American Farmhouse Ale

American- Hoppy, bitter, intense, over the top.

Farmhouse- Funky, spicy, musty, rustic

Ale- Well, you know

This beer was born of two separate goals. I wanted to brew a hoppy, bitter saison. I also wanted to brew a saison using brettanomyces, a wild yeast. Rather than doing the smart thing and brew two different beers I brewed a beer that would have elements of both visions. After formulating a recipe for a Jack D'or inspired Saison, White Labs released a seasonal yeast called "American Farhouse". I couldn't resist adding that blend of classic saison yeast with brettanomyces on my beer that was already heavy on late addition hops. I wasn't sure what to expect but the fruity/citrusy hops ended up complimenting the yeast better that I could ever have imagined.

Appearance: Bright, vibrant golden yellow. An inch of foamy white head forms and sticks around for a long time.

Smell: Tons of brett in the nose. Lots of fruit/citrus. Mostly green apple with some lemon peel. Some of the more standard spicy saison smells mix in but are overpowered in a good way by the funk.

Taste: The flavor follows the smell almost perfectly. Lots of funk from the brett. Similar to the smell though, the funk is on the fruity side rather than the barnyardy musty side. The hops have faded by now but when fresh they added to that fruitiness. With 6 months of age on this one the lack of hop flavor has let the classic peppery saison flavors come through. A grainy/bready maltiness adds complexity and balances the beer out nicely.

Mouthfeel/notes: Carbonation is on the high side by design. Effervescent without being prickly on your tongue. Nice smooth mouthfeel. Flavor lingers for a while after a dry finish. I think next time I brew I'll shoot for a drier finish but this batch is fine.