What Ale’s Thee?
Education, information and inspiration about… what else… beer!

WAT? #17 - Farmhouse What?

 WAT? #17 - Farmhouse What? [51:45m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Farmhouse Ale? Saison?

What has this beer got to do with a farm? What is that smell?

On this episode we try two traditional Saison style beers and one very American take from our local friends at Surly.

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Beers Tasted

4 Responses to “WAT? #17 - Farmhouse What?”

  1. It’s interesting that you started by mentioning Fat Tire. ‘CCO has a clip of the consumer frenzy at Surdyks here:

    http://wcco.com/consumer/localstory172144548.html

    I don’t really know why this particular beer has such a catchet but appeal is such a funny thing.

    When I was a teenager in the 70’s there was a similar frenzy when now-defunct Olympia beer showed up in the Minnesota market. Of course, back then there really wasn’t any kind of a microbrew available, and in fact Oly wasn’t any better than Hamms or any of the other cheap canned lagers available at the time. It was just different.

    I’m glad you liked the Dupont. I had a bottle a couple weeks back and it was pretty tasty, though not quite as explosive as yours.

    I think the other thing with saisons is that they were given to farm workers to be as much a food item as a drink item. There’s real nutritional value there, and when you’re working like a farmhand, you might be too hot to have an appetite, but you will be thirsty.

    There is that apocryphal story of the Belgian monks, who, during Lent, fasted but still had to do their farm work, and their heavy beers were the only thing keeping them from starving.

    andy - June 24th, 2007 at 12:15 pm

  2. Saisons are usually carbonated at a VERY high rate of carbonation, just like a number of the other light-colored Belgian ales. In fact, you’ll probably note that many Belgian-style ales are corked and caged or put in thick-glassed bottles to keep the bottles from going all glass-grenade. When I brew things like tripels and strong darks, I usually try to have some grolsch-style bottles or thick trappist bottles on hand so I don’t have to worry about the occasional gusher.

    Drew - June 26th, 2007 at 10:03 am

  3. Ne Belgium… brewing capacity? … If I am not mistaken … they are at least at a regional level… and are one of the largest producing microbrewers… seems weird that they wouldn’t break into the market earlier… BUT… by that same logic… Boulevard is at aroun 100,000 barrels a year and they are in illinois but won’t touch the Chicago market… so who knows…

    BoulevardJohn - December 3rd, 2007 at 11:24 am

  4. When you look at the profiles of different beers and the brewers that brew them they are definitely carbonating to different levels depending on their beer. Check out those brewing association books about farmhouse ales and ‘brew like a monk’ and sour beers. They add a different amount of yeast slurry per type.

    BoulevardJohn - December 3rd, 2007 at 12:06 pm

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