Firestone Walker Lil Opal
Saison aged for 14 months in French (75%) and American (25%) oak barrels with Brettanomyces lambicus and Lactobacillus brevis.
3.6
248 reviews
Paso Robles, United States
Community reviews
Aroma is Brett, orange/citrus and very slightly musty. The flavor is Brett, sugar/mild candy, slight wood, malts and a very tart/sweet finish.
Mbcc yellow. Golden light haze. Belgy spicy slight saisonny peppery nose. Strawy malts. Annd pretty fresh wood, planks. Med light bodied. Nice intensity, bubbly, dryish finish. Tasty, quite easy, clean.
Sample at Mikkeller Beer Celebration Copenhagen 2017, yellow session. Aroma has light funk, brett and barnyard notes. Taste is tart, dry with a light funk, hay and grass notes. Light body, high carbonation.
Sampled at Mikkeller Beer Celebration Copenhagen 2017. Hazy golden pour with a white head. Notes of mould, funk, citrus, farhouse.
Sample @ MBCC, Yellow session. Cloudy golden pour with a small head. Notes of yoghurt, fruity, tart and some light funk.
Backlog z Mikkeller Beer Celebration Copenhagen 2017. Lekkie, wytrawne, cierpkie, doskonale pijalne, owocowe, kwiatowe.
Sample at MBCC 2017. Tart, funky and fruity smell with a herbal aroma. Similar taste. Refreshing. Nice!
0,05l from tap at MBCC yellow session shared with / by the crew. smells of wood, marzipan, nutty, light funk, flowery, grassy. very nice smell. medium body, light carbonation, slick mouthfeel. tastes grassy, some funk, wood, citric, flowery, light berry notes. finishes very lightly sour with notes of funk, wood and flowery notes. very nice one, very smooth balance lovely wood notes.
8, 4, 8, 4, 16
Tap @ MBCC. Hazy yellow. Sour with apple and berries. Fruity fresh with a light body and watery palate. Ok all around.
Tap at MBCC. Pours hazy golden. Funky, tart, phenolic, petrol. Medium light bodied. A bit short.
Sample at MBCC2017. It pours hazy golden with a creamy white head. The aroma is light acidic and bretty with fruity notes. The flavor is acidic and fruity hoppy. Light oak and woody notes.
Hazy yellow with a small white head. Aroma is lime, grass and hops. Taste is lime, fruit
Lemongrass, refreshing, clear as cat piss, pear, apple, white grapes, chardonay, wine or beer? Earthy.
Tap at Citizen Burger. Blonde with thin white head and decent lacing. Nice light tart aroma with a little funk. Flavor follows. I like this better than I expected.
Bottle at home. Pours nearly clear gold with a medium, frothy white head, medium-short retention with light lacing. Aroma is moderate Chardonnay grapes and light oak with medium cracker malt, light peach and citrus esters and earthy, farmhouse Brettanomyces. Flavor is lightly tart Chardonnay grapes, light oak notes, medium cracker malt, medium-light earthy and farmhouse Brettanomyces, light peach and citrus esters, well balanced and a dry finish. Medium-light body and light carbonation.
Shared 12.7 oz. bottle poured to a fest glass displaying a hazed, golden color, with a sudsy layer of white froth, and waves & spots of lacing. The nose was tart, subtle, yeasty funk, light tannins, spice, and fruity, with esters as citrus & pit fruit. A bit better than light bodied, with pleasant effervescence, the taste leaned more toward sour, with a touch of vinous character, light earthy & tannic astringency, and a dry finish. Very appealing Farmhouse.
Firestone Walker absolutely deserves accolades for the versatility of its brewers. They’re just as adept with bacteria as they are with blackened malts and fresh hops. Lil Opal is a funky, tart, and vinous brew. It pours gold. Effervescent and somewhat fizzy body. Notes of lemon, oak, earth, barnyard (but only a little), and stone fruit. There’s just a bit of vinegar-like sourness. Medium body. The texture is bright and dry at the finish. This is a complex, balanced beer that could pair with about any food that would be appropriate for dry white wine.
