” The Perfect Crime” is described as a Black Smoked Saison, and is yet another collaboration beer from Stone Brewing, this time with Evil Twin Brewing and Stillwater Artisanal Ales.

I picked up this bottle in early December, and it’s time to crack the cap and get down to investigating this criminal collaboration.

Stone brewmaster Mitch Steele joined with Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø of Denmark’s Evil Twin Brewing and Brian Strumke from Stillwater Artisanal Ales (of Baltimore) in scheming up a plot to hijack tastebuds and blow minds.

Saisons are traditional farmhouse ales from southern Belgium, and have gained tremendous growth as a popular style among U.S. craft brewers over the past 4 years or so. If you’ve ever had one, you can expect a golden-to-copper colored ale of a medium body, not too hoppy, not too high in alcohol, and usually not too “yeasty” although certainly distinctive in flavor from most beers.

As you can see, this one pours really dark, almost black, but not heavy like a stout. On first taste, immediately noticeable are the roasted/smoked coffeeish flavor and a hint of dark chocolate…but wait, there’s more! The hops kick in, just a small bite of bitterness, but the bark is bigger than the bite and in this case the bark is a lingering herbal/floral finish. Very nice, seems like a “big beer” for a saison but everything balances out. Wish I had picked up a few more of these bottles…I believe it has sold out by now but I’ll take a look around some of the local shops.

6.8% ABV, 60 IBUs
Hops used: East Kent Goldings, Chinook, and Cluster