Stone Saison

Brewed By: Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, California

Purchased: 12oz bottle bought at Whole Foods in Naperville, IL; 2014 (Enjoy By 09/05/14)

Style/ABV: American Saison, 6.0% 
Reported IBUs: 45

Stone have built strong mythos around individuality and pushing the envelope. Knowing that, one could point out the irony that Stone has jumped on the Session IPA and Saison bandwagon. But irony isn't a word in the gargoyle lexicon. But hey, there's always a chance that Stone's Saison is formidable. About Stone:

Stone Brewing are one of the more prominent breweries in the American craft brewing scene. They were founded in 1996 in San Marcos, California, and moved to Escondido, California where they recently expanded their operations. Stone was founded by Steve Wagner and Greg Koch. Koch has a reputation among the craft beer community for voicing his opinion, not putting up with shit, and standing behind his beer. Also...farking woot and fizzy yellow beer is for bitches. 

The Stone Saison is an American-style Saison that punches in at a gentle 6.0% ABV and 45 IBUs. This one is brewed with Perle and Aramis hops, and features lemon zest, lemon thyme, and lavender straight from Stone Farms. That's right: in the Spring of 2011 Stone bought a farm, acquiring 19 acres of land in Southern Cali to grow fruits, vegetables, herbs, and reefer. The last one is off the record. Speaking of things that are off the record, word on the street is that Greg Koch, who loves hot peppers, added just a pinch of habanero to this beer. For some reason, the habanero addition that was rumored is not listed on Stone's website. However, if you read the tasting description, they do note: "The finish is a mix of red apple, black pepper and the tiniest touch of heat." I guess we will see. 

Stone Saison

This one pours into an uneventful, hazy yellow body. There are yellow-gold and yellow-orange tones in bright light. The carbonation in here is lively, with a stream of bubbles rapidly ascending. This one produced a finger of white head, and has since faded into a nice sea foam coating with lots of lacing. 

Honestly, the aroma here smells muddled and conjures up images of train wrecks and horrible sport injuries. It smells kind of like a Doppelweizen meets a Christmas Spiced Ale. I'm reminded of the Sam Adams Merry Mischief and the Southern Tier 2XMas and the Pipeworks Chai Dog. I'm getting big banana and clove notes, TONS of nutmeg and allspice, cardamon, and thyme...and some nonspecific heat. Beneath the spice, banana, and clove is some bready malt backings and orange peel. There's some citrus ala a Belgian Witbier in here. Again: this aroma is all over the place. I would not guess this is a Saison from the aroma.

Hmm...the initial taste does not remind me of the Saison style. BUT, as I let this sit on my palate for a moment...this one kind of veers into that raw and earthy character, with black pepper. The finish has some heat. The front end is still an assault of nutmeg and thyme, with layers of banana and clove lurking beneath, and hints of citrus in the fold. The back end is where you get that earthy pepper and...well...earth character. It compliments the big, peppery heat that shows up on the back end. As this warms up a bit, the thyme starts to mellow out and the citrus comes out a bit...I'm still getting a ton of spice in here though, with curry showing up. The back end definitely suggests a peppery addition, which is not listed as an ingredient for reasons I couldn't fathom. 

I don't hate this...but let's call a spade a spade. Is this really a Saison? If so, it's quite the bastardization of the style. Maybe that's what they were going for, I don't know. My favorite part here is the nice kick of heat on the back end. This is a medium-bodied beer with good carbonation to move things along. Palate depth and complexity are both alirhgt, and you don't get any alcohol at 6.0%. The front end here is all about the nutmeg, thyme, black pepper, earth, and banana-clove; the mids roll into layers of banana, clove, and some citrus, with more earthy black pepper showing up; the back end finishes with raw earthy notes, black pepper, and big hot pepper heat. It's dry and attenuated and finishes nicely...but this is a "Winter Saison" if ever there was one.

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Average on this beer. WTF is this? It's definitely not a Saison...right? I don't even know. It's not a bad beer per se...but yeah. I understand that the Saison style is sort of ambiguous and undefined, but that doesn't give you the green light to do whatever. Having said all that, the earthy spice, black pepper notes, and hot pepper heat in this beer all suggest some bold food pairings...forget delicate foods with this beer. Throw some potatoes at this beer, chicken, Mexican food, black beans, and Korean BBQ wings. This is tasty...just weird.

Random Thought: The use of spice in this beer is really nice.