Bison Organic Honey Basil

Brewed by Bison Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Berkeley, California USA

Serve in Lager glass, Tumbler

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22oz bottle: Pours to a light golden yellow body with a small white head that does last, but not too long. Aroma is orange blossom (yep, stole that from Argo0), honey, sweet malt, and bit of light herb. The taste is dried basil, sweet herbs, earth, medium amount of bitterness comes through towards the middle, and then finishes with some sugary root flavors and light pepper. This actually closely resembles DFH Pangaea of years ago, back when it was good. It’s dry, light-medium bodied, and has medium carbonation.

(bottle - 12 oz) Hazy amber pour with a fluffy white head. Big basil aroma with lots of other vegetable notes. Some mild honey sweetness. Flavor has a lot of basil and grassy notes with a very subtle suggestion of honey at the end to enhance the basil flavor. Interesting but pretty tasty.

Poured from a 12 ounce refrigerated bottle. Appearance is nicely translucent amber with a beige head of sticky, bubbly foam. Aroma is vegetables, some vanilla cream, and pumpkin spice? Weird for sure. Taste is somewhat pleasant. I’m surprised. Just a little sweet with a nice rounded spicy note. Nice summer beer.

Amber beer with a creamy off white head. Some spice and green vegetal notes in the nose. Warm, malty sweetness with lots of grass and green taste to it. I get basil in it but it could just be suggestive. Okay beer.

Bottle. Pours hazy amber with a medium white head. Dried basil aroma with a hint of sweetness. Strong basil flavor with a sweet malt backbone. Very interesting brew but not my favorite as I’m not big on basil. Probably quite tasty if you like the flavor of basil.

Draught. Arbitrary score 4/5 for Appearance, as nighttime conditions prevented correct assessment. Indeed, both honey and basil identifyable; Herbal, sweet and strangely exotic. Balance is good, but the finish exhibits some of the less agreeable liquorice notes cooked basil can have. Light bodied, not even very slick. More interesting than great.

Appearance: It pours a clear dark golden orange, with a dark tan, quickly dissipating coarse head. Smell: Very interesting. Like a light pesto – the basil definitely comes through. Perhaps hints of clove and caramel. Somewhat sweet smell, and the hops are masked. Taste: It’s a bit off-putting, to be honest. The body is very thin, and the taste is of metallic, minerally basil, with a barely perceptible sweetness. The finish fades quickly and abruptly, with an echo of dark hops after the swallow. Not entirely enjoyable. Mouthfeel: Sticky and kind of thin. Carbonation bites at the initial sip, and then is not very present at all. Overall: I don’t like this. I admire the audacity of going for something creative, and can certainly enjoy the end result, but it just doesn’t turn out well for this beer. Not a pleasing taste. The water they used is very hard, the basil doesn’t add enough satisfying body to make it enjoyable, and the hops taste a little stale. Amendment – It grew on me a little after I had a bit. The hops used are understated so as to add a light bitterness and let the basil shine. To be fair, I did like the basil flavor, but it was unappealing with the metallic quality at first. The basil still lingers on the finish and meshes with the hops, which is nice.

12 oz single from "Lifesource",Salem $2.59 Pretty normal looking amber beer with a nice tight ,creamy off white head. Certainly very much basil on the aroma,slight caramel and bread in the background Wow odd basil centered taste....after the shock yu can start to pick up the nice honeyish notes and the caramel malts Actually OK on the palate. Odd beer indeed..like nothing I have had before but i can drink it

Bottle. Pours copper full tan head. Strong honey and basil aroma. Unique and pleasant aroma. Taste is mildly sweet from the honey. Medium body, average carbonation, somewhat lingering sticky basil flavored finish. Nice and refreshing overall, paired well with the chicken cacciatore. Wouldn’t drink many of these in one sitting.

Refreshing, with a very obvious vegetal aroma and taste. The basil taste was mild but the overall herbaceousness was overpowering and almost cloying. It paired very well with food (grilled marinated chicken skewers and a summer salad with asparagus) but was too much to drink on its own after a few sips. Interesting and worth a taste, but I had a hard time finishing a full glass. Perhaps it would have benefited from a better balance with the honey.

nice peppery-basil flavor with a lingering honey/basil aftertaste. Definitely different and a nice change of pace but I can’t see myself substituting this for any of my favorites. It would probably be a great summer beer/camping beer though.