Mystic Saison Asterisk

Brewed by Mystic Brewery
Style: Saison
Chelsea, Massachusetts USA

Serve in Tulip

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750mL Bottle, purchased at Provisions - Northampton, MA. The aroma belies my problem with this beer, old hops. Oxidized, herbal Euro hops hold most of the aroma, then finish packed with minerals. Across the tongue, a more complex and different beast, but I keep coming back to the slightly dill seed flavor of dusty old hops. Bourbon pokes its head in, and I really, really appreciate the balanced restraint here. Just the right amount of bourbon, but I don’t know what it’s adding to the Saison to make up for the loss of the dry-hop freshness. In general, I don’t know what bourbon or barrel-aging would add to Saison, a style intended and best suited to be fresh, sprightly, a bastion of sunshine and grain in a glass. The bourbon/yeast interaction provides a succulent pineapple character, but in the finish my tongue is sickened with old hops. I’m grateful to have tried the experiment, but I’ll take my Saison un-barrel-aged please, unless it’s going to get uproariously sour and wild.

750ml bottle from Farmhouse shared with friends.
Appearance : Clear pale amber with small head.
Aroma : Lots of yeast with lots of spices. Light bubblegum. Light alcohol.
Taste : Spices with yeast, light malt and light wood. Finish spicy and yeasty. Dusty finish.
Overall : Weird stuff. Feels like it’s trying to be nothing and everything at the same time. Shooting in all direction with a big (borderline messy) yeast profile. Feels a bit amateurish.

Bottle shared by jsprime with matt7215 and myself. Thanks Jeff. Pours a hazy gold with a medium white head. The aroma is very interesting, classic Saison characters with a hint of booze and vanilla from the bourbon. The flavour turned out surprisingly well, basically a good saison with some bourbon-esque sweetness to it, but in a well-blended way. I typically don’t enjoy barrel-aged stuff, especially with bourbon, but this one actually came out well.

750ml bottle shared by jsprime, with me and jessem. hazed golden, lasting offwhite head. nice funky saison nose, bourbon or wood doesnt really come out. the saison flavours are upfront but there is some woody vanilla adding sweetness and some taninns adding body. bourbon barrel aging a saison doesnt sound like a great idea to me, but this one was well done.

My Bottom Line :
Heavy on the bubblegum and vanilla, this barrel-aged creature also contributes lots of doughy yeast flavors in an inappropriately lax mouthfeel.

Further Personal Perceptions :
-A ring of foam surrounds the hazy pale amber.
-Carbonation is ridiculously low (nearly flat) for what is billed as a Saison.
-Banana esters and vanilla-like bourbon attempt to meet half way.
-I guess I’m just not a fan of bourbon flavors in a Saison.

Bottle.

Pours gold into a tulip. White head with medium retention recedes to hug rim. Oak and bourbon aromas. Soft with sweet oak and bourbon upfront turning slightly hot in the lasting finish.

Pouring at Belgian Beer Fest. Pours a lightly hazed golden amber with a thin white head. Musk, toast, light floral acid. Sweet and fruity, big musk and phenols. Yeast, musk, caramel. Catty funk, long musk.

Belgian Beer Fest Boston. Hazy yellow color, small white head. Aroma of straw. Taste is boozy straw.

Pours a deep clear golden color with a decent sized white ehad that slowly dissipates to a cap. This is the clearest saison yet from Mystic. Smells of bourbon and vanilla right off with lots of caramel, apple, and pepper underneath. The flavor is caramel and light and pomme fruits up front cut with some pepper and yeastiness finishing with a lingering vanilla bourbon and oak tannic treatment. Medium body with a moderate level of carbonation and a sweet bubbly mouthfeel. I really liked this one. The bourbon is there, but its not hit you over the head strong like lots of beer these days. Oh and there’s a pretty good saison underneath there too.

Bottled at the Hill Farmstead Festival of Farmhouse Ales. Kind of cloudy, dirty orange-amber with lace. Very ester nose. Peaches, wood, a little bourbon, vanilla. Interesting flavor. Very fruity, peach, apple, pineapple, white grape, some wood, a bit of vanilla. Not a whole lot of bourbon but the wood comes through. Tasty. Pretty smooth and light.