In the last year or so I imagine one of the styles with which my palate has been evolving most is Saison and Farmhouse Ales more generally. I have been intentionally seeking out different versions and paying close attention to the differences in interpretation. I even found myself doing a Farmhouse Week a few months back (here, here and here).

I think I am drawn to its duality of complexity and refreshment. The two must be held in tension, a hard thing to do. Add in the funky, spicy yeast character and you have a pretty hard style to brew. Thus my intrigue.

A couple weeks back I saw in the new release shelf Anchor Saison, their spring seasonal. Without even thinking, I picked it up to add to my growing collection of saison tastings. When I got home I read on the label they added lemon, lemongrass and ginger, which piqued my curiousity further.

I poured a bottle and got a dark gold beer with light copper accent. It produces a huge, white, loose head that kept building for a long time. It is very effervescent. The aroma gives off a light peppery spice with an earthy backdrop. The background contains some fruit and a bit of lemony accent. I get wisps of hops, but it could be more the esters than hops.

The taste starts with a grainy, meadow honey sweetness upfront. Then some musty earth notes emerge  followed by a white pepper character. The back end gets more sharply spicy, akin to black pepper and dirty Belgian clove notes.I do get touches of hop bitterness to add another layer of interest. Lemon is perceptible but not particularly noteworthy. The finish is prickly and not quite as dry as I would like. And there is something in the linger I don’t like. It is a bit too medicinal and sharp. I find it does not provide enough refreshing qualities.

A decent beer but not as light or as delicate as many I have had recently. The yeast may be a bit heavy handed and the beer needs to finish acouple gravity points lower to dry out the palate.It doesn’t have the quenching-compex balance right, I think. Even though I don’t really taste the ginger, I wonder if in some fashion that is what is throwing the overall impression off?

I am a big fan of Anchor. I respect their history and perseverance. Their Steam Beer is a classic and most of their seasonals are interesting and pretty on the money stylistically. Their spring Saison meets the first descriptor, but I am not sure it hits the second.

I am curious what others think?