Along a Fence - Shiner FM 966 Farmhouse Ale

I've been writing about it in every few posts for about the last month and a half. I've finally weeded through the backlog of beers I had to review the old way. The way I felt to be kind of drab after two plus years of doing it. I felt that changing it up would be a bit more entertaining whenever I actually get the opportunity to post during the week. I figured it would also be somewhat more interesting to look at for the approximately six or seven people that actually read this stuff. I'm not exactly trying to win a pulitzer here. Some better angles enables us to get better looks at the brews along with some intriguing labels or even cans in some cases. I'll also be trying to incorporate a classic song lyric or a movie quote at the end of each of these just for fun, too.

Quite a sweet and sour scent. Also quite yeasty and estery. Pepper, grass and lemon. This was a very, very crisp brew. Very springy. Thick and golden body. Really had some body to it. A curtain of foggy haze within the body as well.

This would be a great beer to have either sitting back on or leaning against a fence on some random farm somewhere in central/southern Pennsylvania. You know what area I'm thinking of. A perfect place to guzzle a few of these. Neil Young used to play at Farm Aid (he might even still be one of the figure heads for that, I'm not sure) almost every time it came around. I think that makes him fitting to listen to while enjoying one of these.

"Dream up, dream up. Let me fill your cup with the promise of a man." - Neil Young in Harvest

Beer Review: East End Farmhouse Pourganic Pale Ale

Serving Type: Draft/Growler

ABV: N/A

Appearance: This East End offering was a very crisp-looking straw gold and had one of the slightest hazes in the body. Very translucent, but it was there to provide some visual thickness. The head was very thick and fluffy, but it didn't look too compact. It wasn't a very dense foam. Very bubbly. Still, the lacing that was left inside the glass was thick and sticky. With the amount of bubbles, I didn't notice much carbonation in the body of this brew.

Smell: Initially, the aroma of this beer was very sweet and a little boozy. I also noticed some yeast character along with straw, grain, banana and clove. Very complex and layered.

Taste: The sweetness and grain flavors combined for a nice punch up front. Mid-way, the banana and clove added some spice to the overall flavor. It was quite a zing. There was a slight bitter hop bite on the finish that was also complimented by the clove. The spiciness of the beer provided for the sizzling texture with the lack of carbonation bubbles in the body. That more than made up for it. The alcohol content peaked through and bathed by throat on a warm finish.

Overall Rating: 

I didn't take the ABV of this beer upon buying a growler of it, but I recall the number being in the neighborhood of 7.4 percent. This was an excellent drink. It tasted so good that I finished the entire growler in one sitting. Many interesting and tasty layers. Some nice spicy zest, too.

Beer Review: Victory Helios Ale

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 7.5 percent

Appearance: Helios Ale has an appearance that's close to that of honey. It's a very similar shade of gold. There's also a noticeable haze that's most likely from the yeast used in this beer. The head is a vivid white and has somewhat weak retention. It sinks back into the beer fast and doesn't leave any lacing at all. There was also a ton of small bubbles that quickly rose to the top of the glass. As I've started to notice in saison brews, the yeast used in the process helps the bubbles to travel in lines. They appear to be following each other towards the top. Aside from the weak head on top of this beer, this is a very pleasing beer to look at.

Smell: The aroma of this beer is certainly yeasty. There was quite a few more layers behind that. There was definitely an interesting hop backbone, too. I also sensed an overload of spice and/or pepper. It sort of tingled in the nostrils. It was somewhat enjoyable, but I'd rather not have it smothering the citrus notes as it was in this particular instance.

Taste: The yeast was very present in the taste as expected. The next strongest flavor on the tongue was definitely the spice and/or pepper that I noticed. That gave me that zesty sizzle on my tongue that I love to write about in brews that I'm able to try. I got a bit more citrus (which I was able to identify as both orange and lemon) in this section than I did the smell, but it was still overpowered by the pepperiness. The carbonation I noticed after the pour resonated in my mouth. This beer had an awesome texture with all of those bubbles.

Overall Rating: 

I had high hopes for this beer, but it fell just short. There were some great qualities in this one, though. I surely didn't like the weakness of the head and the overabundance of the spice/pepper, but these two things were far from ruining this beer.

Beer Review: Boulder Honey of a Saison

Serving Type: Draft/Growler

ABV: 11.5 percent

Appearance: Honey of a Saison pours a dark shade of amber. It also has hues of both orange and red throughout the body. There wasn't any carbonation bubbles present, but the head of this beer was thick and towering. There was an above-average head even on the latter pours from the growler. I expected it to be an ivory or cream color given the dark amber of the body. Surprisingly, it was almost as white as snow. It faded away after a few minutes, but leaves plenty of thick lacing.

Smell: This beer was very estery after my initial smell. There was also plenty of yeast in the aroma. What lacked was the honey. It was there, but only slightly.

Taste: The yeast and the honey mixed quite well on the tongue. There was a strong alcohol presence from that 11.5 ABV on the finish./ This beer's taste packed some heat. It had a familiar burning sensation to bourbon or rum when it goes down your throat. I tend to prefer the alcohol a little more masked in brews with a higher ABV.

Overall Rating: 

I'm still trying to learn the eccentricities of the saison/farmhouse style of beers. I mostly enjoy them. This one was a little too strong for me. Especially the boozy presence. Not only did I feel the burn in my mouth, a hefty buzz followed soon after. If you're into brews that pack a punch like this one you might like this a bit more than I did.