Beer?

[Maverick Goose]

It makes lambic sound so appealing...
"A decidedly sour aroma is often dominant in young examples, but may become more subdued with age as it blends with aromas described as barnyard, earthy, goaty, hay, horsey, and horse blanket."

The word 'funky' tends to get bandied around a lot in sipster circles...
Saisons were basically simple farmhouse beers brewed to provide a little something refreshing for seasonal farmworkers in France or Belgium ('saisonniers'), flavoured with whatever ingredients came to hand (such as kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass, obvs). They tend to be slightly peppery and fruity, which is down to the yeast strains used IIRC (see also Grisettes, such as Cloudwater Sorachi Ace Grisette),slightly acid, clean and refreshing.

Ilkley Siberia-Rhubarb saison (Yorkshire is t'home o' t'rhubarb triangle)
Wild Beer Company Epic Saison (one of my favourites)
Saison Dupont (a classic )
Wylam Saisonnier (flavoured with lemon balm and rosemary, but they've kept the rosemary quite subtle ye knaaa like man)
Burning Sky in Sussex specialise in Saisons.

 

[Daddy Pig]

The word 'funky' tends to get bandied around a lot in sipster circles...
Saisons were basically simple farmhouse beers brewed to provide a little something refreshing for seasonal farmworkers in France or Belgium ('saisonniers'), flavoured with whatever ingredients came to hand (such as kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass, obvs). They tend to be slightly peppery and fruity, which is down to the yeast strains used IIRC (see also Grisettes, such as Cloudwater Sorachi Ace Grisette),slightly acid, clean and refreshing.

Ilkley Siberia-Rhubarb saison (Yorkshire is t'home o' t'rhubarb triangle)
Wild Beer Company Epic Saison (one of my favourites)
Saison Dupont (a classic )
Wylam Saisonnier (flavoured with lemon balm and rosemary, but they've kept the rosemary quite subtle ye knaaa like man)
Burning Sky in Sussex specialise in Saisons.

I've tried the wild beer one which is why I've started to search out some others. Great with fresh pizza I found that slight acidity quite refreshing with spice heat.
I'll start to search out some if those others you've mentioned!

 

[User169]

Quick question about:
Saison v farmhouse v sour v lambic
What are the differences?

The way I'd think about is like this:

Farmhouse is generic - saison is a type of farmhouse (grisette and biere de garde are other varieties, along with the weird nordic things like sahti). Saison is typically a dry beer with noticeable yeast ester presence. I think traditionally they were not especially strong, but now seem to be upwards of 6%.

The style defining saison is usually taken to be Saison Dupont which is reasonably easy to get hold of. Saisons from Blaugies and Fantome can also be ordered online in the UK (just looked at beergonzo). Wild Beer Co and Burning Sky in the UK make very decent saisons.

Sour is generic and lambic is a type of sour (others are gose, berliner weisse, geuze). Most of these have wheat in them, at least the traditional European versions do and they will also be fermented with bacteria to generate sourness. In the case of lambic, the fermentation is spontaneous - it's brewed with whatever drops into the beer from the environment. Many of these beers are not especially strong - gose and berliner weisse are typically around 3 or 4%.

Sours can be a bit tricky especially if you jump in the deep end with a Belgian geuze. Maybe try gose or berliner weisse first. Magic Rock's salty kiss is a good one and more tart than sour. Candy Queen from Brewski (again available at beergonzo) is fantastic - my favourite beer of 2017.

Belgian geuze is now highly desirable from a collecting point of view with huge demand from the US and insane prices are paid for rare bottles. Cantillon and 3 fonteinen are the best I would say, but Boon is likely easier to find, cheaper and more approachable.

 

[User169]

It makes lambic sound so appealing...
"A decidedly sour aroma is often dominant in young examples, but may become more subdued with age as it blends with aromas described as barnyard, earthy, goaty, hay, horsey, and horse blanket."

I rode past a farm a few weeks ago and the smell was exactly as if someone had just opened a bottle of geuze. Lovely!

 

[rich p]

Some of the sour ones that DP and my son like a lot, are a mystery to me, even though I like nowadays, stuff that I would have shuddered at a year or two ago.
The milder sours and gose types are ones that I now like.
Who knows what I'll be drinking in a years time.

 

[MossCommuter]

The way I'd think about is like this:

Farmhouse is generic - saison is a type of farmhouse (grisette and biere de garde are other varieties, along with the weird nordic things like sahti). Saison is typically a dry beer with noticeable yeast ester presence. I think traditionally they were not especially strong, but now seem to be upwards of 6%.

The style defining saison is usually taken to be Saison Dupont which is reasonably easy to get hold of. Saisons from Blaugies and Fantome can also be ordered online in the UK (just looked at beergonzo). Wild Beer Co and Burning Sky in the UK make very decent saisons.

