Rumble Fork
Brouwerij West

an absolutely gorgeous wild saison here aged in syrah vessels, one of the first wild beers i have had from these guys, and one of the coolest labels i have ever seen on a bottle, beautiful design! the beer inside lives up to the artful packaging too, its enormously heady, almost as much airy white fluff as there is liquid in the glass, but it settles right down. a pale base, a spicy nose, lots of mature funk, but subtle it seems on the acidity. a cool mix of grains in the mash here, wheat heavy but with some buckwheat and maybe spelt in here too, its like a grisette or something, multigrain and interesting, light and dry as the malt is. the brett is well developed and probably a mix of strains, some white wine notes from it are cool with the obvious red wine from the barrel treatment. tart but never sour, really evolved and layered, straw and hay farmy notes, a tea-like thing and some bitterness too, cut flowers, aged hops, grass, lemon, red wine vinegar, rich heavy oak and vanilla, and effervescent carbonation, truly beautiful saison, the exact type of beer i am most interested right now, and a magical example of it. i am almost always stoked when i have beers from these guys, yet they seem to remain well under the radar of the nerds. i would put this one up against almost anything in its class. a highlight of a wonderful session for sure, and one of the best beers i have ever had from these guys. mature and complex and subtle in the right ways, i need more of this one!