Beau's Siduri

Beau's Siduri has the orignal distinction of being billed as a white pepper saison aged in red ice wine barrels. It's brewed in Vankleek Hill, Ontario, by the excellent folks at Beau's All Natural Brewing Co. It comes in a 600mL bottle that comes all wrapped up like a gift--it's pretty snazzy, but a real waste of paper. It contains an extremely forte 10.2% alcohol and 24 IBUs. It's a hazy, golden grog that looks a lot like a weissbier. It's amply carbonated and pours with a cloud of off-white head.

Where organic peppercorns meet lively yeast and a substantial amount of booze, you're bound to find a truly unusual aroma--spicy, oddly tart, and hard to describe. After the nose, the actual flavour is really quite understated. If the label didn't say 10.2%, I'd have sworn that this stuff was no stronger than 6, so tread lightly. It has the classic saison mouthfeel--fizzy and dry. There is some pepperiness, but not in the way that I had expected; it's very much an additional note rather than the main event. It's a very yeasty beer, with a faint ginger note, as well as a nearly undetectable throb of peppercorn.

Kudos to Beau's for coming up with such an unusual style. I'm not over the moon with respect the the execution, but it's undeniably unique. I also dig that the stuff is aged in ice wine barrels, though I must confess that I was unable to detect any notes of that sweet syrup. I was steeling myself for spicy, but there was really only a whisper of peppery heat, mostly contained to the finish.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.