Saison
Odonata Beer Company
Sacramento, Ca
6.40% ABV
Style: Saison

C: Cloudy
H: Gold
N: Lemons, Spices, and some Farmhouse Funkyness

Beer Drinker: Yo Phil. I’m back! Did you see the giddy school-girl look Ed had when he broke out this as bottle #1 yesterday? Although I’d prefer that we just wrote new laws to eliminate any barriers to beer sales, it was still funny to see Ed bring in a great score from a trade. (By the way, I’d run for Congress with that platform if you think I might have a shot–on the Beer Party ticket)!

Apparently this beer is brewed by a tiny brewery in California, and they just recently started bottling this as their first one. Cool! The aroma is mainly sharp lemony citrus, but there is a little of that wet dog smell, too. The flavors are similar–citrus leads the way, but those dirty, funky and yeasty flavors dominate. Some black peppery spices are in the background. Even with only a few ounces, you could see the cloudy and yeasty bits floating in the glass. Very enjoyable beer. Nice start to the afternoon. Let me remember, out of 5 right? I give this a 3.94328745. No more, no less.

The Ferm: I personally have been dying to get my hands on a bottle of this beer since I heard about the brewery on the Brewing Network “Sunday Session” not too long ago. Odonata is a very small brewery that is starting to get a lot of attention nationally. When I heard that Ed “The Sexiest Man In Craft Beer” Roberts (Eduardo) was able to land a bottle in a trade I began to beg and plead to share the bottle with his favorite DosBeergio.
I was not let down a bit, the beer had some solid carbonation, was light in body, and was a nice clean and crisp drink. The Beer is extremely dry but was well balanced with the Funkyness. Nothing overpowered anything, allowing you to sit and enjoy a magnificent beer. If I could this would be my go-to Saison. Sadly, I will have to settle with landing bottles in trade……LAME!
Score: 4.321

Overall: 4.132143725

Funky Saison Fickle Mistress
Simply Beer
The Story: SimplyBeer

C: Cloudy
H: Orange-Amber
N: Bret Sourness, Acidic

Kirk Diggler:
A: Poured hazy orange-amber w/ foamy white head w/ medium persistence.
A: Warm sweet citrus / orange, light saison yeast aromatics, light piney hop aroma. Slight acetone aroma on the back-end.
F: Pineapple, sweet citrus, tropical fruits, grape skin (sour). I couldn’t pull any malt or hop backing in this one. The balance is spread evenly over the cornucopia of fruits. The finish is tart / dry.
M: Light-Medium body and mouthfeel and medium carbonation.
O: This is definitely one of the funkier saisons that I’ve had, but very close to style. I would consider a light increase in malt and spice, and increasing the head retention. Otherwise, generally within style parameters and well brewed.
Score 3.45

The Ferm: Wooo Doggy, I hope this beer taste like it smells. The nose is straight FUNK…Sour Goodness is all up in the nose. Upon my first sip, I was sort-a taken back. After the second sip I realized this is just a very well made saison….then like a ninja the sourness kicked the pack of my palate only to fly away into the shadows. Ohh yah….thats a pleasant beer. I love the hints of tropical fruit sweetness in the attack, then balanced with the sourness from the bret. I can say so far this week I have enjoyed drinking this beer the most. VERY GOOD BEER. I think this is ready for the production line, or at least close!
Score: 4.24

Overall: 3.845

Guava Grove
Cigar City Brewing Company
Tampa, FL.
8.00% ABV
Style: Saison/Farmhouse Ale

C. Cloudy
H. Golden Yellow Almost Orange
N. Funky Sour, Banana, Sweet Fruit

Cerveza Chica; Well I was really excited about this beer, and after a long day of dealing with all kinds of condo issues I was excited to break into the bottle. Sadly it poured with little head, and showed very little carbonation. I was one of the lucky few to try the Jolly Guava last year, and loved it, although I never had the base beer. This beer on the other hand is odd. I am not a big fan of Farmhouse/Saison Beers. This isn’t horrible like some of the other beers I have had in this style, like Guarde Dog from Flying Dog. I do enjoy the funky bitterness coming from the beer, but don’t really enjoy the banana flavor from the yeast. Overall this was partially a let down. I also hate clove and there was definitely too much of that taste in the beer. I expected way more guava flavoring out of this beer so was letdown on that because to me banana isn’t “tropical” enough. I am SO glad Phil didn’t buy a case of this beer because I wouldn’t help him drink it. Trade bait…..yes!
Score: 2.77

