Burdock Brett Farmhouse Saison II

A good pal (I'll call him R.H.) brought me a mixed four-pack of beers from Burdock Brewery, a fairly new Torontonian establishment. Once again, writing a beer blog and having generous friends combined to make me a happy lad. Eventually, I'll review all four of these, but for now I'm going to focus on the Burdock Brett Farmhouse Saison II.

Sold in 500mL bottles, the beer was pale gold, lightly hazy, and covered with a thin white head. Its 6.2% alcohol piqued my interest and its pungent, yeasty nose drew me in. This brett saison is an odd beer in some ways--it has a large flavour but a very thin mouthfeel. Not nearly the champagne-like feel that I expected. It has a very yeasty taste, built up with grassy and fruity notes. While a bit too thin, this farmhouse ale delivers a satisfyingly dry finish. Another issue I had with the stuff is a shortage of brettanomyces tang--with Brett in the name, I expect tart notes to be in the fore.

The Burdock Brett Farmhouse Saison II was a pretty good introduction to the wares of a newish brewery I've been itching to try. It gave rise to a couple of significant critiques, but left me relatively pleased and my thirst thoroughly quenched.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.