Four Winds Saison Brett: Is an unfiltered bottle fermented Saison that is brewed at a strength of 7% abv with 28 IBUs featuring Tettnanger and Cascade hops. This delightful beer sat patiently in red wine oak barrels for about 10 months with brettanomyces and lacto-pediococcus to give it a true farm house funk that us beer geeks love so much. This is it’s second release since the brewery opened and they sold out of bottles at their brewery location very quickly, however you’ll see it in local stores this week so it’s not too late to get some, or more.
Aroma and Appearance: It pours a cloudy burnt orange colour with two fingers of white foam and lots of little bubbles. The aroma is quite unique, with a fair amount of farmhouse funk, musky basement and grape must balanced out with oak, grains and stinky cheese.
Flavour: Initially it kicks off with some nice cereal grains and moldy cheese richness up front, with some oak, more barnyard funk and horse blanket in the middle and it finishes with what I can only describe as a slight spicy cayenne musty grape flavour that rolls along your tongue and soft palate with the beautiful light saison carbonation effervescent.
Overall Impression: It’s better than even, I am almost afraid to age this as it is so good now I probably won’t be able to leave my few bottles alone for long.
Rating: I give it an awesome and a half rating of 9.5/10, they nailed it.
Food Pairing: You can complement the farmhouse funk with blue cheese, or pair it up with some grainy crackers with a mild salami to make a meal out of it.
Here are two very long, but informative videos about Brettanomyces from Crooked Stave brewer / owner Chad Yakobosan who collaborated on the EPIC Elder Saison Brett I reviewed earlier this year. At least bookmark these vidoes for later if you don’t have time to watch them now as they are very informative. At minimum, you can at least learn how to say it properly by watching the first few minutes!
West Coast Beer Geek 