This is a pretty awesome example of a saison. The beer pours a sparkling straw color that is only slightly cloudy with a foamy, white head. The aroma coming off the beer is quite complex, with a strong yeast smell and hints of citrus and coriander. I really like the bubbles that stream continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top, keeping the head a stable half-inch thick. I have trouble finding words for how saisons taste. I'm a big fan of the style, because the flavor is so unique. It's definitely quite tart, with an initial fruit flavor and a very dry finish. The beer is heavily carbonated and also very alcoholic, which leaves a warm feeling in my stomach.
The label says it's bottle conditioned, which means they leave the yeast in the brew unpasturized and allow it to carbonate naturally. I really hope they use the same strain of yeast to ferment and to carbonate, as I would love to use it in a homebrew some day. It's fairly easy to grow yeast from a bottle conditioned brew by adding it to a pint or two of weak wort. After the weak start that the hefeweizen got, I'm planning to create starters from all of my yeast from now on. The only problem is that some breweries use lager yeasts to condition their ales by adding them just before bottling. The only way to find this out is to try to use it!
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