Callys Belgian Saison

Formerly brewed at Cally’s Restaurant & Brewing Co. (formerly Calhoun’s)
Style: Saison
Harrisonburg, Virginia USA

Serve in Tulip

Sampler at Brewery. 7.9% ABV. Spicy Belgian yeast character in aroma with orange and Lemmon. Golden orange slightly cloudy. Moderate peach pear in flavor with spicy peppery yeast notes. Slight alcohol warming. Well bittered. No sourness and not tart. Well carbonated. Nice example.

The best on tap at brewery. Cloudy dark yellow with fizzy white head. Banana and clove aroma. Sweet tropical fruit taste followed by quick caramel notes and finishing with some earthy after tastes.

UPDATED: JAN 16, 2009 On tap at the brewpub on 10/04/2008. Somewhat hazy copper amber body with a medium creamy off-white head. Sweet spicy aroma, light banana and clove, with some light caramel. Sweet spicy flavor, more cloves and faint banana. Medium body with moderately high carbonation. 7/3/7/4/14 - 3.5 03/14/2008: From growler thanks to Rob and Kinz. Cloudy amber body with a small white head. Dry grainy, earthy aroma. Dry grainy flavor, more earthy and light caramel. Medium body, fairly low carbonation and a grainy finish. 6/3/5/3/11 - 2.8

Thanks as usual to Rob for bringing down the growler. Nice as usual to see them experimenting a bit. Medium amber, slight but persistent head, a bit hazy. I would complain that it is too dark for the style, but after checking ye old BJCP guidelines, I see amber is listed as acceptable. But this isn’t BJCP, so what the heck, appears too dark for the style. Aroma was lightly spicy, a bit of clove perhaps, and some dusty orange in the background. Somewhat sweet honey accented malts, and a decidedly grainy malt taste fade into a vaguely spicy finish. Not a masterpiece, but not bad. Oddly enough, this might be the first growler sample I’ve ever had that I thought tasted better after it had been open for a day.

UPDATED: SEP 18, 2008 Draft at Cally’s. Tim recently brought this back, and I think the recipe may have been a bit different from the first time it was brewed. Strikingly dark for the style, it is hazy and mine had no head by the time it reached me at my table. Lots of orange and lemon rind in the mouth with maybe a bit of clove. Struck me as fairly thin for the style, there is little to no lingering of flavors... they disappear pretty quickly. I support Cally’s in their brewing endeavors but this one needs some work. RERATE: This one really deserves a rerate as it is far superior to the last time I had it. Hazy golden orange with tropical fruit nose. Slightly sawdusty body with some citrus rind and more intense tropical fruit flavors. This is much more true to the style.

Decent, I feel like it was lacking the intensity of other beers of this style. It feels like it would be a good introductory beer to this type as it lacks some of the powerful spice, bitterness, and yeasty goodness. Also, Calhoun’s should serve this in something other than a tumbler.

On tap at the brewpub. Pours unusually dark for the style, with a beige head. Sweet aroma--the aroma and appearance made me think they’d given me their Scottish Ale. But the second sniff revealed some pseudo-Saison notes: very light banana and some earthiness. But the sweetness is cloying. The flavor is a little better; it made me sure, at least, that I had actually received the Saison. It actually became half-decent as it warmed, but never developed fully into the style.

Cloudy copper body with off-white head. Aroma is moderately sweet, candi sugar, light herba;. Taste is moderately sweet, caramel, candi sugar, light toasted coconut, a bit of alcohol dryness in the finish. Medium-full body, some stickiness. Unquestionalby an attempt at a Belgian, but seems rather off for a Saison.