The Ferm; OHH YAH! I am super excited about this beer. I thought I was going to have to buy the beer at the brewery this Saturday, but Fresh Beer Inc. being the “Beer Pimps” they are, got this into my local store before the trip. My history with this beer is limited, in fact I had a sip of The Cerveza Chica’s Jolly Guava last year and never had the chance to get my hands on a bottle of this normal Guava Grove.
So the bottle reads that it is a great beer for Guavaween Festivities…I like that, being from Tampa and all. Guavaween was always a fun time and never short of some good memories!
As for the beer. Well there was little carbonation in the beer, as it showed no head or head retention. The beer though was carbonated but not really balanced. The flavor is really good in my opinon. The attack starts with a nice bret-ty bitterness, then follows with sweeter yeast notes and fruit-y flavors, then right back to the sour funk. Don’t get me wrong the funk doesn’t over power the flavor but adds a nice layer to the base beer. Overall Pretty Damn Tasty….snag it while you can, and at 8% it should sit well for a year.
Score: 4.02

Overall: 3.495

**Side Note; Sorry for no video Blog this week, I will work on one for the upcoming week. I have had some pretty bad Condo Issues that have taken a lot of my free time away from the blog**

Tony’s Gay Ass Saison Homebrew (not really gay though)
Tony’s HouseSomewhere in Florida
Maybe 6.25% ABV

C: Cloudy
H: Light Orange
N: Nice, floral

Dos; Hmm, ok. So I think this is officially the very first Homebrew I have ever reviewed and I’m very impressed. I expected it to be super gay, hence why I gave it that name. No offense all you homos out there, but most of the homebrews I have had, have sucked balls, since that’s what homos do and all. Just sayin. But this shit was good. It was floral, kinda like your girlfriend’s tampons that make the bathroom smell all flowery and junk. Thank Jesus I don’t have those in my bathroom. I got some candles and stuff so when I’m drinking this delicious man-made brew while I’m urinating, I’m gonna be satisfied. Word.
Score: 3.9476172

The Ferm; Well lets start by saying that this was KirkDiggler’s 1st attempt at an all grain brew. That said, I honestly expected an average beer with a good number of things to learn from. What I got in my glass was quite different. The beer that poured a hazy orange-ish color was quite tasty and had an amazing nose. Floral notes dominated the nose and carried over to the taste. The beer was not super heavy, and a very refreshing drink. I have said it a lot lately, but this is a great summer beer. Mainly for one right after a long day of yard work or a long bike ride. Things I would change about this beer. Not much really, for the style I felt it was right on. I personally would take this beer as a base and add Brettanomyces (Bret) to this beer and see where that takes it. Should be a great sour! Good Job KirkDiggler!
Score; 4.12

Overall; 4.0338086

Ground Breaker
Ithaca Beer Company
Ithica, NY
6.00% ABV

C. Pours Cloudy
H. Orange
N. Really Sweet, Floral, and hints of Citrus

Cerveza Chica; The nose on this beer was very pleasant. I got a sweet fruity yet citrusy smell off of it and I suspected maybe even a little bit of sourness. Upon taking the first sip of this beer the carbonation really hit my tongue and attacked it, but not in a bad way. It was really light and pretty easy to drink. I was quite impressed with it and could easily drink a bottle or two of it with no problem especially since the ABV isn’t terribly high. This would be a nice refreshing beer. I like saison’s since you never really know what to expect and this is one worth trying in my opinion.
Score:4.17

Ferm; An American-Style Saison….hmmm, well it is pretty much to style beer wise. Strong carbonation, allowing the beer to dance on your tongue. I feel that while there is a lot of carbonation present it is a perfect amount for this style of beer. The nose is super pleasant and that same quality follows through to the taste. Lots of sweet notes, with a nice semi-dry finish. There is a hint of bitterness at the end but not over-powering. This is a perfect summer beer, and we are in the heat of summer. I think this one would also be enjoyed at a BBQ or at the beach. Very good beer, which if it is available in your local area (it is not in South Florida) I would highly recommend picking up some.
Score: 4.25

Overall: 4.21