Saranac Season's Best - Matt Brewing Company, Utica

Saranac and I don't have the best history... I've had a couple Saranac beers and they didn't come anywhere near my expectations. I don't think I have outlandish expectations or anything, I just think their beers were... well, bad. That hasn't stopped me from picking up another Saranac beer though. This time around I've got their Season's Best, a Nut Brown Lager with a picture of a lone snowbound log cabin in the foothills of the Appalachians. It's a nice setting, but if I were holed up in that cabin with nothing but sixers of Saranac, it probably wouldn't be long before I started reenacting scenes from The Shining...

Suffice it to say I didn't care for Saranac's Season's Best... Stylistically speak, this beer isn't bad. For a Nut Brown it tastes, well... like nuts and beer. This beer is pretty dry, something that isn't complimented by the spices or mellow levels of sweet malt. A little more caramel malt flavor would have gone a long way here. I found this Saranac to be largely uninspired and boring. Even though this beer isn't "good" by any means, I think it's fair to say this is still the best Saranac can do, but don't take it from me... the folks at Saranac pretty much said the same thing right on the label.