I’ve visited a few farms in my day and let me tell you, the early to bed early to rise lifestyle, coupled with a hearty heap of hard work, is not for me. Milking the bulls, fertilizing the fields, harvesting the hay, shearing the cows, it’s just too much work.* But let’s be clear, when I fire up the barbeque and sear some sirloin, and put the pot on boil and do some corn cob cooking, no one is more appreciative of the hard working farmers than me.
Farmer Steve is retired now, so all he’s growing is old. But he still has a back forty filled with corn that he has someone pluck or pick or cream or whatever you do with corn. Speaking of corn, it’s time for a COMDB beer review.
All of this farm talk is due to our brew of the day, The Exchange Brewery’s Homestead, the sometimes erratic but always eclectic farmhouse ale. Tis the saison don’t you know.
A Pollock perhaps? Perhaps.
A clear cloudy (not hazy) AJ OJ colour, with a crop dusting of a head that like the Eagles, is already gone.** A bit of a scary sniff of apples and spice, not that nice. The taste is watery apple fruit malt with a pinch of pepper and a crisp fruit sweet finish. As complex and challenging as a Jackson Pollock painting puzzle.*** I find myself confused and intrigued at the same time. Almost a cider but the malt changes things up, and now a bit of tart enters the fray. The spices are subtle enough so as not to be off-putting.
The genre is very different so for those not acquainted with the style, beer buyer beware. Just like farming is not for me, a farmhouse ale is not my go to brew. But as far as saisons go, this farmhouse is not only inhabitable, but hospitable.
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