicy, yeasty finish. Herbal, floral hop notes contribute to the rather dry, yeasty denouement. Light-medium in body, with spritzy carbonation, yet a surprisingly soft, almost creamy mouthfeel. An unchallenging beer to drink, at least for the style - the first sip was a tad chalky and my least-favourite of them all, but this highly-drinkable saison quickly grew on me over time.

Final Grade: 3.84, a B+. Amsterdam's Home Grown Saison is a pretty good saison that makes for a solid spring/summer refresher, though I don't think it's one of the first farmhouse ales that I'd recommend if pressed. This one is simply a victim of strong competition - at $8.00 per bottle, it's a little too pricey to be something I'd purchase again, especially when Sofie is only a few bucks more. Still, I'd recommend a sampling so you can decide for yourself.

 

 

 

 

 

650 ml bottle served at cellar temperature into a pint glass. Purchased from the LCBO for $7.95 CDN.

Appearance - Hazy blonde colored beer with plenty of lively bubbles. Impressive two fingers of dense and rocky white head and superb retention, remaining at more than a finger for a few minutes. Nice streaky lacing left all around the glass.

Smell - The nose is muted initially, however suggestions of lemon and bright citrus as well as plenty of pepper. An earthy and dank quality is also present, but becomes fruity.

Taste - Interesting. Starts with a little hit of lemon and pepper, turning rather sweet with peach and apricot flavors then some powdery yeasty and earthier dank bitter flavors take over before finishing quite sweet with the peach again. Complex, but a little too sweet to be truly superb.

Mouthfeel - Very active carbonation light body and a dry but not quite dry enough finish. Carbonation can be overbearing.

Overall - A great looking and rather tasty beer, the only issues with this Home Grown Saison is that the sweetness is a bit overwhelming and the carbonation is a little too intense for my palate. Otherwise a very well made fruity saison.

Would like to preface that I've always favoured this style over any style of beers out there. I cant say that I've tried a saison by Amsterdam, in fact i was surprised to to see the offering as they're typically a little more 'accessible' in terms of the varieties they bring to market but certainly great to see any brewer making a saison in Ontario.

Look: pretty standard here, the one thing that did take me back were the large bubbles . Very slight head, yellow/light golden colour.
Smell: yeast forward, light bread smell. Bit of a sour note in there that I couldn't put my finger on.
Taste: sharp notes grapefruit upfront with a bitter finish and contrasting melon taste that i wasn't expecting.
Feel: surprisingly creamy, with a bit of a strong alcohol feeling that I was surprised with given the 6% ABV

Offered as a one off as part of the brewery's Farmhouse Series.

Pours a hazy golden colour with a big spritzy head that dissipates quickly. No film left, no lace. Some fine sediment.

Gentle lemon citrus, wheat on the nose. Same to taste, alongside some comfortable yeast. Drying hoppy finish. Pretty decent tasting beer, not too pushy. Easy drinking if not really memorable.