Green Flash Saison Diego - Green Flash Brewing Co.

ryan1788a5

Massachusetts

3.33/5  rDev -8.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

22oz bottle poured into a Duvel tulip.

A: Pours golden yellow with great clarity. Large rocky white head settles to a quarter of an inch eventually. sparse, spotty lacing.

S: Light musty scents, pilsner malts, a slightly bready scent (wheat?), distinct orange peel, yeasty aromas with pepper and spices, lemongrass, and ginger way in the background. Restrained hop scents are herbal and grassy. Good nose, it all melds together quite nicely.

T: Hit of clove on the attack. Grainy malt base follows. Yeasty tastes have a very slight funk. Ginger and orange peel butt in quickly and then vanish. Spicy Belgian yeast flavors are rather run of the mill. Hop bitterness balances delicately with slight green and oily tastes. Light peppery burn throughout. Musty yeast and pepper in the finish.

M: Light in body. Very creamy. Moderate carbonation. Very smooth and soft.

O: My initial fear going into this beer was that it would be too busy. The list of ingredients seemed a bit ambitious. To my surprise, I found it to be rather average and uninspiring despite the impressive queue of adjuncts. I expected this beer to be a success, or else fail fantastically in a blaze of glory. Instead Evil Knievel just fell over sideways on the ramp.

Serving type: bottle

07-03-2012 03:09:01 | More by ryan1788a5

TheManiacalOne

Rhode Island

3.88/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 22oz bottle into a tulip glass.

A: The beer is a light gold color, with a large white head that fades slowly and leaves a spotty lace on the glass.

S: The aroma contains wheat, spices, light caramelized malts, Belgian yeast, bananas, citrus and a faint touch of hops.

T: The taste starts out bready with flavors of wheat, Belgian yeast and a hearty but not too heavy malt character. Then some sweetness comes in from flavors of bananas, citrus and a complex but not over-powering spice combination. The hops presence is mild but creates a good balance. The after-taste is slightly sweet and slightly bready.

M: Crisp and smooth, medium body, medium carbonation, finish is clean.

O: Tasty, goes down very easily, not too filling, mild kick, good representation of style, this is a solid beer to drink for a while if you’re in the mood for the style.

Serving type: bottle

07-02-2012 02:18:36 | More by TheManiacalOne

Gatch

Massachusetts

4.18/5  rDev +14.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

A: Hazy, golden-yellow with a fluffy, white head. No lace or retention.

S: One of the better smelling Saisons I've experienced from an American brewer. Very tart and bit barny and earthy.

T: Great Belgian yeast character. Barny. Grassy. Slightly fruity. Delicious!

M: Crisp and clean. Great flavor. Seriously way too easy to drink.

O: One of the best American versions of the style that I've had to date. Would love to drink this again.

Serving type: bottle

06-23-2012 03:59:01 | More by Gatch

lacqueredmouse

Australia

4.13/5  rDev +13.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Purchased from BevMo in Sunnyvale, CA.

Pours a really light yellow colour, with a very faint haze to it and really light weight. Head is an enormous frothy mound of pure white. It certainly looks lively and vibrant.

Nose is round, slightly funky and slightly sweet, with some plasticky notes, a hint of appleskin and a rubbed sweet citrus tone. It has some fragrant sweet herbs like asian mint or Thai basil as well. It's pretty fresh, lively and pleasant.

Taste is similarly light and pleasant, with a really pleasant cleanness, no phenolics and no excess of yeast on the back. Hints of funk, minimal acidity, but a pleasant roundness and more of that fragrant herbal crispness. Really, it's quite tasty, and stylistically pretty good.

Very drinkable, and almost excruciatingly refreshing. Really, you just want to drink this down. Moreover, it's a pretty well-made Saison—a style that I feel is rarely done well outside Belgium.

Serving type: bottle

06-17-2012 23:48:55 | More by lacqueredmouse

facundoCNB

New Jersey

3.88/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

a hazy straw yellow pour with an initial finger of head which quickly disappeared. smells of lemongrass, orange peel, coriander, celery, bready. spicy, bready bitter, citrus, zesty flavors all blend very nicely together for a traditional saison flavor. light body with lots of constant carbonation (almost seltzer like) - the citrus/spicy combination leaves a nice sensation on the cheeks. spicyness is more noticeable in the finish and lingers for a bit.

overall this is a very refreshing summer saison. i was actually expecting a little bit more after having green flash's le freak, but i appreciate the subtle mixture of smells and flavors in this fine blend of a light saison. i wish this was easy to acquire around here - but from the amount of reviews on here (14 total, counting mine), i won't hold my breath.

