Widmer Brothers W'12 Dark Saison
Inspired by the classic French Farmhouse Ale, our interpretation gets its deep ruby red hue from a hint of caramel and dark chocolate malts. The citrus spice of Saaz hops provides a perfect balance and gives each sip a refreshing, peppery finish.
3.1
176 reviews
Portland, United States
Community reviews
Bottle; poured a very brown auburn or a very dark orange. Average light tan head. Aroma a blend of a saison and a christmas beer. Enjoyed the aroma. Flavor had more sweetness too it, with more caramel and light cocoa than most of the style. Fruity, especially dark, throughout. Some herbal and pepper in the end. Better than expected.
12 oz bottle, part of a mixed 12 pack. Pours dark reddish brown with a 1/2" beige head. Mild spice and Belgian yeast on the nose. A tiny hint of mustiness. Mild spice and wood in the flavor. Medium bodied with good carbonation. Decent enough, but a stretch to call it a saison.
Draft at Moriartys. Hazy dark amber pour with a big foamy head. Complex spicy toasted wheat flavors. Wildflower honey. Clove. Fig. Black pepper. Earthy. Grassy. Bit fizzy on the tongue. Some nice notes, but the mix feels out of balance. More of a hybrid with a quad than a true saison.
Pours deep amber into a Sam glass. Tan head with good retention recedes leaving trailing sheets to coat surface. Sweet sourdough and caramel aromas. Crisp with sweet toffee upfront turning to clove and bubblegum in the lasting finish.
Dark copper with an off-white head. Aroma is raisiny and grapey, not unlike you’d find in a quad. Tastes like a flat, watered down grape soda. $2/12oz
Ruby red in color with a creamy, off-white head. Spotty lacing. Vanilla aroma with some banana and roasted nuts that come out of the aroma later. There is some tartness in the taste. The finish is smooth but abrupt. Oily texture with average carbonation. This was a very enjoyable beer. Would definitely have again.
12oz bottle. Caramel orange-brown body, thin white head. Kind of an uninspired aroma, macro brewhouse, maybe a little deteriorated with age. Medium bodied, very drinkable, brings to mind a Bierre de Garde more than a Saison. Soft caramel malt tones. Toasty, smooth malt tones, not really any hop tones to speak of besides some upfront balancing bitterness that quickly fades away. Some mild underlying funky yeast tones, certainly more restrained than most Saisons. Pretty insipid offering, has the mild caramel brown chocolate tones of a mild dark lager.
Bottle. Another less then stellar brew by the widmer bros. Not my style so really have no business drinking it anyway.
The beer pours a clear medium to dark brown color with a white head. The aroma has some orange citrus notes, as well as some Belgian yeast and spice. There is also a hint of toffee. The flavor is a little bit medicinal. I get some pepper and orange citrus, as well as some yeast and toffee and biscuit malt. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.
12 Oz. Bottle. Amber Pour, small white head. Bready and Sour Dough with a little fruit. Taste has a lot of bread and dry fruit, overall this is mediocre. Far from special.
the beer is very thin on the palate and has a great aroma with lots of fruits and a touch of sugar. the beer than at the end it falls very flat almost to club soda taste. still its a nice drinkable beer.
Sample from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured an orange-brown color with a medium sized foamy beige head that faded and left a bit of lacing. The aroma was dryish, nutty and bready with a hint of pepper. The flavor was tangy and nutty with notes of red meat and cooked vegetable and a bready caramel undertone. The finish was long, dry, meaty and vegetal. Not good at all.
The beer pours an amber color with a medium tight white head and good lacing on the glass.
The aroma is dusty and floral with some banana and brown sugar.
The flavor is fruity and banana like, some mild caramel comes to play, some freakin’ orange peel, some metallic crap, plums and cherries are there. The finish is dry, I like some of the flavors but it’s a weird mixed bag.
The beer sits way to heavy on the palate, the carbonation is low and the way this beer "drinks" just adds to the muddling of the flavors.
I’m making it sound really bad, and it’s not, but I didn’t really love it too much.
The aroma is yeasty and like toasted sour dough with some fruit and earthy hops. The appearance is light brown with a small head. The taste is like the aroma and bitter and peppery. The palate is thin. Overall not great.
Appearance has a dark ruby brown color supporting a thin head that dissipates leaving nil head. Smell has a light aroma of fruit with some Belgian style yeast in the background. Taste has a tartness with the fruit and a little spice. Mouthfeel is lighter than medium with good carbonation. It’s got the basics of a saison, but not the complexity.
