Tigerlily Saison - Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery

jt31914

Michigan

3.55/5  rDev -8.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

On-tap at the brewery - this beer was better than i expected. Pale yellow color with little to no head; a grapefruit flavor melded with a crisp refreshing mouthfeel. Not too fruity and surprisingly balanced. Quite good for the style, although still not my favorite of the day.

Serving type: on-tap
@ Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, 4508 University Ave, West Des Moines

06-25-2010 01:47:48 | More by jt31914

BuckeyeNation

Iowa

4.2/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Mildly murky caramel-coated apricot that progressively lightened to amber at the tapering bottom of the glass. A one finger slice of ivory colored foam faded in short order, leaving wraith-like sheets of lace in its wake.

The nose needed several minutes to develop. Once it did... my oh my! It was generously tropical fruity, with a bursting cornucopia of ripe banana, juicy orange and zesty lemon rind. A complementary amount of yeast spiciness was appreciated as well.

Tigerlily Saison tasted like a combination of several different styles. It had the fruitiness of an American pale ale, the banana and clove of a hefeweizen, and the overall sweet-bitter-tangy-spicy character of a Belgian saison/farmhouse ale. Yeast esters were the stars of the show, but the malts (Belgian pale, wheat) and hops (Simcoe?) were fine choices too.

Specifics included shortbread cookies, banana, orange, lemon, ground clove and a hint of white pepper. The first half of each mouthful delivered the fruit and the last half (and the linger) delivered the spice. Interestingly, the beer became even more spicy with warming and *even more* when consumed with my lunch.

The mouthfeel was perfectly designed for warm weather drinking. It was more medium than light, had plenty of soft-fluffy hang-on, and resulted in an ale that was quenching and refreshing. The bubbles were lightly sparkly, yet still well-buried.

Tigerlily Saison (named for one of wdmrock's daughters) is well-brewed ale that everyone should enjoy. It's full of multi-faceted flavor, remains interesting from first sip to last, and hides its alcohol exceptionally well. Two thumbs up, but then that applies to pretty much everything at the West Des Moines Rock Bottom these days.

Serving type: on-tap
@ Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, 4508 University Ave, West Des Moines

04-24-2010 21:14:44 | More by BuckeyeNation