Sunday, November 30, 2014

Sam Adams Harvest Saison Review



Name: Sam Adams Harvest Saison
Style: Saison
ABV: 6.0%

I recently came into possession of a Sam Adams fall seasonal pack, which just so happened to be on sale, I'm guessing to make way for the inevitable winter seasonal pack which should be arriving in the very near future; Plus I can't argue with an $8 twelve-pack! As such, I'll be taking a look at each beer in this pack, with the exception of the Octoberfest which I have already reviewed.

The first beer I'll be trying out was actually the one that grabbed my attention when I picked this up, which is their Harvest Saison. According to the label, this is a Saison brewed with oats, wheat & rye. For the record, I've never had a Saison brewed with rye, let alone a Saison from Sam Adams so I'm very eager to try this out.

Harvest Saison pours a dark hazy yellow color with some mild carbonation. The head is pretty foamy and the lacing is very abundant.

The nose starts out with Belgian yeasts and cloves before transitioning to some light malted wheat notes and slight rye spiciness. Judging from the description on the label, it's holding up true so far.

The flavor is fairly Belgian yeast forward upfront with some rye spiciness. This is followed up by some malted wheat notes, berry fruitness and light floral hoppiness. The aftertaste is a bitter hop aftertaste and light rye spiciness.

The body is moderate in weight but the carbonation is relatively light. Thankfully it goes really well with the flavor profile and helps keep everything in check

I'll admit that my expectations were that this would be good, but not great; After all, I can't seem to remember having a bad beer from Sam Adams. With that said, I was very impressed with the overall flavor and just how complex this was. I was a bit skeptical of the inclusion of rye in this beer but it actually works out quite well. If you're still able to try this out, I would highly recommend checking this out, particularly to fans of the Saison style!

Sam Adams Harvest Saison - 9.25/10

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