Erik PerkinsJust a few years ago I would walk into a bottle shop and I would get excited if there was a beer I hadn’t tried before. Now a days, every time I walk into a bottle shop I can always find something new that I have yet to enjoy. A few months back I was slowly wondering the aisles of my local bottle shop1 and noticed a saison from Tahoe Mountain Brewing Company. I had never had anything from the brewery and I love saisons so I decided to pick one up a bottle of Provisions. On my way to the register I got distracted by a few bottles of Fantome Saison2 and decided that Provisions would have to wait.
A few days later a box arrived on my porch from Tenemu and low and behold there was a bottle of Provisions. I think the beer gods really want me to try this beer.
A few weeks later it is finally time to crack open the beer and the cap pops off easily with a decent pop. The beer pours a crystal clear bright gold with a big fluffy white head that sits in my Teku glass FOREVER. As I wait for the head to dissipate enough to take a sip, I spend a couple of minutes burring my nose into the glass. The nose is fairly simple with a light grain smell, a slight floral note, a touch of light fruitiness and a bit of rye spiciness. They all seem to play together well but there is nothing terribly exciting about the bouquet. After a couple of minutes I grow inpatient and try to take a sip from the glass and end up looking like Dr. Evil drinking a Starbucks. I decide to go the old fashion way of just scooping out a handful of foam so I can get to the beer.
After a few sips I start picking up some of the same flavors as the bouquet. A very light and crisp beer with an array of subtle flavors. Like the nose, nothing really jumps out flavor wise but it is delicate and enjoyable. A generic graininess, lemony citrus, rose pedals, black pepper and a decent rye bite. The flavors linger well into the finish and the flavors seem to fall off one by one leaving the citrus and rye as the lone survivors.
