Farmer's Tan
Idaho Farmhouse Ales

another cool beer from these guys, so much more than just a pale ale, uniquely grainy, some fermentation character happening too, not one of their most exotic or successful overall for my money, but a unique take on the style that has the sort of identity of the rest of the brewery all over it, hearty earthy i believe local malt, some light almost saison-esque personality to the yeast, not all that hoppy really for an american pale, definitely got its own thing going on. pretty rich color on this, a deeper copper with a rising fizzy off white head from the tap, relatively clear, but definitely appears to be a maltier pale, like its not all that pale. the nose has a light twang to it without being astringent, slightly tannic maybe, something from the yeast for sure makes it almost hit like a biere de garde with the heavier malts, which come across as agricultural and organic and kind of european, even english to me, this fits better maybe as an english than american pale with this grain complexion. hops are only lightly bitter to me, herbal but somewhat uninteresting and well restrained really. the flavor does have balance like a good pale should, but for me its more between the grain and the yeast not the grain and the hops, hops are there, mostly late, lightly grapefruity but pretty safe to me, not a major driver of this for my palate, at least not the part of it im drawn to. lightly almost french saison to me in the ferment, white wine and subtle white pepper, fine with the herbal element of the hops thats here, and nice with the little bit of bitterness too, but this is real malt forward, bready and toasted and rich and enriched, caramel and toffee and honey all there, not diabetic or anything, but a little more grain than is fashionable these days. that said i like the minerality and even terroir that it brings, i know these guys are working with a local grain grower and may even be involved with the malting process on it, so its cool to have a pale like this that features this product so prominently. i like their funkier beers, but this is neat too.