Buckwheat Strawberry Ale
Blackberry Farm Brewery

 

This one pours a slightly reddish dark gold color, with a voluminous head and lots of lacing.

This smells like sweet honey funk, grassiness, light strawberry juiciness, buckwheat, red wine, and light esters.

This is a bit of a confusing beer that doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. Nonetheless, it's interesting and pretty tasty. The strawberry level is pretty light, with an interesting clovey and honey like funk. I'm not entirely sure what yeast strain was used here.

This is light bodied, crisp and pretty drinkable, with a very high level of carbonation.

This is interesting, but not one of the Blackberry Farm's best.

375ml corked bottle. Pours a hazy copper gold with large firm head that slowly settles. You can have fun jiggling the head side to side; it's pretty firm. Funky wild aroma is not too strong. Taste is a little like Orval, funky brett with some tartness and a hint of strawberry. I think the bottle is pretty old (no visible date though) and the strawberry is not a fresh taste. But overall even if it is old, the flavors are a good mix. Mouth feel is very good, cleanly fluid with good carbonation, refreshing. Overall, this is a pretty good combination. Might have been more interesting if the strawberry was a fresher taste.
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2 years later than my original June 2018 review, I picked up another bottle - no apparent dating and I'm guessing it is from the same original batch. Cork rocketed out of its cage, so be careful with that! Overall, the original review still applies. Maybe a little funkier now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These guys are unreal... They nail everything they do... The strawberries are perfectly done... Not too sweet.. Just an essence... The buckwheat drives the backbone and provides an earthy quality that I find appealing... Very much so... Slightly funky and utterly delicious... Very well done....

 

 

 

Stepping into the darkside of farmhouse, Blackberry Farm carries a darker austere but with a slightly robust malt taste and a whimsy of delicate berry for a strong and whimsy dialogue on the tongue.

Buckwheat Strawberry Ale pours a tarnish bronze color with goldenrod and burnt orange margins. Its billowing froth expels a host of toasty, nutty and peppery aromatics alongside of a jammy berry-like perfume. Robust honey takes on a savory, stewed sweetness with grain, biscuit and breadiness layering on the early palate.

As the ale embarks on the middle palate, a host of flavors come alive. With the sweetness drifting and the savory malt components lingering, the ale bursts alive with zesty orange, lemon, pear and apricot. Peppercorn, cumin and woodsiness offsets the fruit while the ale retains a toasty, cashew-like savoriness deep into finish. All along, the tangy flavor of strawberry seems cranberry and cassis-like with jelly-like satisfaction.

Though fruity, toasty and semi-sweet, the ale still captures the essence of Belgian beer with a spice-forward balance that bounces off of the nutty and seared bread edges beautifully, and its strawberry additions plays nicely alongside of the natural esters of the fruit. Bright and bubbly, the beer's rosé acidity breaks up the malt and fruit sweetness and ensures a digestible, dry and pepper finish with stewed fruit in a whimsical short aftertaste.