Solemn Oath Whisper Kisses

Brewed By: Solemn Oath Brewing in Naperville, IL  

Purchased: 22oz bottle bought at Sheridan 'L' Longue in Chicago, IL; 2014

Style/ABV: American Saison, 8.3%

Reported IBUs: 65

Spring is Saison season, so let's celebrate this overcast, slightly below-average temperature Sunday with a locally brewed Saison. About Solemn Oath:

Solemn Oath is a brewery based out of Naperville, IL, and was founded in 2012 by brothers John and Joe Barley, and former Rock Bottom employee Tim Marshall. Marshall's experience was with Belgian-style beers and barrel aging. After John and Tim scouted out the location, they began to install the brewery and on-site taproom. The first brew day was on April 21, 2012. Prior to that, the brewery signed a distribution deal with the Windy City Distribution, and launched three beers during the Chicago Craft Beer Week in 2012. The brewery already has expanded, adding additional barrels (up to 3,200 barrels) in January 2013. The brewery recently started bottling their beers in late 2013, and they have an on-site taproom where you can get a beer, grab some food from one of the many food trucks that stops by, and watch them brew their beer on site. For more information, definitely check out the brewery's ABOUT page or main website.

The Whisper Kisses is an American-style Saison brewed with French Saison yeast that is described as having bready malt sweetness, and floral, fruity hop character. Punching in at 8.3% and 65 IBUs, I have high hopes for this one. 

Solemn Oath Whisper Kisses

This one pours into a hazy, golden-yellow body, kicking up three fingers of white head. It's like the Mona Lisa of Saisons, following the appearance guidelines to a tee. Just a beautiful looking beer. There's peppery carbonation in the body, and the lacing has dat Spider-Man cling. Like creepy boyfriends.

Speaking of creepy boyfriends, this beer has awesome bottle art and an awesome name. I'm getting huge tropical fruits on the aroma: pineapple, white peaches, sweet lemons/orange, mango, passion fruit, and just giant crushable hop sweetness. Along with the tropical fruits is some big white pepper, and huge bready malt backing. The bready yeast in here is awesome. This smells refreshing and crushable, cheers.

The taste here isn't as amazing as the aroma, but this beer isn't a slouch either. Noticeable in the taste but obviously missing on the aroma is the hop bitterness...this is quite bitter and hoppy at 65 IBUs. I like it though. I'm getting huge sweet hops on the taste: sweet lemon/orange, pineapple, mango, white peaches, passion fruit. This beer is incredibly juicy with giant crushed tropical fruits and stone fruits. There's some big white pepper in the taste as well, with tons of backing bready malts and yeast funk. 

Saisons can go a lot of ways, but the balance here is less on the farmhouse and funk and more on the giant, crushable, American hops. There is a TON of crushable tropical fruit juice and sweet citrus in here, with white pepper as the secondary character, and then some nice bready and yeasty notes in the back. It's really, really nice. At 8.3%, this is ridiculously drinkable, and the 65 IBUs impart a really welcomed hop bitterness to this beer. As you can probably tell, I'm enjoying this. The mouthfeel is medium-light, and the beer has fantastic palate depth and duration for the style, and average complexity. Up front is a rush of wheat, gentle malts, and an assault of bright hops, tropical fruits, citrus, and American hop goodness; the mids dial up more tropical fruits, pineapple, peaches, some clove funk, white pepper, and then you pick up some nice bitterness; the back end continues with clove, bitterness, and white pepper, and then you get some nice Belgian yeast funk and a little bready goodness. The finish is hoppy, bitter, and dry. This is fantastic.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. This is an awesome beer, and something I would get by the growler-full at Solemn Oath. Solemn Oath may just be the most underrated brewery in Illinois right now, because they are cranking out some fantastic beer. This Saison is spot-on and then some with that huge rush of bold tropical fruits. If they threw some Brett in here or barrel-aged this, well it might just turn into a divine brew. Food pairings here include your usual Saison pairings: peppery chicken or turkey, mango salsa and a chicken sandwich/burger, lightly spiced wings, white fish, fruit salad, rustic potatoes, and anything that goes well with tropical hops or white/black pepper. Would bang again, especially at the price of around $8/bomber.

Random Thought: I love these basketball/baseball/hockey afternoons.