L’Or de Noir
Ferment Brewing Company

 

 

gorgeous funky saison in wine barrels, really impressive stuff, incredibly mature, sexy packaging, these guys really are killing it, thanks to my in laws for picking this up when they passed through. its got a nice copper color to it, clear through much of it, high headed, pure white, bottle conditioning on point, this really sparkles and is well refined. if i remember right the bottle had a little time on it too, which seems to only have helped this. it smells like its got plenty of time in the barrels too, lots of red wine character, dried red berries, plums, even an autumnal cranberry note from the wine and a whole lot of oak with it. decent tang as well makes my mouth water, but more funk to me than anything, slightly wet and musty, rustic and appealing with some sturdy malt underneath as well, biere de garde esque in that regard. the flavor is exceptional too, funk driven with a lot of red wine, a very cool natural wine vibe to this, raspberry and currant, minerals and tannins, subtle vanilla and honey from the grain and wood together, extremely well grounded, very earthy, balanced, and complex. not too much acidity here, peppy carbonation with the bottle derived softness about it, i love that in this kind of beer, the right malt depth for the barrel character to integrate well, and really just a thoughtful and well executed beer with lovely presentation both in terms of the white waxed bottle and in the glass. very barrel forward the whole drink. sure to age really well, i with i had another bottle. a hit around the table!