Anchor Zymaster Series No. 4 Fort Ross Farmhouse Ale

Anchor Zymaster Series No. 4 Fort Ross Farmhouse Ale

Our Fort Ross Farmhouse Ale (7.2% ABV) is a Belgian-style farmhouse ale with a California twist. The unique bitterness and earthy spiciness of Yerba Santa, a native California herb, perfectly complement the fruitiness and clove-like flavors created by a local saison-style yeast. And in addition to hops, barley malt, and wheat malt, we used toasted Belgian wheat malt, which gives our Fort Ross Farmhouse Ale its distinctive maltiness and burnished bronze color.



Zymaster Series No. 4: Fort Ross Farmhouse Ale will be available in draught and 22-ounce bottles and will be poured in select bars and restaurants throughout the United States, as well as the Anchor Taproom, starting June 2013.
3.4
172 reviews
San Francisco, United States

Community reviews

3.2 Bottle at home. Pours lightly hazy dark amber with a large, frothy off-white head, long retention with good lacing. Aroma is moderate Northern Brewer hops, minty, light earthy wheat malt with pear esters and biscuit malt. Flavor is minty and woody hops, sweet malt, lightly oxidized, sherry notes, light pear esters, medium bitterness and a dry finish. Medium body and carbonation.
3.3 Slope-shouldered anchor bomber, decent label. Fluffy, bone colored head on a misty, tea-orange brew. Raisiny, leathery, lightly smoked aroma - peaty and mildly sweet. On the dry side, moderately bitter, a little astringent, leathery, stale golden raisins, smoked peat. Lightish body, slightly metallic finish. A bit indistinct, not loving it. Quick-n-Save, E Tennessee St.
2.6 Tonight’s beer was this. I poured it into a tulip. The appearance was a ruddy brown color with a decent haze trying to overcoat the transparency trying to come through. Still, I see a decent light carbonation rising through to feed the one finger white foamy head that ends up dieing at a moderate pace and ends up leaving some light adequate lacing. The smell, well, it took a while, (I’m thinking I had this too cold), but nonetheless, once I got it to the correct temperature, there were some spiced apples over top of a light Belgian spices all combined and coming through in a rustic sort of earthiness. The taste was sweet and herbal with a slight earthy Belgian spiciness. The aftertaste was a sweet and herbal apple-ness leading into a sweet sticky finish. On the palate, it sat about a medium on the body with a decent sessionability aspect to it. Is it really there? Hmmm....it wants to be, but I ended up sipping it for the most part. The carbonation is somewhat smooth but drying a bit as it runs over my mouth and tongue. Overall, not a bad saison, but not one that I think I’d really seek out again. It seemed like there wasn’t enough yeasty earthiness going on to be a true saison, however for me, I think I could come back to this if I wanted to. Its just not one to seek out again.
3.4 Tap from Lazy Dog. Pours a pale amber with a ring of off white head. Aroma of funk and spice. Taste of bread, a bit of funk, and hay.
3.5 It's got a wild funky tasty and feel with a super malty love and has a taste if soapy hops at the end. It does the beer style right
2.2 The aroma is slightly wild with malt and hops. The appearance is amber. The taste is very much like the aroma. The palate is thin. Overall not my thing.
3.4 ~14 oz Tulip draft at Bridger’s Bottle Shop in Kansas City, Missouri. The pour is a hazed golden orange with a well formed light tan head. The head falls slowly with pretty lacing. The aroma is herbal yeast along with hay. The taste is herbal medicinal straw along with a lightly sweet honey yeast finish. The yeast character gets really medicinal and a bit muddled in the aftertaste, particularly as the beer warmed. The palate is medium to heavy bodied with low carbonation and the medicinal finish. Nice enough, though not as crisp as I normally like my Saisons.
3.5 Better than their saison, so not sure why they didn’t mass manufacture this one. Typical anchor malt profile, zang, alcohol masked, yeasty. Nothing mind blowing but was well balanced, blended together. Nice touch using local ingredients.
3.1 16.6 oz bottle 4/12/14 (Crown Liquor-Fishers)-Pours a murky light amber with a small off white head. Aroma of funk, wheat, and spices.Taste of the same with with a bad metallic taste. This light bodied brew is not bad.
3.4 NIce and quite refreshing too. Some fruit features and thick too. NIce bottle, differet from the other of the series.
3.6 A softly hazed dried apricot body sits beneath a durable 2" tight off white head offering dense erratic lace all around - Juicy citrus initially greets the senses with tropical fruit merging in and green melon rounding and finishing out the fruit components, accenting and at times interjecting notes of evolving herbs and tea, an overtone of floral earth with a sweet bready caramel malt grounding the brew, all on a quaffable body on the light side of medium forming a sticky sweet and herbal finish with lightly spiced residuals, a lasting tack coats the palate offering sweet echoes of orange juice 22oz capped bottle code 3YQ served at 45º and warming into 15.5oz Stölzle Weinland water goblet
3.1 (bottle - 750 ml) Cloudy orange pour with a puffy white head. Lightly fruity and yeasty spice aroma. Flavor starts off fruity and sweet then dries out and moves to a lingering bitter finish. A bit odd.
