Pinot Noir Brut IPA
Field House Brewing Co.

 

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a medium golden amber with a fine, three finger white head with great retention, thick lacing and active carbonation. Aroma of lightly grainy malt, citrus hops, pepper, faint white grape; slightly mineral. Flavor is semi-sweet pale malt, light citrus hops, white wine grape, light lemon and faint berry esters. Finishes bone dry with a little bretty sharpness then oddly, lingering light grape and citrus hop bitterness. Medium bodied with light creaminess and peppery carbonation. I had some trepidation about this one; I'd heard great things about the brewery, but I'm not a big fan of wine flavors in beer and the brut style is often not malty enough for my taste. This smelled nice on opening, and looked great with a standard looking body, but with thick champagne style head that fit the name. The taste was very interesting. In the first taste, the flavors seemed to disappear almost instantaneously, like a fast evaporating fluid, but with pleasant lingering flavors of hops and light fruit. The more I drank this, the more flavor registered and the more I liked it. This is the best brut style beer I've had. Skillfully done, different and flavorful. I'm impressed.The town of Abbotsford seems to be producing some very fine brewers (I'm a big fan of Ravens Brewing too). A very pleasant surprise.