Brett Rye Saison
Blindman Brewing

 

500ml, caged and corked bottle - a barrel-aged, Brett infected, grapefruit zested, rye Saison. With a final gravity under 1.000. Whooo boy.

This beer pours (after necessitating a fucking corkscrew to open) a lightly hazy, dark copper amber colour, with three flabby fingers of puffy, finely foamy, and fizzy ecru head, which leaves a few instances of sudsy mountain valley profile lace around the glass as it genially recedes.

It smells of mild earthy Brett funk, crackery pale malt, muddled citrus fruity notes, a further rye graininess, subtle tropical fruit esters, soft vanillan oak barrels, and perhaps an understated otherly yeastiness. The taste is semi-sweet, bready and doughy pale malt, a lesser rye astringency, some still hard to discern citric fruitiness, very laid-back lacto and musty funky essences, more vanilla-forward barrel oakiness, a touch of earthy spice, and a minor sense of alcohol warming yet undetected.

The carbonation is fairly active in its palate-cupping frothiness, the body a so-so medium weight, and actually somewhat smooth, with a minor creaminess bleeding in - likely from the vanilla. It finishes off-dry (surprisingly), with the mixed malt, barrel, and weak citrusy fleshiness holding court.

Overall, this is a pleasantly rendered, complex affair of a brew, one that eventually just settles the hell down, and becomes a nice sipper, as the funk fades into the, um, woodwork. Good stuff, as the thought that apparently went into making this has reaped the desired rewards. Maybe just lie yours down for a spell before trying to crack it, yeah?