Bottle: Poured a dark amber with a thin off white head. Aroma is very sweet malts. Taste is light water thin sweet malts that leave ways to a hint of chocolate.
12 oz bottle.
Pours dark copper with a foamy/fizzy 3 finger beige head.
Aroma is of yeast/spice, malt and earth. Flavor is very yeast/spice with some dark, near chocolate, malt and quite a bit of citrus/grass hop. Finishes earthy. A bit underrated here by the scores that I have seen.
Bottle @ home. Hazy, maroon appearance with a tan head. Roasty, fairly nutty, peppery, herbal, basil, dark fruity, strange aroma. Tangy, plum, orange, peppery, herbal spicy, tangy, cake flavor. Wtf.
James Joyce saison tasting. Bronze/light brown. Nose is all hefe (I’d probably mistake it for this, blind). Palate is saison, more than hefe, but still a bit sticky and lacks the teeth you might want from the style. Easy to drink though--not a bad beer.
A - Pours a fairly clear amber-red with a finger of frothy white head. The head fades down at a normal pace leaving behind some light lace.
S - Aroma is a mix of toasted caramel and brady malts with some Belgian yeast, coriander, clove, and a touch of citrus.
T - Starts off with some toasted sweet caramel malts with some Belgian yeast flavors and a bit of citrus. Through the middle, some bready malts come through with some coriander, clove, and other spices. The finish is a mix of sweet bready malts with some light spice, Belgian yeast, and citrus.
M - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Feels smooth with a sweet and dry finish.
D - Very drinkable. A bit thin, and not overly dark, but otherwise pretty okay. Very sessionable.
12 oz bottle pours the color of iced tea with no head. Grainy, bready aroma. Flavor is very bready with some earthiness. Overall easy drinking, just nothing very exciting.
Poured from a 12 ounce bottle. Poured light brown with a thin head. The aroma is slight sour, lemon, pepper, and some slight malts. Flavors of citrus, malts, slight tartness. Nothing holding my interest with this one.
355mL. Pours clear ruby with larger off white foam. Okay lace. Soapy lace. Nose is cinnamon and clove with heavy sweet malt. Taste is watery and spicy with cloven bitterness. Mild soapy. Weak palate.
Bottle: Amber, slight ruby hued, moderate carbonation, moderate foamy off-white head, decent lacing. Strong musty sweet dark pitted fruit like aroma, a bit airy and floral. Smells very Belgian like. Weak Dubbel like flavors on the tongue. Not as bright on the tongue that the nose suggested. Body and mouthfeel are moderate, but leaning a little thin. How can this smell so good and come across as weak as it is? Still enjoyable, and quite a bit different than I was expecting. Seems like an airy Dubbel.
It poured a deep amber color with an off-white head. The aroma was hints of citrus, banana, a touch of farmhouse and mango. The taste was much the same with a light tang. Mouthfeel was a light body with some fizzy carbonation. A very decent Saison.
Rating #2600, April 5, 2012. Clear copper with a medium tan foamy head. Aroma of toasted dark malt, caramel, yeast, light chocolate, banana and a touch of funk. Thinner body with chocolate, malt, mild fruit, light yeast and a chocolaty finish. Adding dark malt definitely helps the style.
Pours dark copper with a beige head. Aroma is yeast, spice, malt and some earthiness. Flavor is very yeast/spicy with some dark fruits, chocolate, malts and resin. Finishes with some malts and Belgian yeast. Not too bad for an American made Saison.
Pours a ruddy orange. Typical saison fruit smell coming up. A nice basic saison. Has some minor caramel notes at the back but a simple and easy drinking beer. Nice and carbonated with a little zing to it.
Bottle. Copper brown hued brew with a dense light khaki head. Leather and sweet pears are up front in the nose. There is also a little bit of cinnamon and clove like spice to each sniff. This is certainly pleasant smelling. This tastes of dry leather and old book pages. Then there is a little bit of cinnamon and pear core. A decent relatively dry tasting beer. This is good.
Bottle. Pours dark copper color with a soapy off white head that settles to a thin film. Aroma spice pepper some clove malt and yeast. Taste is peppery and shows subtle bitterness with some clove and banana along with a malty backbone. Palate is thin with a chalky dry finish. Easy drinking interesting take on a Saison.