Serving type: growler

06-17-2012 05:24:37 | More by facundoCNB

russpowell

Oklahoma

3.85/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Picked this up in Kentucky

Pours a bright gold with 2 fingers of ivory head. Average head retention & lacing

S: Phenols, colves & breadyness

T: Follows the nose, peppery with lemons up front. Grains of paradise, phenols & faint orange peels as this warms, plus a little bit of pineapple. Finishes with more grains of paradise, faint lemons, & white pepper

MF: Medium bodied, firm carobonation & good balance

Easy drinker, a nice saison, but nothing special

Serving type: bottle

06-17-2012 04:50:22 | More by russpowell

BEERchitect

Kentucky

3.6/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Dry fruit, peppery spice, bubbly malt character all converge in Belgian-influenced Californian-brewed medley.

The beer pours with a semi-bright straw color and modest haze. Steady streams of carbonation march to the surface and provide the fuel for a creamy and fluffy head that wants to settle into a broken sheet. But a constant swirl of the glass won't let it. Instead, the head rebuilds as I watch its lace cling to the glass with broken rings. The second pour is much more haze and appears burnish gold as the yeast is roused.

Aromas of light fruit rise to the nose with apples, white grapes, pears, and mild lemon acidity. A musty malt scent of bread dough, grain, and dusty dried wood support the fruity scent and balances against the spicy notes of white pepper, orange peel, and clove.

Firm flavors of malt dictate the malty sweetness at first as the bready, doughy, and grainy-sweet taste seems lightly of confectioner's sugar. The fruity and spicy balance provides the zesty taste of lemons, grapes, oranges, and pears with spicy ginger, dried orange peel, paradise seed, clove, and white pepper. The mild earthiness of dust leaves me wanting more, as does the grassy bitterness of grass and high acidity.

Medium bodied because of the mild malt weight, creamy carbonation, and impressions of fruit. But the zestiness of acidity and high carbonation levels bring about a refreshing zip of sparkling white wines. Finishing with a dryish malt texture, alcohol warmth, and mild hop bitterness- again, the beer wants more dryness and hop bite.

As I settle into my last few drinks from the glass, the rather banal Belgiany character is caught between American-brewed Belgian-style golden ales, pale ales, tripels, and saisons. It's restrained Belgian character keeps a simpler palate that's safe but makes it nondescrip and polite in complexity. I'm looking for authenticity and aggression here.

Serving type: bottle

06-07-2012 04:54:40 | More by BEERchitect

dbossman

Nebraska

3.78/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Cloudy and hazy with a lemon hue and a 1 inch head--surprisingly small for a saison--and great lacing

S: Quite grainy with subtle orange, banana, apple, ginger; this smells spicy and musty and slightly funky and grainy and great

T: Quite dry and not nearly as much musty fruity funk that I picked up in the aroma but still grainy and tasty

F: Creamy with a light but appropriate level of carbonation

O: This is a nice saison--not a crazy funky saison--but a good, dry, grainy, easy-drinking one

Serving type: bottle

06-05-2012 02:47:40 | More by dbossman

lordofthewiens

Maine

4/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

In a pint glass the beer was a pale gold color. The white head retained well and left a good deal of lace.

Funky, yeasty aroma. A little spice, a little citrus.

First sip, some lemon and tartness. Then a little bit of spice. Later, the funky yeast taste took over.

A crisp, refreshing beer.

Very nicely done.

Serving type: bottle

05-23-2012 20:14:09 | More by lordofthewiens

fostah

Massachusetts

3.6/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pint bottle into Sam Adams Perfect pint glass.

Light golden color, with large, rocky off-white head that sticks around for a bit. The head evaporates in big fluffy rings. BIG spice aroma here, some wet blanket/horse underneath at first, eventually overpowering the spice. Light flavor. Lower medium range in body, spicy hops first, followed by crisp maltiness. Finishes with the familiar yeast bite.

Overall a decent attempt, though light for the style, worth the calories.

Serving type: bottle

05-17-2012 02:20:31 | More by fostah

popery

California

3.25/5  rDev -11%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pours a light golden color. Bright and fairly clear, though I can see sediment at the bottom of the bottle. The head is white, a mass of fine bubbles shot through with larger ones.

