Tart Saison
Baere Brewing Company

a mixed fermentation version of their classic saison, which i rank among the best in town here. i had slightly higher hopes for this, with the brett and all, i thought it would be more funky and complex on the yeast side, but its pretty minimal, possibly too new still for these flavors to be all the way developed, but the beer is still very good because the base saison is excellent. the tartness is slight, and i appreciate this not being full fledged sour, i think it makes sense to have it reserved a bit, so the clean, light, lemony lactic profile is all it really needs. for whatever reason, this little tang seems to accentuate the rye in the mash, i get a little more of its spice and earthiness than i recall in the original, which is a good thing. the acid does seem to break down the body a little bit, but carbonation is great and the acidity makes it refreshing. grainy and old school still, not cheapened by the souring in any way, i just prefer the profile of their saison yeast by itself without the bacterial component, but i could see some folks really loving this one. it has a nice hop profile to finish too, citrusy and living, it doesnt need to be dry hopped any more, and i thought the dry hopped edition of this was a bit much. i liked this, but still greatly prefer the original saison they make, its one of their best beers!