FuzzyBrew

Brewery: Upright Brewing Co.

Location: Portland, OR

Style: Saison

ABV: 8%

IBU: n/a

FuzzyBrew Rating: 4 of 5

This beer came back in my suitcase from a recent trip to San Diego with some friends.  I’m a huge fan of saisons and I was also excited to get to try another beer from this Portland brewery that specializes in “farmhouse inspired beers with a Pacific Northwest twist.”

The beer is hazy yellowy-orange in color, with a long-lasting rocky head.  The aroma was filled with complex yeasty fruity esters.  Pears and old lemons if had to single a few out (old lemons in a good way). The fruity funk was balanced by a grassy spiceness from the hops.

High carbonation made the beer refreshing.  This beer wears its alcohol well.  It wasn’t until my second glass — and I realized I’d been trying to write the first sentence of this post for 15 minutes — that maybe the alcohol was higher than normal.

I drank this beer with take-out from India Palace. If I had one quibble with this beer it would be that I would have liked it to finish a little dryer.  Don’t get me wrong, though, this was a damn good beer.  As far as pairing it with Indian food, I’m thinking that I didn’t get my dish spicy enough because I was really enjoying both, but, separately not together.  You know life is good when you can spend a night analyzing Indian food and beer.

The brewer at Upright recently wrote about working with their Saison yeast on their blog.  It’s geeky but interesting.