Of Love & Regret (Import Series Vol. 1) - Stillwater Artisanal Ales

Trilogy31

California

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Flip top bottle pours a red garnet hue with slight hazing. Fluffy cream colored cap that settles to a tight finger of foam. On the nose fruity esters pop, spicy belgian yeast, cardamom, apple cider, clove and a little cinnamon with slight sour barnyard notes. The taste brings brings more of the nose but a bit muddled and thin, doesn't shine on the palate the way the nose brings complexity. I pick up a little numbing szchuan peppercorn as well - interesting. Very nice until you start to drink it, expecting great ended up being just good and not worth the price.

Serving type: bottle

02-18-2013 02:34:03 | More by Trilogy31

jakeox

Illinois

4/5  rDev +5.5%

05-18-2013 23:42:50 | More by jakeox

Bnoise11

California

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%

05-13-2013 00:05:12 | More by Bnoise11

spycow

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%

05-02-2013 05:01:45 | More by spycow

mverity

Florida

4.3/5  rDev +13.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Appearance is golden brown to tan in color, with a thick light tan head and above average lacing. Smell is sweet, earthy, and yeasty. Taste is fantastic: herbaceous, woody, with a roasted barley up front; leathery and tangy sweet; all while a honey/brown sugar/banana sweetness shines through. It seems to be too sweet at times, but the sweetness yields to an earthy/yeasty spiciness.

Serving type: bottle

04-24-2013 05:18:33 | More by mverity

od_sf

California

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%

04-12-2013 18:12:42 | More by od_sf

Texasfan549

Texas

4.25/5  rDev +12.1%

04-12-2013 01:27:33 | More by Texasfan549

buckyp

South Carolina

3.5/5  rDev -7.7%

04-04-2013 22:16:26 | More by buckyp

Sparky44

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%

03-25-2013 01:45:01 | More by Sparky44

nlfrenette

Massachusetts

5/5  rDev +31.9%

03-21-2013 23:17:25 | More by nlfrenette

Ale-ienation

California

3.86/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

A: Pours a hazy orange with a white head and minimal lacing.

S: Very herbaceous with some sweet spices; sage, rosemary and cinnamon. Belgian yeast is present too, with perhaps just the slightest touch of brett/funk. Very unique.

T: Sweet malts up front with a lot of spices; cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin, clove. Moderate yeast presence, with a clean finish where the floral notes become most apparent; sage, rosemary.

M: Light bodied with vibrant carbonation.

O: Very interesting take on a saison, and quite unique in general; the spice flavors make for an intriguing twist on a classic style.

Serving type: bottle

03-21-2013 02:12:59 | More by Ale-ienation

OriolesFan1008

Maryland

2.5/5  rDev -34%

03-20-2013 01:17:40 | More by OriolesFan1008

dokupe

Maryland

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%

03-18-2013 00:21:02 | More by dokupe

GRG1313

California

4/5  rDev +5.5%

03-14-2013 22:04:18 | More by GRG1313

OBeerMeGreatOne

California

4.4/5  rDev +16.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

People are crazy. This is more saison than spiced beer.

Pours out a brownish orange with a half inch of head, minimal lace.

I don't smell the wheat malt but barley comes through, the botanicals come next, floral and very nice. The yeast and some lime come in at the end.

Wheat, lightly toasted barley and lime start this off. Some nice floral notes and grassy hops come in the middle. A hint of yeast and spices are noticed, lime lingers in the aftertaste. Slightly high in carbonation, but still pretty smooth going down.

I could drink this everyday and be pretty damn happy! Another excellent farmhouse brew from Stillwater!

Serving type: bottle

03-10-2013 00:38:13 | More by OBeerMeGreatOne

jsanford

Georgia

3.5/5  rDev -7.7%

03-07-2013 23:37:36 | More by jsanford

orangesol

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%

03-07-2013 19:04:41 | More by orangesol

kojevergas

California

3.63/5  rDev -4.2%
look: 2.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Like the label art, which depicts a man about to stab another man who's coddling a lover. Imported by 12 Percent LLC; thank god it's not the Shelton Bastards. Product of Belgium. "Belgian Saison Ale." Cost was $6.00 at an L.A. bottle shop. Expires 08/18/17. 7.2% ABV confirmed. 11.2 oz brown glass bottle with dated gold pressure cap served into a New Belgium stem-goblet in me gaff in low altitude Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California. Reviewed live. Expectations are high; I love saisons and I'm in the mood for one. Will this beat Fantome La Dalmatienne? I doubt it.

Served straight from the fridge. Side-poured with standard vigor as no carbonation issues are anticipated. I left the yeasty sediment in the bottle initially and then added it later.

A: Pours a one and a half finger beige-light khaki colour head of no real cream or froth, decent thickness, and above average (~3 minute) retention for the high ABV. Body colour is a hazy nontransparent caramel orange-brown. Translucent. It's not much to look at, admittedly. Sort of a rotted peach colour. Thin light lacing as the head recedes. The colour's a bit off for the style.