3.6 Atlanta, Ga - Tower Beer & Wine - squat 22 oz bomber. Slightly hazy, medium copper pour, thick sticky khaki colored head that leaves plenty of thick sticky lacing. Aroma has a hint of yeast, molasses and wort. Flavor is patented Anchor with it’s "house" yeasty taste. Pick up some light spicy notes, some ripening vegetables, a touch of clove, some bready notes permeate throughout. Mouthfeel has a nice thickness to it. Pretty solid.
3.3 Pours a an orange amber with a medium creamy head. Aroma of banana, clove, pepper and other spicy saison notes. Flavor of toasted malt, nuts, banana and clove with light saison yeast notes. A bit too tasty and not enough saison magic going on.
3.5 Clear light golden amber pour with large off whit head. Aroma of yeast, citrus, slightly fruity. Taste of yeast, malts, citrus, slight caramel sweetness, and a fairly dry peppery hop finish. Higher carbonation, medium bodied, nice and crisp refreshing beer.
3.8 22oz bottle. Pours a hazy copper-brown color with a small fine white head that has good retention. The aroma features esters, Belgian yeasts, flora and mixed white fruits. The taste is very fruity with apples, bananas, pears, mangoes and a bit of apricot. The malt base is a bit sweet with some caramel and is nicely counterbalanced by some spicy hops. The palate is light but effective for the style with prickly carbonation. Finishes medium in duration and dry. Overall: Decent saison.
3.5 Sampled in a bomber. A nice crisp ale. The malts are the main event. Smooth and refreshing.
3.1 Bottle. Brilliant amber color with fleeting ivory head. Dry hay, pit fruit, mild dung aromas. Medium bodied with average co2. Spicy caramel, light pit fruit, tropical fruit flavors---not really Saison___not bad.
3.6 22oz. bottle. Big, spicy, estery aroma, full of Belgian yeast character and featuring notes of banana, citrus, flowers, melon, faint clove, vanilla and lightly sweet, doughy, honeyish malt. Light-medium golden amber color, faintly hazy, with a lasting, fine, uneven head and plenty of delicate lacing left behind. Flavor profile is predominantly fruity and spicy, with suggestions of tropical fruit, pear, faint pepper, even a very slight tartness to it early on, turning maltier and sweeter before seeing a dash of grassy hop flavor and bitterness appearing towards the finish, some lingering apple and herbal tones late, some degree of alcohol presence as well, seemingly. Finely effervescent, somewhat hefty and juice-like on the palate with a medium-full body. Interesting and enjoyable, I had never even heard of Yerba Santa before.
3.8 Draft at bistro on bridge. Pours clear copper with a medium sized off white head. The aroma is peppery, funky, lemon, coriander. The taste is dry, peppery, lemon, not too dry. Alcohol well hidden.
3.0 Keg at the Rake. It pours clear golden-amber with a thick off-white head. The nose is earthy, toasty, bread, spice, grain and a touch of sweetness. The taste is doughy, spice, earth, touch of alcohol warmth, chewy malt, grain, hay and a touch of bitterness with a dry finish. Medium body, average carbonation and foamy mouth-feel. Fairly uneventful really....alcohol becomes a fairly dominant feature after a while. OK at best.
3.7 22 ounce bottle. Amber orange color topped by a medium-sized rocky white head. Toasted malt aroma has an underlying earthiness. Bittersweet malt flavor upfront. Slight yeasty funk along with notes of caramel, toasted nuts and spicy hops.
3.8 Shared at GregFest 2013 from a big brown bottle into a nonic half pint glass. It poured a mostly clear orange amber colour with off-white foam, long-lasting with lace. Interesting aromas: mate, herbal tea, grass, rising bread dough, definite banana esters. Great banana bread flavour too, grainy, malty, with hints of caramel, toast, black pepper. A cool hybrid of brown ale and saison. Medium body and carbonation, well-rounded mouthfeel, warming but otherwise well-concealed alcohol, dry herbal finish.
3.7 Banana. Herbal. Golden. Foamy. Thin lacing. Quite earthy. Light body. thanks Seymour.
3.4 This beer is clear and cinnamon hued. A fairly big off white head has good retention. I smell farmhouse malts and yeast and they are both soft. Gentle fruit as well. A robust beginning greets the first sip and it leaves a harsh after taste. Alcohol is tasted. Some interesting fruit that I cannot well describe. A little spice adds to the interest. Too soon this became a below average saison. Not horrible, at all, though.
3.2 Draft to taster. Looks good for the style; a mostly transparent golden orange with foamy white head. Smells doughy, yeasty, and spicy with notes of clove and mild fruit. Tastes like it smells with a solid mouthfeel. Tick-tock.
3.5 Pours an orangey red color with a small white head that fades quickly. Aroma is fruity. Bananas, Belgian candied sugar, and a lagerish grassy smell. The taste is fruity as well with some banana, wheat, light cloves, there’s a bit of a Belgian thing going on here. This is a really good fruity, sort of light ale that I really enjoyed.
3.1 Bottle thanks to Doug Clear golden with a small white head and some lacing. Aroma and flavors of ripe fruit, spices and earth, some sweetness Ok
3.5 Bottle. Rating #125. Hazy copper color with a off white head. Fruity sweet aroma, light banana and brown sugar. light toast and hoppy bitterness with a little more sugar sweetness. (2880)
3.1 Poured from a 22 ounce bomber, big thanks to Doug. Big bubblegum aroma. Hints of spice, earthy, lots of sweetness in the flavor, finished dry. Meh.