Hazy golden pour with a thin white head .... aroma of funky Brett, strong oak, grapes, citrusy and grassy hops, spices saison yeast ..... taste is of funky Brett, dry oak, citrusy and rindy fruits lemon mostly, sour, spicy saison yeast, and grapes ... has a sparkling lively mouthfeel .... backend is dry with lingering oak and citrusy lemon and saison yeast into the finish .... nice fruity flavors, good balance, nice sour and zesty bite
Draft.
A- Slight funk, mild spices, citrus.
A- Gold color, clear liquid, minimal head.
T- Mild funk, watery, lemon juice.
P- Medium body, thin texture, average carbonation, balanced finish.
O- The perfect amount of funk for me. A bit unique though. Thinner on the body that I think it should be. Nonetheless, I liked this one. Now to try the regular Opal.
Bottle: Lil Opal No.002 at 6.1%. Slight hazy, dull straw, with little head and no lace. The nose is certainly sour, Brett and funky. There’s a fresh citrus zest. The palate is great. Very sour and well balanced.
You me this is a great example of what Saison would have looked like without the modern sanitation.
(Tap) clear, right yellow gold colour with a small beige head; aroma of sourness, wet wood; clean, tart flavour with a long, light tart finish
330cL cc from PUB’R. Pours turbid, morning urine yellow with min head and high carb. Nose is heavy fruit, citrus, oak, yeasty funk. Tastes fruity, tart, citric, with notes of melon, white grapes, pear, oak, and a yeasty, champagney finish. This one is excellent.
12.7 oz corked and caged, thanks Brenn79. Aroma is oaky, vanilla, almondy, white wine vinegar, lemon, minerally, lactic, light sulfur. Pours slightly hazy golden with a collapsing white head. Taste is sour (8/10) and acidic with strong vanilla barrel notes. Not all that strong in brett on any level, but it works well. Nice foamy mouthfeel that stops short of champagne levels and hovers right near the sweet spot. What a great and nuanced beer.
Cloudy golden color with a nice white head and solid retention. Aroma is pale malt, yeast, light fruits, and a little funk. Flavor is more of the same, with a little honey and fruity esters. Really light and refreshing on the palate
Bottle. Poured a cloudy golden color with a smaller sized head. Citrus, funky, brett, some wood, and a tart finish.
Good barrel character. Funky with some tartness that worked very well. Incredibly complex and yet still drinkable. This is an occasional sipper more than anything. It sort of reminded me of chardonnay, too.
Bottle, thanks to Torben. Golden with a small white head. Complex aroma of spice and oak with floral and funky notes. Really nice brett character. Dry and slightly tart flavour with funk and spices
Bottle, corked and caged. Light golden pour with a bit of fizzle. The aroma should be a textbook example of the Belgian beer line, full of wild funk and fruity sweetness. It drinks with a super-tart bite, sucking all the moisture out of the mouth. (#6430, 11/27/2016)
Sampled this one the first weekend of the NFL season at Public House, LV. Tart, bright, grassy, earthy, musty with chardonnay and oak notes. A really complex and bubbly concoction...another win by an incredibly brewery!
12.7 fl oz corked and caged bottle purchased at Plaza Liquor in Kansas City, Missouri. Batch 002. Bottled 05/09/16. The pour is a slight haze golden with a foamy one inch white head. The aroma is big oak, woody, vanilla, a slight yogurt tart, and herbal floral towards the back. Complex nose. The taste is the big woody earthy oak right away, followed by citrus tart yeast, a bit of floral Saison and finishing smooth with more of the wood. The palate is medium to heavier bodied with soft natural carbonation and a lingering wild yeast tart and oak finish. Complex, nice flavor integration.