The nose is mostly fresh pale malt and mildly funky saison yeast. I was expecting more contribution from the spice (as the beer has warmed up, more of the grains of paradise and citrus rind are starting to come through). I was actually told that it was similar to Saison du BUFF, which isn't a great comparison, really. This spicing of this beer shows a subtler hand, and it's closer to any number of good but not spectacular unspiced American saisons. The orange peel, grains of paradise and ginger are all there, but they show up as bright highlights, spicy and citric, to the earthy yeast and simple sweetness of the malt. The whole package is pretty good, and I certainly appreciate that the spice doesn't steal the show, but at the same time, the beer fails to stand out.

The taste is similar, though a bit weaker than the aroma. There's just a bit too much pale malt sweetness, and the spice shows up a bit stronger. It starts with a bitter, earthy note, which fades to sugar cane and ginger/pepper. There's also some citrus, whether from the rind or hops. And the finish is grassy hops and some earthy yeast. It's all well and good, but the ginger and sweetness don't quite work for me. A tangy, tart kick or brett-induced dryness would help a lot.

Mouthfeel is sudsy with fine carbonation. I think it could actually use a bit more prickly bubbles, but maybe, that's just me. There's also a bit of slickness that seems at odds with the style.

Overall, it's a decent enough beer, but a miss compared to Green Flash's two other new bottles, Rayon Vert and Palate Wrecker. RV and PW stand out as great and unique, while Saison Diego is pretty good and replaceable. To be fair, the price point makes it competitive with the rest of the pack of American saisons, and the spicing comes through more as it warms, bringing an almost perfumey, musky quality to the aroma. Again, it's good, but the spicing just isn't my cup of tea and the rest of the beer isn't good enough to make me want more.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2012 04:28:21 | More by popery

51mmz0rz

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 22oz bottle into an Orval chalice.

A: Poured a beautiful clear golden color. White head has good retention.

S: Belgian yeast aromas

T: Wonderful breadyness to the flavor along with belgian yeast flavors. Easy drinking.

M: Good carbonation, fits the style.

D: Overall, solid beer, I don't taste the spices (but this is probaly a good thing)

Serving type: bottle

04-23-2012 02:49:57 | More by 51mmz0rz

wethorseblanket

California

4.13/5  rDev +13.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Pours a clearish golden yellow with a massive 2" white rocky head which fades to a cap and rim leaving puzzle lace.

N: Big funk blast up front, followed by mellow lemon citrus zest and hay/grass from the barnyard. Peppery spice with biscuit yeast. Cloves, and faint banana. Beautiful springtime floral notes.

T: Yeasty, spicy, orange/lemon/citrus combine well with earthy and floral elements. Faint ginger spice is present, but most contribution from the grains of paradise.

M: Solid carbonation, light body. Very bright throughout and somewhat dry on the lingering finish.

O: Nice and refreshing. Well done Chuck.

Serving type: bottle

04-06-2012 05:11:36 | More by wethorseblanket

BoatsSinkBro

3.55/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Bomber.
-A hazy pale amber.
-Not much in terms of head.
-Aroma has crisp citrus corners with a heavy funky barnyard yeast body that displays some hints of muted banana.
-Taste starts with a slight sour pucker, then the carbonation pretty much takes over with notes of spice hitting the tongue during. The finish is tinged with some bitterness with some tart and a dry finish. Aftertaste has some malt and a yeasty funk.
-Overall mouthfeel is crisp and on the lighter side. Kind of wished the carbonation was brought down a little bit.

Had a few saisons before (haven't reviewed them, yet), this one isn't exactly as funky as the others, but a good one to cut through some meals with.

Serving type: bottle

04-01-2012 02:41:29 | More by BoatsSinkBro

Zorro

California

4.13/5  rDev +13.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

From the Green Flash website:

"Saison Diego™
Ale Brewed with Spices

Unfiltered golden farmhouse ale, brewed with Seville orange peels, Chinese ginger and grains of paradise. Light, bright, spicy aromas, lively carbonation and earthy flavors co-mingle with musty notes that add funky complexity."

No ABV on bottle or website IBUs 20.

Very slightly chill haze in a clear golden beer with a tall fluffy white head. The Brewer did nail the looks.

Smell is slight honeysuckle malt and wild flowers on hay with a slight coriander scent. Pretty much a Hennepin clone.

Starts out dry with the taste of hay and a little bee pollen with a coriander aftertaste. Gets a little sweeter as you drink it. Mild flavor with a very mild noble hop taste at the end. Very clean taste with a slight wheat malt flavor at the end. Didn't detect the ginger, I'm slightly allergic to it and this didn't make my nose itch either. Grains of Paradise, never tasted one so I have no idea if it made a difference in the taste.

Mouthfeel is light.

Overall this is a good beer. Something of a Hennepin clone.

Serving type: bottle

03-26-2012 00:25:33 | More by Zorro