Brewers Series No. 3 - Farmhouse
Grand Teton Brewing Co.

11.2 oz bottle from JohnGalt1, 2015 vintage. Pale, clear golden pour with a wispy head. Wine is first thing in the aroma, notes of white grape, light bready accents, savory. Taste also leans on the wine barrel, tart, grapes, light savry spice. Heavy for a saison. Really held up nicely

From notes taken 05/01/17:

Served as close to 50° as I could, guessing. Flanged snifter.



Bright but hazy to opaque orange with golden and amber shades. Head of consistent and fine foam, good retention, creamy tan color. Beautiful frosty lacing, though not a whole lot of it. Sour nose is subtle for this meta-style, but still quite strong for a beer. It’s vinegary and rubbery like the other two I’ve had in this Grand Teton series, but a touch spicier and I’d say a harsher burn in my nostrils. Too long of a sniff and it’s little but nail polish remover. As a high ABV Farmhouse, neither is a surprise. Subtler still are stone-fruit and banana suggestions. Palate is not only more extreme than this, but more extreme than the other two I mentioned. First up is a half-fruit, half-vinegar powerful tartness combined with a a little caramel and then a vinous backdrop of rich, dry wine, whether red or white. All lasting throughout, perhaps even increasing. Setting in next is Farmhouse character, a moderate amount of fitting mild earthy to funky spiciness from most likely yeast, and more of that banana, going well now with the sour, half apricot profile. Then it’s the alcohol, moving spiciness from the yeasty to slightly more vinous and spirity territory, ranging from hot ethanol to faint but more aromatic peppercorns and curry. Finally, everything is squashed down a bit by a strong metallic finish. As hot as this is in terms of alcohol, it really was how sour the others in this series were that made them burn, so after you factor in the ABV, they are all about the same in that regard, despite a ~6% spread. By now I realize I’m drinking this too quickly, and remembering I already had two glasses of aged red wine with dinner. Medium bodied, on the light side, low but lasting carbonation that is sparse, soft, and fine and lends itself towards a fun sloshiness. Overall, not a disappointment, but not as great as the prior two offerings. The high ABV then serves the purpose of getting me hammered faster, which I appreciate, but I and not to factor it in since it’s often hard for me to notice before I’m finished with my beer and it’s not fair to the beer I had before or after which also contribute to my drunken state.

Pours a deep somewhat clear amber orange. A little dark for a farmhouse to me, more like a bier degarde or something. Nose has slight funk and Greek yogurt. Taste of Greek yogurt, lemon, sweet dough, light barnyard funk and pepper. You get a little wine like character from the wine barrels. A bit juicy as well. It wasn't as funky as I thought it should be as in the yeast character on this one was minimum but who cares what I think! It still was good. Medium body with a smooth crisp dry finish. 11.8% you wouldn't know it.

 

an enormously complex and delicious beer, unlike anything i have had, and lending further credence to my stance that these guys are one of the more high quality yet under appreciated operations in the country. this beer is incredible, somehow pushing 12% abv, you wouldnt have a clue of its strength. its honey colored and not super lively, not thick either though, intriguing appearance for sure, just a short white head, barley above still. it smells amazingly intense, the red wine barrels have left an indelible mark on this, not sure which kind of wine, but something big and sturdy without question. so much red fruit in the nose here, cherry and cranberry and currant, all very concentrated and intense, with more wood than i recall in almost any beer in my life, sweet vanilla and natural mellowness from all this oak. again, shockingly no trace of the alcohol. the flavor matches the aroma, even more wood here, fresh milled lumber and rustic old barn wood alike, more flavor from it than ever before, its like drinking a solid, which is kind of odd, but very much the case. whats cool is that despite all the wine and wood and abv, this remains a saison at heart. i get an old world belgian sort of high gravity yeast strain, white grapey, a nice contrast, and the wheat malt is quite robust, fuller bodied and oddly fresh for an aged brew like this. even though the carbonation is lacking here, i like the way it feels, a little thicker, and with a floral sweetness, there is a really honey-like character to it. a beer of unrivaled depth and complexity, and really just amazing overall. cant say enough about it!

 

Burnt orange with honey-highlights. Nose is medium funky with a strong, dulled lemon aroma with a tropical sweetness. Taste is more earthy/funky, but mostly mild citrus, nectarines, and herbs. Not really picking up the dark fruits they're talking about. Medium body, medium carbonation, and a tad warming. Overall, it's well built. Complexity that keeps going. Will be nice to see where a bottle ends up after a year or two in the basement.