Abita Saison

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Had a glass of this while stopping for a return visit to the brewpub, on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

First impression? "What the heck is Abita doing trying to do an Belgian-style beer?" But then I saw they were also offering an English Bitter of all things..., so maybe they're simply stretching their wings, so to speak?

This came to me in one of their stock "Abita Select" fluted goblets -- nice touch to at least attempt to use the correct glassware for this beer, there. Decent head of foam on top, and a respectable amount of lacing as I progressed through this beer.

Pretty straight-forward aroma here -- definately one of the standard yeast strains from Wyeast, White Labs, etc. No complaints here, mind you -- this beer's resulting aroma is nothing to scoff at. Could be more complex and "funky", but again, nothing that offends this particular Saison lover, for sure.

The flavor profile matches the initial vibe set forth by the aroma. That is to say, reasonably respectable attempt(s) at the style, including making sure to use a fair amount of wheat in the malt bill, and making to use (what I assume to be) strictly European hopping in the front end of the boil -- i.e. making sure that the hops don't make their prescence too well known. Slighty spicy, and yet reasonably clean overall.

Which, if I have but one major complaint about this, is that it is a little too clean for the style. Maybe they were afraid of scaring off folks with something a bit too "funky and horse-balnket-y", which I can understand to a certian extent. But I tend to follow the school of thought that breweries should brew their specialitity beers "on the edge" vice letting their masses decide how it's done. Otherwise, how will a Tomme Arthur or Sam Calagione ever emerge from the recently blossoming brew scene in The South?

Either way, I liked this well enough, but just wish it were a bit more riosky and avant-garde....
//TB