Beat The Heat
Black Oak Brewing Co.

Very soft, clean and subtle. Well balanced, with the orange zest imparting a light citrus taste that got more and more subtle the closer to the end of the pint I got. A perfectly acceptable wheat beer with a 4.5 % abv that could keep you drinking it all day on a summer afternoon.
This beer earns a solid B.

Claiming to be one of the original crafters in Ontario, my question is: how come I never heard of Black Oak ? (Answer probably has to do with Ontario's laws and, probably, the difficulty of distributing in Illinois.)

Regardless of the laws we keep.... Black Oak brews mostly in the English tradition and, with Beat The Heat, they produce a very good Belgian... and control the yeast variable that makes jumping those two traditions difficult.

Appetizing Looks (on a hot day), but foam doesn't stick around. Smells tell me more like a wit (it's the orange/coriander combo.) Tastes similar, but there seems to be more wheat than Belgians use (more like a hefe-). The mouth is soft and totaling refreshing.

OA: A very pleasant afternoon ale that I wish I could have again !

 

 

 

 

 

Can from the lcbo for around $3. Pretty solid.

Slightly hazed rusty amber. Moderate head to a thin film. Appetizing aromas of wheat, yeast, spice, orange. A little bit of bite from the carbonation, finishes dry on the palate. Tasty brew, yeasty, wheaty, spicy, fruity. Nicely balanced, well made beer, simple and easy to drink. Worth a try.

 

 

473 mL can from the LCBO; no packaging date. A 'saison' with coriander and orange zest, eh? Sorry mister, but once you add those two ingredients to a Belgian wheat ale, you got yerself a witbier. /taxonomy nerd off

Pours a foggy golden-amber colour, producing one finger of creamy, off white-tinged surface foam. This head has largely receded after a few minutes' time; a nice curtain of lacing is deposited in the process, with a thick, frothy collar and patchy cap remaining on top afterwards. A little darker in hue than most wits, but a quick sniff will immediately remove any doubt as to what type of beer this is - the spicy coriander really pops, while the citrusy, oily orange peel notes also come through clearly. This is in addition to hints of wheaty, bready malts, Belgian yeast and bubble gum.

If the aroma didn't convince you, the first sip makes it abundantly clear that this is a witbier, not a saison - so I guess I'm grading it as one. The toasted wheat gives this session ale a bready backbone, with notes of grainy barley malt and just a hint of sugary bubble gum sweetness. Citrusy orange zest flavour is a constant fixture, with coriander spice livening up the back end somewhat. Finishes yeasty, leaving a dry aftertaste. Light in body, with assertive carbonation that prickles the palate with each sip, resulting in a crisp mouthfeel. Quite thirst-quenching and refreshing, whatever they want to call it.

Final Grade: 3.88, a very respectable B+. Beat the Heat is a perfectly acceptable witbier, so I find it a little silly that they didn't unambiguously market it as one. I am assuming they went with 'saison' over 'wit' because the former style is currently much more trendy/popular than witbiers ever were. But let's be honest: coriander and citrus zest are the main features of a witbier, so if your "Belgian wheat ale" has coriander and orange zest in it, you might as well just call it what it is. If you like wits, this is a pretty safe choice, but if it's a saison you seek then try Black Oak's Summer Saison instead.

 

A classic wit from a great brewery. Aromas of orange and fresh toasted bread. Flavours of crackers and croutons with a hint of spice. Quite refreshing

 

Look: The beer has a bright orange body that is slightly transparent. The low level of carbonation produces a one-finger head. The latter takes some time to die. When it does, it ends up being a ring.

Smell: A nice nose that hints at a presence of orange, citrus and clove.

Taste: It is a replay of the nose. There are a few notes of zest. Although the hops are well felt during the finale, what stuck out the most was the notes of banana.

Feel: Moderate to low carbonation depending on your taste. Other than that, the beer has a medium-bodied and juicy feel.

Overall: In general, it is an easy-drinking beer. It is very refreshing thanks to its malt and low volume of alcohol. However, like most Cana beer, its looks could be improved because its head retention is not good enough.

Pours quite darker than other Saisons. A bit orangy and a bit hazy. The head lasts about a minute then disappears. You get the classic saison smell. The taste too, but somewhat muffled. Not as sharp as most Belgian type beers. That leads to the thirst quenching ability. Because of the mild taste, this beer goes down easy on a warm day and the taste likely won’t scare away any newbies
June 24 2020