Firestone Walker Lil Opal

Brewed by Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
Style: Saison
Paso Robles, California USA

On tap at Downtown Johnny Brown. Pours hazy gold with a thick white head of good retention. Has a mild earthy aroma with a tinge of sourness. Flavor is nicely tart with a mild sour finish. The beer produces a bread dough aroma at warming. It has an interesting sweetness. Towards the end of the beer it tastes a bit like a lime lollipop

On tap, Blue Palms Brewhouse. Pours clear gold with a brief white head. Aroma is biscuit and sugar, musty pear. Flavor is surprisingly mild: a blend of fruit, pilsner malt, mild herbal hops. Flavor kind of peters out by the middle. Palate is light with sparkling carbonation. Not Firestone’s best.

Identical in color to their hefe. sweet smell. malty. little bit of sourness. yeasty and carbonated. hit of farmhouse smell too.

Draft @ Sac Brew. Pours a hazy, golden color; fluffy off-white head with great retention and lacing that sticks; great pour. Basic aroma of sweet apricots and light bananas; basic and sweet. Medium mouthfeel: very chewy, sweet apricots and viscous sugar; relaxed carbonation for what this could use; nice and dense for the ABV, but lopsidedly sweet. Medium finish with apricots; the sweetness departing for a toasty, pleasant end.

On tap. Hazy yellow with an off-white head. Some discreet fruit in the nose. medium body, fruit and a little yeast and then something that reminds me of discreet Brett. Some yeast in the finish and again some light Bretty accents to balance the fruity sweetness. Interesting. 120709

16 ounce sample on tap at the Davis Graduate. Aroma has a little dusty yeast component. Light ginger and a bit of toastiness. A touch of lemon is also in there. Not hugely aromatic. Mostly hazy golden-orange body with a quickly dissipating small white head. Starts with a little lemon-tart astringency, before it becomes pretty doughy in the middle. There is more slightly tart astringency later on. Mild hops detected. Different to say the least. Seems to be too sweet.

Draft. An unclear golden beer with a lazing white head. The aroma is sweet malty with strong notes of citrus, as well as light notes of wheat and a light acidity. The flavor is sweet with strong notes of spices, and a good deal of lemon, on a medium malty back ground, leading to a lightly tart finish.

Draft at Pizza Port Carlsbad: Hazy eclipsed golden. Thick and creamy ring encircles a broken center of foam. Decent nose of lemon, assorted melon, and lightly toasted crackers. Distant whiff of sulfur, banana, and granny smith apples. Softly prickly carbonation. Lemony and well-rounded with a profusion of floral hops and melon. Poorly defined, however, and notably flabby with fuzzy malts and overripe-fruit esters. Many of the subtleties fall by the wayside as the sugary honey malt center steadily intensifies. Quenching notes of lemon acidity seamlessly fuse with the floral hop character to aid in allaying the residual sugars. Muted mineralic snap compensates slightly for the flabbiness. Finishes quite hefty with a toasty malt sweetness coupled with astringent malt, black pepper, and sulfur. Decent, overall, but a bit sweet and fairly unclean.