Fish Magician (Blend #2)
Logsdon Farmhouse Ales

 

wild ale indeed. chewy

Never heard of this beer or of these guys - even when I was out on the left coast. Of all places, I found this at ShopRite Liquors in Little Falls last week and was completely intrigued by the label and style. A Wild Ale? With fruit? From somewhere far from here? The reviews were good and sure enough, so was this beer as it was one of the better examples of the style that I've had in quite some time!

This had a decent, golden hue to it that was moderately bright with fine bubbles, haze, and sediment in it. Enough head topped this off as that quietly settled as a fine ring remained near the top with lots of spots along the bottom half of my pint glass. That last bit that I swirled out from the bottom of the can was evidence that this was live, and part Witbier as that was a bit darker and much more cloudy. Tons of peach, plum, tart fruit, oak barrel, and yeast in the nose as the taste was full of all of these along with a deep, underlying feet-like funk and earthy fruit that was nicely slick. Wild Ales don't get much more wild or outdoorsy than this but the wheat kept the edges from getting too rough as this easily and enjoyably went down.

There's enough booze in here but with so much going on in the taste and lots of cheese and wood in the aftertaste, the heft and warming nature of this beer took a back seat to everything else that was going on. Canned on 8/25 with "BLEND #02" written underneath it, this was an amazing beer that wasn't what I expected and completely caught me by surprise. The end result reminded me of something from New Glarus but with just a bit less fruit and bit more depth. Get your hands on this and expect to be delighted!

Canned 8/25.

Not gonna mince words, this is ugly. Hazy and straw colored with lots of floating particulate that looks like bits of straw. I'm thinking I'll revisit these chunks while flossing tonight. The head was fizzy and short-lived.

BUT...oh my, this has it where it counts. Tart, chewy, profoundly oaky, and wonderfully fruity. I know there is no apricot but that is the fruit that comes to mind first. This has the depth to be sipped and savored but it's hard not to crush it. Very glad I got to try this wonderful offering, best saison I've had in a long time.

A: The beer is somewhat hazy yellow in color and has a light to moderate amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a short white head that left a thin layer of bubbles covering the surface and a narrow collar around the edge of the glass.
S: Moderate aromas of oak and sour peaches and plums are present in the nose.
T: The taste is rather funky and has flavors of sour peaches and plums with notes of oak and associated hints of vanilla.
M: It feels light- to medium-bodied and very tart on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: I really enjoyed this sour saison and thought it had a good amount of tartness, funk, sourness, and fruity/oaky flavors.

Serving type: can