Wild Rose Brewery Rare Farmhouse White Saison at 4.5% ABV (C$16.50 at Sundance Wine Market, 750 ml, no bottle date or best before, acquired 26-Jun-2016, reviewed 27-Jun-2016)
Appearance: opaque pale gold with one fat finger of rocky white head, excellent retention and chunky lacing. (4/5) Aroma: lactic sour, lemon, pale malt, peach, earthy. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate tart, mild bitter. (7/10) Medium-light body, moderate carbonation, drying and tart slightly funky finish. (3/5)
I went into this with essentially zero expectations, but it’s actually quite pleasant. As far as I can tell, it actually adheres pretty closely to the original saison style, particularly with the low ABV, where so many modern saisons depart fairly dramatically. I don’t think the lager yeast is an issue here, either, since again I can see that jiving with the original brewing technique. The brett seems to fade out fairly quickly, and I’d be happier with a bit more funk. Overall, though, it’s refreshing in a way I think the original style was intended to be. This might actually age well, now that I think about it – maybe I need to grab another one for cellaring. (14/20)
7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
