Shed Double Hoppy Illumination

Sampled draught (half-pint) at American Flatbread in Burlington. Absolutely gorgeous to look at....burnsihed gold-amber with faint dark yeast speckles floating in the heavy seas, beautiful creamy lasting head and thick lacing....earthy, loamy scents are very quickly overtaken by agressive dry woody hops which become more and more pungent and somewhat funky as it warms.....lightly alcoholic texture evident right away in the body, earthy spicy-hoppy notes and a gingery sharpness that grows strong....quite acidic and hard if not harsh at the finish, though there is alwas a softness that keeps things mellow enough to continue drinking. An intriguing if not wholly successful meld of saison and a strong IPA, probably one of the more interesting examples of this type to emerge from the Shed to date, though the drinkability factor is rather low....it’s certainly not thirst-quenching. Well worth a try at any rate.

Robe rousse très claire surmontée d’une mince mousse blanche. Arômes de houblon résineux et de caramel. Saveurs de houblon résineux et de caramel.

Draught pint at Redbones on 6/10/06.
Low clarity, with a straw golden body that has light lemonskin tints and a bit of deeper orange in the middle. Head is initially quite large, off-white, quite dense for a draught beer and shows moderate retention, with some blotchy lacing.
The nose is a concentrated hop bomb, though it’s not full of American hop notes, thankfully. Some strong lemon and lime, with dry, fuzzy, leafy, hop-bud notes. Quite hard to nail down any distinct note, but it is certainly hop soup in the nose, strong and bold. Lightly sweet bubble gum and touches of white pepper are allowed in on the end, but it’s difficult to get a good notion of the yeast through all of the hops.
Some residual malt sweetness shows through, sugary and with a dollop of honey drizzled about on the back of the tongue. No alcohol. Hops are green, leafy and fresh in the flavor, with a minor bite and some strong juniper/wintergreen notes, with just a hint of grapefruit (very dry white grapefruit). I get an odd candyish, almost medicinal note from the malt, almost aspartame-like. But it is full of honey as well, and very smooth, creamy vanilla wafers thanks to the frothy, engaging carbonation. Again the yeast is a bit bullied by the hops, but for a "Super Saison", it certainly brings the hops (and it is called double hoppy). Still, I think a little more attenuation, with less juicy, fat hop notes would provide the tangy, bitter, dryness more appropriate to a saison. That being said, the mouthfeel is wonderful for a draught beer, as is the unfiltered body, providing soothing, chewy malted grains.
An interesting hard water-like note is notable as well, or whatever that house flavor from the shed is. Still havent figured it out yet.