Saison Viejo - Further Tastings

The general character I'm getting from this beer over the course of the last few bottles is a minor amount of phenols..... minor spice, minor earth, a fair amount of esters giving off a fruitiness but not cloying and balanced with the phenols. Basically, what you would normally expect from some of your standard Belgian yeast strains. For the first time though I'm getting a major contribution in flavor from the hops.  The Motueka hops are really coming through with a tart fruitiness now (or at least in this bottle for whatever reason).  The commercial description they have of a lemon, lime, and tropical flavor is showing up quite a bit in the finish, giving it a big juicy/tart finish.  While "tart" is sometimes an overrated term for a standard saison that doesn't utilize wild yeast, the tartness here seems to be from the hops (and it is minor overall).

While this beer doesn't contain enough of the rustic/earth flavor for a saison, I really am loving it nonetheless. It's like a fantastic (in my mediocre palate's opinion) hybrid between a saison and Belgian strong pale ale. Very easy to drink and refreshing even at an ABV of 7.1%.

Some of the better saison or farmhouse beers these days utilize wild yeasts such as Brett and I'm just not there yet in terms of being able to use that (would need more equipment and time). But once I can start doing that a beer like this would have a delicious funkiness to it that some of us love.