Firestone Walker Brewing Company
Lil Opal (Barrelworks) (Barrel-Aged Saison Farmhouse Ale)
Saison/Farmhouse Ale
California
6.1%
12.7oz, Single
$11.99
Light dusting of loose bright white foam across the surface, not longlasting, as you'd expect not much lacing either. Bright amber orange hued liquid, clean with a very healthy amount of widely dispersed bubbles. The nose displays the oak right away but it is crisp and not particularly dominant, lots of space left for yeasty notes, green apple to pear fruit scents, something like coriander spice, tangerine to lemon citrus, finishes with some unprocessed grains. In the mouth it's lighter bodied and just as clean and crisp here, the oak keeping it as angular as adding amplitude. Lavender, tangerine citrus, more peppery here but still has a savory herb edge as well. Here you get some pineapple to mango along with apricot, pear fruit but overall it's so dry that it is difficult to call the fruit tropical. Floral finish without much funkiness. Borderline demure in character, about as food friendly as you can get with the oak barrel treatment.
4 out of 5