Odelette
Fair Isle Brewing

 

 

 

500ml bottle from The Village Market. Batch 2. Cloudy, dark golden pour, fizzy head, fine ring. Tart, fruity aroma. Taste is sour, yeasty, pears, grassy. Tartness fades quickly on the palate. Fruity, sweet.

03/03/25 bottle @ home

 

 

 

big thanks to my boy for scoring and sharing this bottle, i am loving having fair isle available in idaho, and this is really special, like all of their beers, just wonderful. this is pale for a biere de garde, usually in my experience these are a little more red and malty, this is rust colored at the darkest, not as heady from the bottle as some of their others but with a thin layer of bubbles on top of the hazy liquid, a touch raw looking to me. the nose is awesome, quite a bit of funk to it, the fair isle beers seem to all have the same yeast at their core most of the time but all of them have a slightly different side of it. this one is mature, tangy, and accentuated and evolved from its time in oak, a little more developed than some of their younger saison types, and all of that is obvious to me in the nose, being as familiar as i now am with their stuff. the oak is subtle but apparent, and there is an almost lager character about this, dry for the style, way less malt sweetness than these usually have, rustic and bready at its core, but this is fermentation driven as expected. the flavor is great, a little graham cracker and white wine together up front, malt and yeast in tandem, a fresh baked element, some light wild bacterial tang, a hint of lemon, green apple, and white pepper, but not quite estery. earthy from the grain, dry but fuller feeling, some toasted warmth to it, just a faint expression of its slightly stronger alcohol, a noble hop finish, and a wonderful maturity, light brett and funk at temperature, smooth in texture without a ton of carbonation comparatively, i like the slow and mellow pace and feel of this, and just a little new oak richness on the back end too. well rounded and complex, perhaps not as amazingly well refined as i have gotten used to from fair isle, but i think the style permits that and this is a neat expression of a style we dont see enough of. loved it! love fair isle!

 

 

apricot body with shell-white foam head that has high retention and leaves generous lacing behind as it sinks down to a thin cap

aroma is big and rich. floral, rustic, tangy, musty, semi-sweet, and semi-bright. bit of driftwood/sandalwood/coastal flower present or strongly conjured.

taste is...condensed? it's like a zip file of flavor. it doesn't linger, just the mellowest, most casual explosion of rich flavor that fades right back out, quietly, quickly. slight tang tart and zest by way of apricot and/or green grape juice with a slab of wet-once-dusty wood and leather and gooseberries drenched in champagne.

mouthfeel is phenom in this, as it complements the brew as a whole. it is smooth but carb'd and fluffy slightly foamy...like seafoam. yep. sticking to that - seafoam. aftertaste is like day-old perfume lingering on a pillow, reminiscing a mellowed tartness laced with semi-sweet

overall:
fantastic experience will 10/10 do again. paired with lobster-cake-stuffed-salmon and finely chopped dino-kale medley and felt like I was communing with the Celestials. praise be to good beer and heresy.

 

12.7oz bottle - Batch One (December 2020). Opened 9-4-22.
2 finger rocky, white head with excellent retention. Glowing, golden-amber body with a nice clarity. Powdery yeast aroma, wood, light funk, and a hint of grassiness. Tart, fruit flash and then a light malty backing - balanced acidity and very refreshing to the palate. Light body with high carbonation and a tart and dry finish. Very Good to Outstanding.

A: Pours a clear brassy yellow color. A two finger white head forms with good retention. Light lace is left behind.
S: An almost vinous aroma up front. Tart, ester like. Grapes, stone fruits. Peppery spice. Very nice.
T: There is a lot of nuance that comes out here. Again, kind of a vinous wood character. Starts out a bit sweet, then tart. Esters with grapes and stone fruits again. A malty flavor becomes more apparent as this warms. Baked bread and grains. Finishes on an acidic note. Really like this.
M/O: A medium body with moderate carbonation. This becomes ultra smooth, and the malts give a nice chewy heftiness the body, without being over done. Finishes semi dry. Very much moreish. I could come back to this easily.

Biere de Garde has always been a tricky style for me. Especially from American breweries. Its either just malty and sweet without any yeast character. Or I can't really tell the difference between a Saison. This finds that balance. As this has a great sweet/tart fruity ester quality, and bready like malts. Not that I'm an expert, but from my view, a well done attempt at the style. Something I would recommend and look for again.

 

Another surprise at my local grocery store.

Poured from a bottle into a tulip glass. Slightly cloudy golden yellow color with nice head and excellent curtain lacing. Funky honey sweet smell and taste. Tart white grapes with an herbal, woodsy flavor. Nice beer I will buy again.

Body is honey-golden with maybe a tinge of golden-hour orange to it. Low level clarity, but closer to clear than whatever the other end of that spectrum would be. Big amounts of pillowy smoothe foam. Good sticky lacing along the glass as it slooooowly settles down.

Nose is invitingly tart and sweet... kind of hard to pin down specifics, but I could be convinced of elements of light honey and apricot and citrus and maybe a touch of pear? Upon warming, it really is less tart and more... just wild. It also gets more floral as it warms.

Flavour is surprisingly light and subtle. Not thin, but not as rich or pronounced as the aroma would suggest. Very soft, though with a decent amount of carbonation... like drinking thick foam, but it's not the head, it's the actual liquid.
Some medium malts meet up with a tangy fruit projection that again I have a hard time nailing down specifically. Little upticks of honey sweet poke through from time to time, but it's elusive overall, yet intriguing.

I am not overly familiar with biere de gardes, but this one is nuanced and enjoyable. I think intriguing is again the word that comes to mind.
Cheers!