Epic Sour Apple Saison-Style Ale

Brewed by Epic Brewing Co.
Style: Saison
Salt Lake City, Utah USA

Serve in Tulip

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Bomber from Once Upon a Vine, Richmond. What up, Eric? I’m drinking this too. Interesting pour, a super pale yellow that blasts forth with a huge, almost uncontrollable head. Prickly and contained, though, it settles almost abruptly. Nose is initially sweet farmhouse yeast, mild spice, and oh yes, a bit of Granny Smith. Mildly tart rather than "sour," I’d say; you get more puckerage from a Now ’n’ Later, but that’s okay. Lively mouthfeel, but not as obtrusive as I’d feared from the head. Light floral hops and a bit of a bitter finish, from spice, dry hops, and so forth. But the saison base doesn’t come through enough to compensate for the relatively anonymous adjuncts, nor is there enough tartness to make you forget that. Decent.

Bottle from Cock and Bull. Pours golden with an inch of white foam. Doesn’t leave any lacing in the glass. Nose of sour apple and then the funk kicks in. The taste is more sour apple with a hint of barnyard. Finish lingers a bit. Solid example of style but I’m not sure the Sour apple adds as much as it cancels out the Saison elements.

Bottle @ cock & bowl - pours a golden orange, slightly cloudy. Aroma is smacked with the funky stick with lingering apples. Taste is sour and sweet. Palate is dry and thin. Overall, very drinkable.

Poured a crystal clear cider type color with almost a green tint. No head, but great lacing. Smell is medicinal, floral, herbal, and spicy, with hints of apple and pear. Taste is very floral and medicinal, with light touches of spice and yeast. Not picking up on the apple much, except in the lightly tart finish. Sticky mouthfeel and high caronation. Pretty out-of-the-box and fun to drink. Great for summer time.

22oz bottle from Oak Tree Discount Wine and Liquors in South Plainfield, NJ. Release #11, 8.0% ABV. Pours a lightly clouded, golden colored body with a finger-width, frothy and fizzy, white head that dissipates quickly and leaves a moderate lacing. Aroma is interesting. Lots of spices with cinnamon, coriander, clove, and a hint of ginger with a grainy wheat bread and a touch of caramel sweetness, sweet and tart apples, and a light floral hopping. Flavor is similar. Lightly sweetened, bready wheat malts with a touch of caramel up front and lots of mixed spices. Big cinnamon, clove, coriander, ginger, and some more nutmeg coming through in the flavor. Apples start sweet before growing lightly tart towards the end where some light florals come out as well. Finishes slightly dry, but with a balanced sweetness from the malts along with lots of apples giving off a moderate tartness and plenty of spices. Light yeasty bitterness with a light earth as well. Lengthy aftertaste following a medium body and a moderately lively carbonation. Overall, an interesting beer. I don’t think I would go for this too often if I had it regularly available, but I’m glad I got to try it. Lots of spices, sweet and tart apples, and a wheat bread malt backing. Pretty nice balance too with everything going on.

Pours a hazy golden color with a medium to small sized head and good lace.

Aroma is that ol’ human flesh thing with some green apple, some floral notes and spice character, it’s generally not a terribly inviting smell, but it’s alluring enough to stay away from being offensive.

Boy the flavor is more of the same, odd out of balance potpourri like spice, green apple almost the point of unripe crabapples, and general floral bitterness. The beer is tart and mildly sour, but goodness is it just too focused on tasting like sour-apple-pie. Gracious, this is hardly a Saison within the furthest reaches of the style. This style is not a catch all style for any Belgian style experimentation that a brewer feels fit to ferment with yeast labeled "Saison". This is an interesting entry into fruit beer at best. Hardly disgusting, but generally not something I’d be hip to drinking.

Draft. Golden-yellow beer with an off-white head. Yeast and tart aroma with light apples. Apple and tart flavor with spice and light yeast. Medium bodied. Apples and tartness lingers with pumpkin pie spice and light yeast.

22 oz. bottle at Neon in Cincinnati. Good thing they have those 20 oz. glasses to pour into. It looks like it says Release #3 on the bottle, but the ink is uneven in that box, so it might be another number. This one pours a hazy yellow gold with a minimal white head. Aroma of tart apples, floral hops, sweet malts, fresh herbs, abundant spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, coriander), straw, syrup, and faint funk. The flavor is similar, with floral hops, apples, sweet malts, spices, funk- complex. Medium-bodied, with a floral, spicy mouthfeel with mild tartness and low carbonation. Tasty and fun to drink. Underrated.

750 ml. Bottle pour. Hazy yellow color with a decent white head. Belgian spices with a slight tartness. Light green apple notes. Refreshing.

Phenomenal balance between the farmhouse rustic funky yeastiness and the tart green apple. Tingles the edge of the tongue, then has a juicy finish- as in tastes like juice. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Sampled at Slutfest 3. Very nice clear pale yellow pour with almost no head. Wierd funky nose. interesting Unique flavor is quite good. nice.