Gerboise Blanche
Able Baker Brewing Co.

neat to have this one and the rouge edition in red wine barrels right next to it, this to me was the better of the two, a saison apparently done with ginger and chamomile and then aged in chardonnay barrels. the chamomile and ginger are definitely pretty mellow in here, more of the former than the latter in both aroma and flavor, but the white wine barrels are fragrant enough to be almost perfumy, and the saison yeast has obviously been run pretty warm and esters abound in here, so those elements are lost to more generic floral and spicy yeast aspects, although not totally irrelevant in here. the beer is golden and well carbonated from the tap, definitely tidy looking for a barrel aged saison type. the nose is cut flowers, white tea, honey sweetness, and the light acid and tannin character of the white wine making my mouth water a bit, could be a french saison yeast strain too, white pepper, lemon peel, and a light nutty toasty thing to the wheat malt this is built on, a little sturdy and even lightly rich for what it is. the flavor is all of this, nice oak and wine profile really front and center, the yeast is familiar but not sterile, i just think this would be even more dynamic with some bretty funk! i get some stone fruit in the middle where this is still big sweet and malty, and a hint of the ginger late, citrus there too, more and more wine comes out as it warms. flavorful and good, at times a touch sweet, but interesting and with a lovely barrel character, superior to the red wine edition, more cohesive, a little fuller feeling but with fine carbonation, late herbal bitterness perhaps from the chamomile helps it finish. neat project.