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They’re watching you. They see your every move. Sorry. Got some Hall & Oates stuck in my head. Anyway, I am super excited about this new saison from Smog City because I love beers aged in gin barrels and there are so few of them. This could be a great New Years Eve at home beer.
Laydface Ale Companie up in Agoura Hills, doesn’t bottle a lot. So when they do and it is part of their Ingenuity Series, you might want to head out and pick up a couple.
Gaussian Curve is the latest, a Barrel-aged Saison, with “complex notes of honey and biscuit. Neutral red wine barrels have plotted a unique and delicate earthiness as well as soft wild yeast tartness over many months of aging in our cellar, yielding a modern balance that is definitely ahead of the curve..”
I was lucky enough to get a media sample of the new Saison Ardennes from The Bruery Terreux.
I opened up the 12.7oz bottle with the equine label to see what the second brewery is up to….
…and Ardennes pours a lovely bright orange color. Initial aroma is on the sour side. Much more than the actual taste. Sharp initial sour bite that drops back down to a medium woody taste. A little bit vinous too. Getting a little grape character. More rustic than barnyard.
Those in South Minneapolis will get to look through a wall-sized window and either watch the paint dry or look at the foudres where mixed-fermentation magic will be going on inside the wood. Wild Mind Artisan Ales beers will be aged for anywhere from six to 12 months.
Brewer/Founder Matt Waddell has plans to dedicate most of his 16 draft lines to the wild and farmhouse-style ales. Amping up the sour and brett as time passes and customers acclimate to the beer.
Since they literally opened a day or so ago, those fancy beers like barrel-fermented saisons won’t be at the tap room now but you will be able to try their Table Beer, Hoppy French Saison, Hoppy Rye Wild Ale among others.
All thanks to the foudres and Waddell’s “Carefully chaotic” style.
Usually distribution patterns are either growing or hyper local. In the case of the new Kona Brewing beer, Magic Sands. It is only in Florida and California (well, and I assume Hawaii too) The new brew is a traditional farmhouse style ale that blends Hawaiian fruit (Keitt mangoes) with the less traditional than Belgian, French Saison yeast to create a mash-up that all includes Millennium, Hallertauer and Citra hops too.
I have been a little harsh on fruit IPA’s but I think a mango Saison would actually amplify flavors.
The Commons Brewery occupies a spacious corner on what I call the mid-Eastside near Lucky Lab, Cascade and Green Dragon. After barely avoiding a driver who REALLY wanted to turn right in front of us, my party of hearty beer tasters settled in to ease our jumpy, thank goodness the brakes work nerves.
I selected a taster tray to get a wide range from light to dark beers. Starting with Myrtle (my favorite) a lacto meets Meridian hop saison. #No Filter is a collaborative beer where Myrtle was slammed into Sweet Heat the Burnside Brewing pepper beer. This version had apricots and peppers and melded both nicely. Kthonias was a hazelnut Oud Bruin sour and it didn’t work so well for me. The two flavors cancelled each other out. More successful was the Pumpernickle Rye Saison which had a nice spice duo that complimented the base saison.
It is a huge space and it has plenty of elbow room in the tasting room and the brewery. (Side Note: more tables please) The bar area is nice and the beer descriptions though a bit chalk hazy are thorough enough for the beer fan. I was impressed by the diversity of the tap selections but a little less impressed by The Bruery prices on the 750ml bottles.
I like that there is a cool little cheese and food kitchen tucked into the corner for nibbles and the bread that I got was a welcome addition to the tasting.
…and good too!
Portland meet San Diego, and vice-versa as the Commons Brewery collaborates with Modern Times Beer to make some Good Problems.
The beer is the 1st collaboration for Modern Times Beer and broke in the Commons new brewery in Portland. It is a rustic saison with Brettanomyces from both breweries. The beer was aged on Nebbiolo wine grapes from the fruit loop near Hood River in Mosier, Oregon.
Another entrant in the wine/beer hybrid arena that may challenge fruit IPA’s for dominance this year.
After reading the label and seeing the words “fermented in French Oak Puncheon Barrels” and with a name like All the Yeast, I was not expecting a very light yellow and very clear beer with a lovely effervescence to it. This saison from Highland Park Brewing with the Metro trains on the label reminds me more of champagne than beer.
There is a rough hewn woody note that sorta lingers in the background but there is a lively tannic white wine note that is the conductor of this train. It also has a touch of viscosity to it that steps up after a few sips. I know that sounds at odds with my earlier comments but they seem to work in concert.
I am amazed at the vast differences in the saisons that Bob Kunz seems to coax out of the teeny-tiny brewery that he is working in.
For those wanting more definition of Puncheon since the ol’ Google just wants to say that it is a floor support or a tool. A Puncheon in the wine business is generally a barrel holding 500 liters of wine. Generally not as big as a tun but bigger than a hogshead or a barrel.
I first sipped this beer near the end of the Kick-Off festival but after so many beers on the day, it was hard to get a true look at it. So, once bottles started showing up around town, I grabbed a few to re-test.
It is a very simple beer. The initial sip has a spark of tart and that tartness is there the rest of the way but not puckeringly so. The aroma would lead you to think it is more sour than it is. There is a good amount of farmhouse yeast aroma as you swirl the beer in the glass. There is some notes of grapefruit and a bit of the sweet tart intermingled.
I have had various saisons from Smog City with the kumquat being excellent and the plum, not so much. I would like to see fruited variations on this beer in the future. It is good with a nice low ABV but it is missing a little something like a spice or fruit note to add another layer to the beer.
