Ballast Point Brother Levonian Saison

Brewed by Ballast Point Brewing Company
Style: Saison
San Diego, California USA

Serve in Tulip

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Draft PB Taproom - pretty clear bronze, halo of white. Nose of metallic apple juice, maybe some powdered sugar notes as well, but musty and mildew is what I smell. Watery testure, subdued flavors subtly hinting at belgian yeast nuances but not much else at all...don’t you just hate when you get the feeling the bar bitch pour the wrong beer...well, I can’t think of what else it would be up there on the tap list...this tastes like fucking crap! This hopefully isn’t the same recipe as the ports version because it doesn’t resemble it in any way shape or form. Fuck this shit...why does ballast point have such troubles with belgian styles...my first extract saison (my 2nd homebrewed beer ever) was way better than this...this is some kind of saison you’d expect from karl strauss or maybe a really bad BJs or Rockbottom..

Pours a golden amber yellow with a white head and some lacing. Aroma is sweet malt, sour fruits, and some Belgian yeast. Taste is sweet with a lot of sweet Malts, sour fruit, some saison spices, and a little Belgian yeast. Has a medium body with a watery mouthfeel and a dry, short, too sweet finish. Overall, a ok saison that is lacking true saison character and is too sweet.

Draught Small white bubbles over pale golden beer. Very sharp, coriander and yeast with 4Vinylguaiacol nose, cloves and sulphur. Sweetish, and again clovey Weizen features. Quite slick, medium bodied, alcoholtouches despite low ABV. More Weizen than Saison.

At Hamiltons , ok aroma, sweet. Minor yeasty spice. Banana, clove. Clean orange gold color. No head or lace. Sweet spice flavor. Medium body lite, but creamy mouthfeel, bittersweet finish. Good, light in the scheme of things. Session beer for sure.

On tap Pizza Port San Clemente, Belgian Tulip: Aroma is sugar and hints of citrus but nothing really stands out. Overall pretty dang weak. Appearance is deep yellow, with a nice head initially that fades very quickly then simply disappears leaving no bubbles/ no lacing/ nothing. Taste is extremely heavy and sweet no noticeable funk/ yeastiness/saison character. Palate is super heavy and syrupy, thick and completely unrefreshing. Overall this is close to being the worst saison I’ve ever tried. (the worst was a bottle that came flat and uncarbonated) I’ve been having bad luck with this style lately and this just continues the trend.

In taster at urge. Looks clear and yellow. White head. Smells of belgium and pale malts. Some light funk. Tastes like a crisp and clean Belgian Saison. Some bitterness and earthiness. Overall 6.5 of 10

Sampled on tap 1702, Tucson; October 2011
Arrives from the tap a burnished gold color that shows a mostly clear, straw gold color when held up to the light. The head is a creamy textured, off-white color. The aroma initially smells of stale beer, but there is also a touch of straw like and cracker like grain, and the finish has some green apple and pear like fruit aromatics that actually get pretty strong after a bit.

Cold, creamy textured and with a finish that tastes of stale beer and a bit of creamed corn. There is a touch of spice to the finish, but it is quite slight with perhaps a touch of ginger and white pepper. Somewhat sweet and a touch full bodied for a Saison, but I wouldn’t call it sweet tasting per se. This tastes a bit of dried-grassy grain, touches of pale cracker like malt, perhaps a touch of honey-like maltiness and some chewy white bread crumb notes. The spice character is quite muted here, there is a touch of phenolics character that seems more musty than clove like at times, plus there is something that seems to remind me a bit of oxidized nutmeg for some reason. The fruit character from the nose carries through to the flavor with ample notes of pear, perhaps a touch of melon rind and a hint of green apple flavors.

Not sure if there is something about stale tap lines influencing this beer or not, but even if so, the “Saison” character of this beer seems quite a bit more muted than I would like to see. Really not that great for a Saison, though it is not a bad beer; drying this out and getting some proper Saison yeast character in this brew would go a long way towards improving this.

Draft @ Ballast Point. Supposed to be a saison but i swear its just a pale. Sugary taste with no funk. Very flat and straightforward.

On tap at Ballast Point (Old Grove) with Andy, James and Dallas for Dallas’ bachelor weekend. Pale, almost whiskey-colored gold pour with no sediment and minimal head. Aroma is funky banana. Palate is crisp and spicy upfront and dry fruit going down. Light-bodied. Okay.

Draft at Ballast Point tasting room with Andrew, Brendan and the big boy daddy dad Bachelor, Dallas. Pours an amber body with minor lacing. Aroma is wheat. Mouthfeel is smooth but also crisp with notes of wheat and bread.

On tap at the brewery with the bros for dallas’ bachelor party. Grainy brew.. Hay and biscuity. Some hops coming through and dryness.