Smuttynose Farmhouse Ale

Hazy golden color with a smallish, light ecru head. Sweet aromas of malt, wheat, thistles and oranges. Touch of yeast with weeds and biscuit dough. Quite sweet with oranges and honey in the front and middle. Dries out slightly in the finish and the linger. Some light spice of mace and cardamom. The sweetness keeps getting in the way. Like a strong tea with a couple of spoonfuls of honey, some nice flavors but after awhile, it just gets too saccharine.

I wasn’t too big a fan of this beer, but I rated it higher than I would have because I’ve had enough Saison’s at this point to realize that I don’t like them, so I am being generous on the "overall" category. The beer had too much bitterness that wasn’t associated with the hops, almost like a skunkyness, that I attributed to the off kilter spices that Saisons usually use. Too much corriander it tasted like.

22oz. Bottle: Smells earthy, grassy, and herbal with notes of spices, and pepper. Poured yellow/amber/orange in color with a large, fizzy, rocky white head that lasted throughout. Very good lacing. Hazy. Lightly sparkling. Tastes of pepper, yeast, spices, herbs, and bitter hops. Medium body. Chalky texture. Average to lively carbonation. Bitter, herbal, peppery finish. A nice Saison.

Bottle courtesy of JJPM74: Poured a deep orangey color ale with a big foamy head with good retention but minimal lacing. Aroma of fruity ester with some nice medium sweet Belgian malt. Taste is also dominated by some nice fruity ester probably coming from the yeast that was used with some nice medium sweet Belgian malt and a subtle dry hoppy ending. Body was quite full with a somewhat oily texture and some good carbonation. I thought this was a bit too sweet and somewhat cloying when compared to the staples of the style.

Draft poured into a tulip at the Dirty Truth. The flavors were citrus, grassy hops, and a sweet honey-like sweet finish. This was a little sweet for the style, but the grassy hops and acidic bite make it almost as good as it’s Belgian counterparts. Smuttynose is great at trying new styles in their "big beer" series.

22oz bottle-pours a big foamy off white head and gold color. Aroma is musty, light malt, yeast. Taste is musty, light malt, yeast, some earthy/spicy hops. OK carbonation.

This beer pours a cloudy orange, amber color with an alright head and not much laceing to it. It has a very strong salty and yeast aroma. As you drink it, it is very bitter initially as well as some hints of toffee and some nice malt flavors that stick around for a while. The palate is very good the bitter flavor stays around for so long and lasts for such a long time. I personally like the initial orange peel on the tip of your tounge, the citrus oils stay there and make the beer more enjoyable.

Pours a clear pale orang with a quickly fading head that laces mildly. Effervescent body. Fruity, estery and earthy aroma with lemon zest and a bit of clove-like spice, with a bit of grain and sweet bread, all from the yeast. There are pear and apple notes apparent too that gently whaft the nose. The flavour is well-balanced, as it is spicy, fruity and yeasty. There is also a zestyness too the flavour and that bubblegum-like yeast. The body is medium bodied and the palate is long, dry and tingly. A nice representation.