Godspeed Brewery refers to their beers as “intentionally eclectic” and they ain’t lyin’. In fact, I think that may be a bit of an understatement, like saying the Beatles were popular. After sampling their barley wine imperial coffee stout, now I am into a saison. But not just any run of the mill ale, no. This saison has been barrel aged on the third rock from the sun, in the third barrel,* for four years in French oak barrels then underwent a second fermentation on wild honey. You know, just a typical day at the farm. I think the phrase eclectically complex comes to mind.
Assemble This in 253 Easy Steps.
It pours hazy, somewhere between yellow and golden and brown. Head still in the barrel. A complex pour, for sure. A strong spicy saison aroma but with wine and honey? A complex aroma for sure. And the taste? You guessed it, as complex as BBQ assembly instructions.** A mix of spiced and sweet, a bit fizzy, and tart. A saison with no rhyme or rasion. An odd taste, unique and interesting, stranger than fiction (because it’s real) and I am actually enjoying it. Let’s see if it has any staying power or if it’s a one pull wonder. Must be wine barrels, what else would the French put in a barrel . The honey has arrived but it’s not over the top, just a shake of a leg from a bee or two, not the whole comb.
Odd, intriguing and complex, one might say eclectic if they were so inclined. An open mind coupled with a frosty glass and an end of a hot summer day thirst helped. Definitely not for everyone but it was the best French oak barrel saison with second fermentation with wild honey that I have had in some time.
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