Our Tastes-- Rustic Saison

Keeping up with Jim, I sample Rustic Saison from Sam Adams. About the only brew I've tried of this kind that made an impression has been Yazoo's Saison, possibly because it was the first (man I love linking to me, that's when I know I'm creeping up on Avogadro's number of brews sampled) of this style that I remember from label to palate. Pouring a very translucent yella, with light froth head. This is a very interesting non-French brew. Some saisons have a distinctive sourness (or ester) to them as this one does, but it also has a slight honey profile to it. Made with heather honey, Samuel Adams two-row pale malt blend, wheat, and Bohemian pils malt and hopped with Hersbrucker and Tettnang Noble hops this is nice 4.4%abv BELGIAN brew. This was a great marketing ploy to pull people into microbrews by SA. For the summer pack we're given 2 great non (yet closely palate related with regards to lightness) BMC (Bud Miller Coors) brews with some great history and just enough pull on the palate to bring someone into different types of beers/homebrewing.

Our Tastes-- East West Kölsch

In the last year or so Sam Adams has exploded with new beer, whether within a traditional style or out on the fringe of one already established. This in part explains why SAM stock has been as high as $128 a share up from last October's paltry $72! I've tried to keep up with every nuance they've offered but have fallen short. Today I get back in the saddle with East West Kölsch. This is a light and lovely brew that even my wife digs (she's finally broadened her palate to included this style and not just lambics and fruits) High five! It pours a very light straw with a slight honey nose. Taste is even, sweet, a dash of lemon, and a floral with little aroma hop and just a smidgen of bitterness on the back on the tongue. Alsatian Strisselspalt hops were used and classically kölsch beer is less bitter than the closest kin, a pilsner and lighter in color than pretty much the same beer, an altbier that's made the same way just with darker grains. The one character that I've noticed that seems to be out of character for SA beers is that this beer seems to have a light particulate which could have been imparted by the Jasmine Sambac that it is aged on. Brewed with Samuel Adams two-row pale malt blend, wheat, and Bohemian pils malt and hopped with Spalt Spalter Noble hops and Strisselspalt to yield a brew of 5%abv. I like it, not sure I would do a sixer of it but enjoyed the inclusion in the summer pack.

National IPA Day

To commemorate National IPA Day, I'm downing some of the new Heavy Seas Dubbel Cannon. It's a play on their Loose Cannon recipe with the use of a Belgian yeast. Color is a bit more brown than the usual character. The aroma and taste are worlds apart. The yeast nose whafts to you while the taste is a complex of banana and clove up front followed by the pepper of the Warrior, Simcoe, Amarillo, Palisade, Cascade, Centennial hops used to make it. There is a nice dicotomy to it all. 7.25%abv (never seen an abv with a hundredth place) . The labels on these beers own me, you never know what the parrot will be doing or saying.