Ah the Dark Saison, everyone’s favorite! By which I mean no one really likes or appreciates these things. They’re all liars. But they’ve got good taste and that’s got to count for something, right? The answer is no.
In all seriousness, this is not the most common style, and even the really good ones we do get tend to be more American Wild Ales than saisons… but now we’re just splitting hairs. The truth is that it’s difficult to really nail this sort of thing, a dark saison aged in American Oak barrels, and I’ve only had a couple that I’ve really enjoyed. That being said, I’m always looking for a beer to turn me around on an underwhelming style. It’s happened many times before, did 2SP manage it with this entry? Alas, the answer is again: no. It’s perfectly cromulent, to be sure, but not something that will change hearts and minds:
2SP Barrel-Aged Dead of Night Saison – Pours a very dark brown color with hints of amber when held in light, a finger of very light tan head. Smells of dark chocolate, hints of that musty saison base, and a little tart funk peeking through. Taste has a nice richness to it, some chocolate, some saison spice, a very light funky tartness, and a slightly discordant boozy note. It never quite reaches that chocolate covered fruit character that the best entries in the style have. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, decent carbonation, a little boozy. Overall, this is interesting and cromulent enough, but I’m not sure it’s entirely baked. B-
Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (750 ml). Drank out of a flute glass on 7/23/16. Batch date: 11/15. Bottle No.: 252. BBL Aged: American Oak.
I’ve really enjoyed a lot of 2SP’s beers, but for some reason the two barrel-aged entries have underwhelmed. It still feels like there’s a lot of potential here though, so I will most certainly be trying some more…