Demeter Facile: Tasting Notes

After nearly three months in the bottle, I'm getting around to posting tasting notes for Demeter Facile (recipe).  The idea behind this one was to go with a (relatively) simple malt bill and fairly-minimal hop additions so that I could get a beer that showed off the character of my current house blend (Ambrosia 005) of saison yeast (Saccharomyces), Brettanomyces strains, and lactic acid bacteria (LAB).  Overall, I'm quite happy with the results, and this is something that I will most definitely be brewing again in the future.  I'll also plan to do an oak-aged version soon enough.

Appearance: Quite clear.  Color is a medium yellow with a sizable initial head that fizzles down a bit quickly.  Could be better in this area, though the retention isn't horrible.  

Nose: Begins with yellow and orange SweeTarts, leading into faint tropical fruit.  A bit of apricot. Light grass and wheat.  Some honey as it starts to warm, potentially from the bit of honey malt that I used in this one.  (While I wanted to keep it simple, I love honey malt in saisons and couldn't resist).  Hints of lime zest as well, lingering after the more-upfront mango and tangerine subside.

Flavor: Similar notes as the nose, but with a light-to-moderate tartness through the finish.  Just where I like it, tart without really being sour.  Maybe a bit of pineapple that I wasn't really getting from the nose.  Mango, tangerine, and light lemon/lime seem to be the dominant characteristics.  I'm guessing this is mostly from the yeast and bacteria rather than the hops, as I didn't use much Centennial, and it's not the light orange and generic citrus that I typically associate with Centennial.

Mouthfeel: Light and airy, definite saison carbonation.  Could use a bit more body.  Might need to up the adjuncts next time.  Really easy drinking; the bottle goes down way too quickly.

Overall: I really like this beer and am pretty damn pleased with what my standard blend did with an otherwise-simple base beer.  I'd like to try bottle conditioning this with honey at some point, and also potentially with a tropical fruit juice.  As mentioned above, a bit of oak could also add a bit of complexity.