Wild Beer Co: Best Saison (England: Saison: 4.5% ABV)
Visual: Cloudy. Slightly ruddy gold. Thin bubbled to creamy head the color of the inside of orange peel.
Nose: Tart and funky. Cooking apples. Yeastie. Mild cheese. Peppercorn. Wheat fields. Touch of dry apricot.
Body: Wheat and yeast dominated. Dry. Mild cheese. Peppery. Cheese puff crisps. Slightly creamy. Slight toffee malt builds up over time.
Finish: Cheese crisps. Pepper. Yeast styled.
Conclusion: So, wild beer co have been doing pretty darn well with their saisons so far. They call this one the “Best”, how does it do? Pretty neutral actually. There is a lot going on texture wise, the yeast influence is very evident and funky and there is a wheat character to it, but these complexities don’t seem to extend to the flavours.
The beer is dry and slightly tart with easy going flavours. Mild cheese spiced with a touch of pepper. Wild Beer Co make a big deal about bringing an extra element to each of their beers and this feels like it is still waiting for that. You do get a bit more over time, a toffee and malty touch rises up, not exactly a shining element but a much needed bit of extra character.
The slight tart apple reminds me of the far superior Ninkasi. This beer does admittedly have the advantage of a lower abv which means you don’t have to treat it like a wine but as something more easy drinking.
The beer is quite refreshing, and easily drinkable. It feels very much a “table beer”, something not too intrusive that would refresh while having a meal.
A lot of this makes more sense after the staff told me this is intended a base beer for a new project that will involve some spontaneous fermentation. It does feel like a starting point, not bad, and I think it will be interesting to compare after trying the final product, but right now it doesn’t quite feel finished.
Not bad, funky and interesting in texture, but not too enthralling by itself.
Background: Brewdog Bristol had a Wild Beer Company tap takeover. I couldn’t make it, so missed the beer “Spellbound” which had people raving, but got to try a good number of other beers. I’ve been interested in The Wild Beer Co since I first heard about them and they have done pretty well so far. Not everything has been knock out great but most have been interesting and some like Ninkasi have been excellent. I can’t find much on this beer online. Talking to the staff it seems this is the base beer being used for the Solera beer project which sounds very interesting indeed.