Sour is generic and lambic is a type of sour (others are gose, berliner weisse, geuze). Most of these have wheat in them, at least the traditional European versions do and they will also be fermented with bacteria to generate sourness. In the case of lambic, the fermentation is spontaneous - it's brewed with whatever drops into the beer from the environment. Many of these beers are not especially strong - gose and berliner weisse are typically around 3 or 4%.

Sours can be a bit tricky especially if you jump in the deep end with a Belgian geuze. Maybe try gose or berliner weisse first. Magic Rock's salty kiss is a good one and more tart than sour. Candy Queen from Brewski (again available at beergonzo) is fantastic - my favourite beer of 2017.

Belgian geuze is now highly desirable from a collecting point of view with huge demand from the US and insane prices are paid for rare bottles. Cantillon and 3 fonteinen are the best I would say, but Boon is likely easier to find, cheaper and more approachable.

Yeah...

...I was gonna say that

 

[Daddy Pig]

Some of the sour ones that DP and my son like a lot, are a mystery to me, even though I like nowadays, stuff that I would have shuddered at a year or two ago.
The milder sours and gose types are ones that I now like.
Who knows what I'll be drinking in a years time.

I dont mind it a bit tart but not sure about hitting sour!
Ill have a look at the local beer shop and see what berliner weise they have in if any! Not sure that style has reached the depths of Devon yet!

 

[MossCommuter]

I dont mind it a bit tart but not sure about hitting sour!
Ill have a look at the local beer shop and see what berliner weise they have in if any! Not sure that style has reached the depths of Devon yet!

Check out the Chorlton Sours. Modern, hipstery and Mancunian so probably not what you'll get from a traditional one but I love 'em

 

[rich p]

The word 'funky' tends to get bandied around a lot in sipster circles...

 

[rich p]

Taste does mature - I used to drink only brown ale. Bitter? Ugh!

Indeed.
I like a lot of new beers and styles but I often get the comment from friends along the lines of, "Oh, I still like traditional bitters".

I do too, but liking new stuff doesn't automatically mean that I no longer enjoy the other beers. I'd still take a decent pint of Harveys over almost anything.

 

[Daddy Pig]

Indeed.
I like a lot of new beers and styles but I often get the comment from friends along the lines of, "Oh, I still like traditional bitters".

I do too, but liking new stuff doesn't automatically mean that I no longer enjoy the other beers. I'd still take a decent pint of Harveys over almost anything.

A lot of pubs in Devon (pretty much all of them) only serve 'traditional' English ales so there is not a lot of choice unless you go to a decent beer festival, and even then there is mostly your average Joe beers. Then you are left with going to specialist beer shops of which there are two in Exeter and then it's Truro!

 

[MossCommuter]

Me too! Mostly because I know I will get a pint of something I can drink and enjoy. It seems such a waste to buy something that turns out to be horrible. I know you can ask for a taste these days, if you've got the nerve. One bloke in front of me at a bar not that long ago asked for a taster, and when the bar person said, "Which one?" he replied, "All of them?"

There was a keg of Coco Chango on in 57 Thomas Street, Manchester, which I loved.

It was gaspingly expensive, 9.5% ABV and quite delicious.

The bar tender reckoned that they'd given most of it away as tasters.

 

[Daddy Pig]

The ubiquitous Doom Bar huh?

Less so, more St Austel beers which are better than Doom bar, and in Devon it's a good mix of regional and micro breweries. Don't get me wrong, a well kept Jail ale from Dartmoor is a really good beer, but all pubs only seem to sell beer from 3.8% to 4.8% beers that are run of the mill. I'd love to have beer at 9.5%.... but not very profitable for the pub I'd imagine!

 

[rich p]

Less so, more St Austel beers which are better than Doom bar, and in Devon it's a good mix of regional and micro breweries. Don't get me wrong, a well kept Jail ale from Dartmoor is a really good beer, but all pubs only seem to sell beer from 3.8% to 4.8% beers that are run of the mill. I'd love to have beer at 9.5%.... but not very profitable for the pub I'd imagine!

I recently spent a long (and wet) weekend in sleepy Milford-on-Sea, in which, a craft beer pub had not long opened in a converted laundrette.
It was rammed and had a great buzz drawing people in from the surrounding area. Maybe there's an entrepreneurial gap for you in Devon, Daddy P, if you ever get fed up with the office life!
My son is forever sussing out places around here to do just that; the latest is an HSBC bank which may close in the near future. Maybe he could borrow the money off them before they go

 

[threebikesmcginty]

I recently spent a long (and wet) weekend in sleepy Milford-on-Sea, in which, a craft beer pub had not long opened in a converted laundrette...

Was it called The Old Soak?