Brewers Series No. 2 - Brett Saison
Grand Teton Brewing Co.

From notes taken 04/14/17:

Was about 58° when I grabbed it so I put it in the freezer for 5 minutes, should get it in that 45-55° range the label suggests. Served in a flanged snifter which is basically just a short, wide, tulip.



Bright, fairly opaque and metallic amber, with peach, apricot, and butterscotch hues. Cream-colored head, looks creamy in texture but it is quite delicate and seems fizzy underneath, giving the head a very short life until at last a fine layer of fine filmy bubbles. Very tart and wild aromas, like overripe strawberries and lemons and peaches and vinegar and funk, perfect! Palate is sharper and more citric than aroma, but still close, leaning more toward grapefruit than lemon, strong apricot in the middle just under the tartness, finishing still fruity and sour but with a balanced combination of rind and burning rubber. You could almost say pepper in the after breath if you weren’t busy wincing from the sourness. And yet, as sour as it is, it is very easy to drink fast. At only around 6% ABV, I’d say go for it, but then I’d also have to warn you about the price ($1 an ounce!), not that you could find this exact one again. Light to medium in body, medium carbonation, but fine and sharp at first, mellowing to gulpable, velvety suds. Alcoholic warmth is teased out a little by vinegaresque qualities. Mild astringency, going beyond just the normal effects of acidity.

11.2 oz bottle courtesy of JohnGalt1, vintage 2015. Light golden pour with a small bubbly head. Aroma is brett tartness, fruity, floral. Taste is tart, mildly sweet, fruity and a healthy dose of brett funk.

11.2oz bottle. 2015 vintage, 336 cases produced.
Deep gold color body, which is cloudy. One thin finger of white bubbly head, which works itself back to a small island and a thin ring. No lacing.
Aroma of a fume blanc white wine, with an earthy funk, green apple, and oak barrel.
Taste is tart, with a big dose of drying Brett yeast. Has a sour green apple note, and a good amount of oak barrel.
Medium mouth feel, with good carbonation. Quite dry, which wipes out the mouth until the next sip.
Has aged with style. Has lots of flavor and very refreshing with its dryness.

L: Pours with a yellow golden body, slight haze, and not much head to speak of.
S: Strong, dank and funky aroma, with a modest earthiness to it.
T: Moderately sweet malt forward, before being bombarded with strong juicy hops, green apple tartness, and a funky dank hint.
F: Still a strong carbonation hit at the front, which is nice for a beer that was brewed 3 years ago. The rest of the feel is very akin to that of a sparkling wine. Yeah, I'm admittedly not great at gauging feel.
O: Pretty dang awesome. This beer is an emotional rollercoaster of flavor and funk. I'm pairing it with a blueberry goat cheese this evening, which is pretty great.
Cheers,
-B

 

Thanks goes out to Bitterbill for this brew.

11.2 oz. Bottle
Brewers' Series
2015 Vintage
No. of Cases Produced: 336

Poured into a Trillium glass a very nice dark cloudy orange color, very nice carbonation, with a very nice thick/creamy one-finger white head, which leaves some sticky lacing behind. The nose is malty, yeasty, hoppy, with some nice funkyness, with some cloves, licorice, oak, green apple. The taste is really nice, malty, yeasty, hoppy, with a nice touch of cloves/licorice/oak/green apple, very nice funk. Medium body, ABV hidden very well, a pretty complex brew, with a nice dry/bitter finish. Overall, a very nice brew. Glad to have gotten a chance to try it. Thanks Bill!

 

 

Pours a cloudy straw color with floaters and a substantial bubbly white head that sticks around and leaves plenty of lace.
Aroma is funk, green apple, hay and a touch of apple cider vinegar and a slight mineral sharpness.
Taste is tart apple, hay, funk, mineral crispness and a slight medicinal note. A touch of bitter.
Mouthfeel is bubbly and crisp. White good.

Mildly cloudy, somewhat dark hued golden body; foamy, sticky, white head. Pepper and lemon rind aroma; some faint bready notes; some white oak. Taste delivers some grapefruit and pineapple qualities as well as mimicking the aroma's profile. Medium-heavy body; somewhat fizzy and coarse on the palate; tart with a mostly dry crispness.

A mighty fine saison with a twinge of brett funk to twist the citrus and light grain qualities to an interesting sensory level.

Pours a burnished golden orange with a thin layer of foam and spotty lace that fades to a thin ring.

Dry hop aroma comes through nicely, fruity notes of white wine and peach, mild botanicals, light wet hay Brett funk.
Tart and fruity, white wine, lemon zest, peach, cheese rind, mildly bitter finish with a wisp of hops in the aftertaste.
Medium bodied, light carbonation, similar to a fruit-forward white wine or cider, with more hops and Brett funkiness.

Overall this was really nice, one of the best beers from Grand Teton. Reminds me of a more balanced version of Almanac's single hop series.

 

 

 

 

 

$15.99 for a Howler at Liquor Shed.

This pours a clear gold with what started out as a 2 finger head of foam(vigorous pour); in quick smart time, the foam dissipated and now there's just a ring around the glass.

Complex smell here. dry white wine with that Saison aroma mixed with definitely noticeable Brett. Spicy with cloves and white pepper, hints of oak. Egads.

Wine like flavour up front, dry and tart from the wild yeast, fruity..perhaps apricots with grapes, white pepper whilst the clove I smelled seem to be buried by the other flavours. Ooomp, there it is. I'm getting some oak notes as well. No complaints aboot any alcohol and why should I? Only 6.2% abv. So dry, so drinkable.

A really slick and wet mouthfeel. The carbonation is on the very low side but I don't want for more.

I was super impressed with their American Sour; this impresses me almost to the same level. Marvelous.

Pours a spectacularly-hazy golden-amber (orange?) with a quickly dissipating head but excellent lacing. A different look from what I expected.

Smell--Faint fruitiness paired with very forward hoppy notes. I tend to prefer "malty" over "hoppy," but this is a delightful hoppy smell.

Taste--As noted above, I am not a fan of "hoppy" beers. But there is a lot going on here to be sure. There is an initial fruity/funky just short of sweet taste (citrus--somewhere between lemon and grapefruit), followed by the characteristic "sour" of some of this style, chased with a pronounced (but not overly so) hoppiness. I think the oak wine-barrel aging has imparted some very "winey" notes as well. Each of these aspects finds a different place in the palate at the same time and complements and balances the others, and each sip is better and more complex than the last. This is simply one of the most unique and best tasting beers I've tried in some time.

Feel--I almost feel like if it had just 10% more carbonation, this beer would tempt me to render five "5's"--as it is, the carbonation is solid.

Overall--I tend to be a fan of the maltier brews, and have avoided the recent rash of ultra-hoppy IPA's and ultra sour ales that appear to be trying to win a contest--leading to a one note mess. And for me to call a saison anything more than "pretty good" is remarkable. In this case, the balance of funk, fruit, sour, and bitter hops is simply amazing. It was worth every dime of the $10 price; I can't wait to buy my next one, and I would recommend this to anyone.

 

A beautiful beer. Smells of white grape/white wine like with a spicy peppery nose. Taste of the FUNk. Brett is the star here. Yeasty, peppery, cloves, white grape with a nice hoppy kick. Get a bit of oak and sweet cracker malt too. Complex and for the price I had hopes it would leave me thinking, and it has! Nice work Grand Teton