Rachelle
Fair Isle Brewing

 

Rachelle is another cool saison from the Fair Isle folks. It's a pretty pink blush, with bubbles. The smell and taste show rhubarb, but it's subtle. I cook rhubarb at home every summer, and it's always got a flavor that punches hard, but this beer is much more low key. That gives room for some other flavors to show through in a very mellow way. There's gin in there, and some other things I can't identify. Usually, the beers with blended flavors are high ABV monsters, like imperial stouts. This beer has the mix of flavors that gives it some complexity, but in a mild saison coming in under 6% ABV. Very well done. I'll look for more of this.

Appearance: Arrives the color of pink grapefruit juice with a modest head that fades away leaving a few speckles

Smell: Juniper is the predominate aroma with just a hint of rhubarb

Taste: Tart and tangy with the juniper flavors underpinning; a bit of watermelon rind in the profile but the rhubarb is very subtle

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body with moderate carbonation

Overall: Interesting flavor combination with a very subtle profile

another magic beer from these folks, sexy little petite cans, i want more beer than this but the packaging is gorgeous no doubt. this one is done with rhubarb in spent gin casks, such a cool idea! a little bit hazy and a little bit pink on the pour, fizzy and high headed, airy and belgian looking, as refined as it needs to be. the nose is tangy right away from the yeasts and the rhubarb together, which is immediately recognizable, super impressive, and its cool that its not paired with fruits and spices here like it always seems to be in beer, so it stands out being solo, love that recipe decision! the oak is mellow but there is a botanical gin note and just a little alcohol prickle from it too even though this is low alcohol overall, lime, juniper, and sage suggestions, familiar mixed culture type funk, really appealing and not too tart. the flavor shows really well integrated rhubarb, fully authentic, tangy and astringent and mouthwatering without this being bacterial too, so its not too much, necessary to get the rhubarb though, texture as much as flavor, so great. the gin element is awesome with it, subtle as it is, definite juniper and citrus here, a little spicy to me, sets up the brett and rustic saison esters well, and this is quite complex overall even though its drinkable and mild. some fuller wheaty body to this, pillowy and starchy, made somewhat fuller by the wood too, but gorgeously carbonated, can conditioned i assume. sometimes the score metrics just dont allow for the full greatness of a beer to be reflected, and i feel like that is true with this one. is it that sexy to look at? no. does it smell or taste off the charts? not really. is the texture remarkable and epic, not quite, but somehow the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts, and the rhubarb with the gin and their yeast is really special, almost cannot be captured in ratings. my wife and i both adored this!

 

 

Amazing beer, I tasted it blind and new funk and Saison, but I did not the rhubarb.

Even unblinded did not get the fruit but that does not take away for the fact it was a great beer