Sm: I definitely get wheat and brett yeast. Grassy hop character. Heavy floral notes, but in a spicy herbal sense rather than emerging from hop character per se - though there is a separate floral hop character. I'm terrible at identifying flowers, so I won't try - but the notes here are evocative and balanced. I get muted fermented peach, probably from the yeast. Perhaps clove as well. Some earthy musty notes. Light cinnamon spice. Spicy yeast, definitely. Light apple cidre; I'm talking real farm-made rustic apple-squeezed cidre. Tea-like. Its earthy authenticity convinces me the aroma is not influenced by artificial ingredients or flavouring; I like the rustic character. A rather intriguing moderate strength aroma; I'm caught by pleasant surprise. More and more cinnamon comes through as it warms. Complex and different, though I wouldn't call it unique.

T:/Mf Heavy flower and herbal notes, with some earthy grains forming the body. Light floral hop character, but hops are mainly grassy and rustic. I definitely get a farmhouse feel from it, but the bretts are quite restrained - so much so that it ceases feeling like a saison per se. Milky caramel malts there in the body. Biscuit malt. It does have a Belgian-inspired malty build, but something's a bit off for a Belgian; maybe it's that out of place wheat. It's got a cidre-like crisp refreshing character, which I quite admire. Carbonation is good, as is palate presence. It's got a rolling smooth feel, with dryness on the climax to coax out the more subtle notes. Subtle honey. Quite perfumey and floral. Candi-like, though I wouldn't go so far as to say I get Belgian candi sugar. Light berry fruit character which really works well here. I could use more of that spicy yeast feel; the cinnamon and clove are pretty buried here. I quite like it. Well balanced and built; a different take on a saison but a rather good one. Complex and subtle.

Dr: A drinkable saison with a high price-tag, but one that's different enough to warrant trying. One of the better American (okay, product of Belgium my ass, Stillwater) "saisons" I've had, if you consider this a true saison. I'll love finishing this bottle. Hides its ABV quite well. A surprisingly good beer from Stillwater, and one that makes me want to stop skipping their beers at the store. I'd definitely pick this one up again, maybe for some light 1-2 year aging. I'd recommend it to friends, but for my money Fantome has this beat.

B

Serving type: bottle

02-23-2013 04:55:48 | More by kojevergas

t0rin0

California

4/5  rDev +5.5%

02-21-2013 02:48:51 | More by t0rin0

mendvicdog

Maryland

3.5/5  rDev -7.7%

02-17-2013 23:03:34 | More by mendvicdog

Prince_Casual

Virginia

3.4/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

A: Popped the 'grolsch' top bottle and away we go... beautiful copper color with nice 1/2 inch head, pours beautifully.

S: For some reason I was expecting more of a "farmhouse" ale and I guess shame on me as expectation is the mother of all disappointments. No yeast at all, reminds me of the "natural soap" area of my grocery store... in a ???? way :-D

T: Essential oils dominate, there's a lot of herbal stuff going on here, if you like stillwater you'll like what they're working with here

M: Reminds me of drinking herbal tea with booze in it, for whatever reason. Lots of earthy notes, it's like drinking beers from a "mellower" earth.

O: A great beer to try if you like herbal teas /scented soaps/ want to step outside the <lager-ale> framework. Over the top in all the right ways.

Serving type: bottle

02-06-2013 07:01:22 | More by Prince_Casual

mactrail

California

3.13/5  rDev -17.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25

The first sip is an eye-opener. Makes me long for a lovely, simple yeasty Farmhouse beer instead of this over-spiced pretentious concoction. It's exactly what you would expect from Dogfish Head.

The chamomile is overwhelming. I am coming to the opinion that there is just no safe level of chamomile. Not to mention the lavender. The smell is like something you'd find in your wife's underwear drawer. Taste is seriously resiny, flowery, perfumey, and overly herbal. Honey from the rosemary farm.

From the 750 ml swing top bought at Bine and Vine in San Diego for an extortionate $17.99. And then I read the fine print: "Product of Belgium."

Serving type: bottle

01-20-2013 03:39:33 | More by mactrail

JakeDebus

Maryland

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%

01-02-2013 19:25:01 | More by JakeDebus

ThePorterSorter

New York

3.63/5  rDev -4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

750 ml swing top picked up in Ithaca, NY
the beer pours a murky, dull brown with an off-white head that slightly laces. the nose presents big notes of bread and herbs reminiscent of lavender and white sage. the beer almost smells like a perfumed soap... using the aforementioned herbs for aromatics. the taste is just as potently herbal with a sweet, malty backbone pulling everything together. the mouthfeel is medium bodied with adequate carbonation. The initial sweetness of the beer fades and finishes slightly drier with residual herbs sitting on my palate, lingering in the aftertaste. this is a tasty beer, but I'm not running back to the store to grab another bottle. it's definitely not my favorite Stillwater.

Serving type: bottle

12-28-2012 12:48:22 | More by ThePorterSorter

Kpitevl

Missouri

3/5  rDev -20.8%

12-24-2012 04:00:55 | More by Kpitevl