Upright Four (#4)

Brewed by Upright Brewing
Style: Saison
Portland, Oregon USA

Serve in Tulip

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750 ml bottle at City Beer Store. Pours a light hazed blonde with a nice lasting bright white head- good lace. Aroma is toasty bread, with big tangerine french saison kick to it- also with a bit of grass that turns a hint lactic. Flavor shows the tart lactic acidity in the end but upfront is still light crackery malts, grassy hops, along with some citrusy yeasty notes. Very dry with a tart lactic kick- easy to drink - great table saison. Nice!

Tap at Upright - turbid gold beer - nose is lemony and wheaty, with light phenolic notes, honey, pear - creamy mouthfeel - light phenols up front (banana, clove, peppery), followed by tangy wheat - some crisp, flinty, mineral character - lightly acidic finish - fruity hallertauer finish - like a cross between a saison and a hefe - tasty.

I didn’t give it time to clear in the bottle, but given how the bottle was stratifying it looks like this could be close to brilliantly clear if given the chance. A solid pour into my large Tripel Karmeliet tulip (definitely the perfect glass for a Saison of this strength) produces a four-finger thick, pale tan tinged, off-white colored head. The head, as it slowly subsides leaves some nice layered lacing on the sides of my glass. The beer has a hazy, pale amber color, that shows a brighter version of the same when held up to the light. The aroma smells of fruit backed by grain, then a touch of spice. The fruitiness definitely seems characteristic of Wyeasts Thierez yeast (if that is what is used here), with notes of apple cider, touches of melon, and ripe pear. There is a hint of phenolic character here, a touch of mustiness, both of which meld in with the soft, hay like grain character, touches of biscuit like grain and whole grain breadiness that is here. There is a soft herbal spiciness to this brew that is quite a bit more subtle than I was hoping for, this is from the hops, but is a bit more subtle in the nose than I might prefer.

Bone dry tasting, which is accentuated by a prickly carbonation and there is also a fair more tartness than I was expecting; this isn’t a sour beer by any means, but the tartness nicely accentuates some of the fruitiness, in place of a usual malt sweetness perhaps. The fruitiness reminds me of tart pears, with perhaps a touch of floral apple, which is about opposite the relative presence that the aroma has. The hops are more present in the flavor than in the nose, though this is by no means a hoppy beer; they provide a lightly herbal bitterness that adds some firmness to the finish, a gentle spiciness towards the middle and just a soft, integrated hop-herbal character to the entire flavor of this beer. As the beer warms up, more of floral hop component starts to come out & this pairs quite well with the touch of tartness and the fruit character from the yeast. The malt character is fairly subtle here, I expect a bit more of a crackling grain presence (is this perhaps a little old), but there is a nicely soft munich malt presence towards the finish here (contributing a lightly toothsome, whole-grain character), as well as some straw-like, pale grain & perhaps cracker like character in the middle of each sip. The body is about perfect; it is quite light, but has some touches of viscousness to it (perhaps even a hint of lactic slickness) that make this beer interesting enough

This is one of the few commercial, US Saisons that is aligned with the way I like to brew my own. I like the soft, seemingly lactic, tartness that is found in this beer. A beer of this strength, with all of the flavor that this beer has, is right up my alley; I absolutely love lower alcohol beers just like this and this is certainly no exception. I would happily drink a lot of this, and if I didn’t already brew a bunch of beer just like this, I would buy a bunch of it given the opportunity. Personally, I like a touch more carbonation (though this is amply carbonated), a more defined / brighter grain character (did they just use American malt in this), and a touch more hop presence (I was excited to taste a significant Hallertau Mittelfrüh contribution that isn’t quite here), but like I said, I am a sucker for beers like this so this Saison is quite enjoyable. I managed to complain quite a bit about a beer I liked so much.

Bottle courtesy of After4ever. Hazy light gold pour, with a tightly whipped white head. Aroma is yeast, tart fruit, and musty hops. Lemon and earthy flavors mix well, making it really appetizing and one your mouth keeps asking for more of. Finishes pleasing and dry. Outstanding!

Tasted on 4/12/12 from a capped 750mL bottle brought back from Oregon to me by UncleJedi, big thanks Jim. Pours clear pale golden with an average white head that recedes rather quickly to thin lace that sticks around. The nose is light wheat malt with some lightly tart lemon pith and just a touch of spicy yeast. The flavor is super clean and tart all the way through, with just a touch of wheat malt and traditional spicy saison yeast. The body is light with lively, but not stinging, carbonation, with a medium wheaty and lightly tart finish. This is the ultimate easy-drinking sessionable beer.

Bottle from riversideAK. Brew poured a hazed yellow with a bubbly white head. Nose was very floral with hints of clove, lemon grass, bubble gum. Very light on the palate, I bet this is killer when paired with the right food.

I fucking love this beer....great little amount of sourness...great malt flavor and just quite possibly one of the greatest summer beers ever

Plusieurs verres de 12 oz, à la brasserie. Version originale et versions avec dry-hopping. L’évaluation est pour la version originale. Arômes de levure légèrement épicée, de houblon floral et de blé cru. Robe blonde très pâle et trouble, légère mousse et effervescence assez active. En bouche, la bière se présente comme un hybride entre une wit (sans les épices) et une saison, avec une belle signature de levure épicée et des céréales très proéminentes. Le houblon, herbacé et floral est également présent. Finale très sèche et légèrement amère. Très rafraîchissant.

Cloudy gold. White head. Lemon, white pepper, yeast, coriander aroma. Flavor is lemony, spice, yeast, light bready notes. Awesome.

UPDATED: APR 21, 2010 courtesy of googzoid. Pours hazy golden straw, thin white head. Aroma nice saison yeast, wheat, pale malts and wodnerful citrus. Flavors, very light palate, silky wheat, mild bitterness, fizzy carbonation, herbal/lemon, grassy mouthfeel. Wonderful yeast finish. Bottle refers to the beer as ’bière de table’ which is a better description than a saison. Reminded me a lot of the light beer my parents would let us have at dinner when we were kids.