Review - Upright Brewing Four 4.5%abv

The more I read about Upright Brewing, the more I like them. Its not just that they specialise in one of my favourite styles, the saison, but it certainly helps. It also helps that many of their beers are made using (home brew geek warning) Wyeast's 3711 French Saison yeast, a strain that I love, and that I've been using a lot lately. Most of all, these guys seem to be the perfect fusion of the production of the commercial brewer and the innovation and freedom of the home brewer. Their four year-round beers are all unique and hard to define. Their 8 seasonal beers feature an oyster stout made with real oysters, an obscure German wheat beer made with salt and two different bacteria-soured versions of their beer Four, one made with cherries and the other with chili peppers. If I ever was to work in a brewery, I think I would want it to be just like this one. Upright's brewpub will be a definite stop on my upcoming trip to Portland, but enough about that, onto the beer.

Four pours a bright gold colour, and soon forms a thick head of very large bubbles from its intense carbonation. One of the characteristics of the French Saison yeast is its incredible level of attenuation (ability to consume available sugars) and this process continues in the bottle, leading to inconsistent and sometimes extreme carbonation. This doesn't take away from this beer's enjoyment however, as a saison is traditionally a very bubbly beer. Four has a spicy and very yeasty aroma and has a certain brightness to its flavour that is very pleasing. It is dry and easy to drink, but remains interesting; this is a great table beer that I could drink all day. It would be the perfect beer to share with someone who's beer tastes you're unsure of or who doesn't usually drink craft beer, it is interesting and great to drink, but also sure to please just about any beer drinker.
Rating: Very Good