4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Farmhouse Saison, Highland Park Brewery, USA

Highland Park Help Yourself

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Brewery: Highland Park Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 6.5%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: Batch 2

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Rustic Saison aged in guava and passionfruit barrels.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.11
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 1 pint 0.9 fl. oz. bottle, batch 2. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden straw yellow colour with a two finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly but left some sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Tart, guava, lemon, lemon zest, oak, light funk, with hints of grain and passionfruit.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, guava, lemonade, lemon zest, oak, light funk, and a hint of passionfruit.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nice balanced flavours of guava and lemonade. I enjoyed it.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, BFM (Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes), Farmhouse Saison, Switzerland

BFM Degustator √227

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Brewery: BFM (Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes)
Country: Switzerland
ABV: 6%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: 2015 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) (translated from French as best as I could) Infusion of blackcurrant and market raisins in two barrels of Saison √225.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.96
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 375ml bottle, 2015 vintage, bottled in March 2016, and with a notched best before date of March 2020. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden orange colour with a big just over two finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a thin layer, but left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Sour, tart, oak, funk, white grape, blackcurrant, hint of lemon rind.
Taste: Sour, oak, straw, funk, white grape, blackberry, with only a hint of blackcurrant and lemon.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: I enjoyed this the more I drank it. It was balanced and tasty although the blackcurrant was perhaps a little light and the carbonation too soft.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, FiftyFifty Brewing Company, Stout - Imperial, USA

FiftyFifty Imperial Eclipse Stout Evan Williams

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Brewery: FiftyFifty Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 11%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 2016 vintage, Black wax – Evan Williams

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Evan Williams bottle run no.1 2016. Stout brewed with honey, aged in oak barrels.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.88
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 22 fl. oz. waxed bomber, 2016 vintage. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour with a one and a half finger tanned head that had decent retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, chocolate, toffee, coffee, bourbon, vanilla with a hint of licorice.
Taste: Moderately sweet, bourbon, fruit cake, raisin, fig, light roast, chocolate, molasses, honey, licorice.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Not enough roastiness as it was overpowered by the sweetness and bourbon. Body was also lighter than I prefer my Imperial Stouts to be.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, FiftyFifty Brewing Company, Stout - Imperial, USA

FiftyFifty Imperial Eclipse Stout Java Coffee

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Brewery: FiftyFifty Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 11%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 2016 vintage, Lavender (sparkly) wax – Java Coffee

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Java Coffee bottle run no.2 2016. Stout brewed with honey, aged in oak barrels.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.24
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 22 fl. oz. waxed bomber, 2016 vintage. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour with a orangey dark brown hue and a one finger tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly but left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, dark malt, coffee, chocolate, with a splash of piney notes and licorice.
Taste: What you’d expect from the aroma with lots of roastiness, coffee, chocolate, oak, hints of licorice, pine and a light bitterness on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Not as thick and heavy as I hoped for, for this style, but otherwise, aroma was brilliant and flavours were balanced and went well together. Not sure the honey was showing, but nevertheless, this was good.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Farmhouse Saison, USA, Westbrook Brewing Co.

Westbrook Joie

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Brewery: Westbrook Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: Belgian Saison

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Mixed fermentation saison style ale aged 1 year in Sauternes barrels.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.1
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 1 pint 9.4 fl. oz. bottle, bottled on 18th November 2016. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden colour with a just over two finger white head that had decent retention but left only sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Sweet Sauternes wine, ice wine, white grape, tangy lime, lemon, oak and light funk.
Taste: Much like the aroma, taste was sweet Sauternes wine, ice wine, white grape, tangy and tart lime, lemon, oak, apple skin and light funk.
Mouthfeel: Dry, light to medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: I’m surprised how well the Sauternes barrel comes through so strongly. However this naturally meant that this was on the borderline of being too sweet for me. The lime and lemon tanginess was probably just enough to balance this sweetness. But this definitely did grow on me, and I liked it more and more.

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