Farmhouse Pale Ale
Futtle Brewery & Taproom

a wonderful can of beer here, enormously intentional, agricultural, and unique. it kills me a little to have discovered this place has a taproom and isnt far from where we were staying, i figured it out too late to visit, and ill have to live with it, looks like an incredibly cool spot, organic beers, natural wine shop, my kind of place! this is a way cool yeast forward low alcohol pale ale that plays in that belgian space, but really sort of transcends style, i loved it. this is the only one i had from these guys while i was in scotland, but they are on my radar now for sure! hazy and starchy and straw colored, high headed from the can, looks belgian and can conditioned, wispy white fluff the whole time. this has a nice grain build, spelt and oats and rye, wheat and barley too, all organic. it has texture, earthy depth, terroir even, and the subtle rye especially with these hops and yeast make this really complex for a drinking beer, brilliant design on this. the yeast smells unique to me, rustic, almost saison-esque rather than clean belgian, but some white pepper and coriander seed esters, white grape and pear fruitiness leads into the hops, which are herbal and almost medicinal, verbena and bee balm and the like, softly floral, just a bit bitter to me, very layered overall, nice contribution from all the elements. in the flavor the yeast has neat flashes of spice which work so well with the rye, and the hops stay forward, honeysuckle, daffodil, bitterness, light funk too as it warms, nutty from the wheat and spelt too but not rich, still really pale, dry, and grounded. wrinkles of fresh lemon, dried herbs like thyme and marjoram, chamomile, multigrain bread, and a certain freshness thats very distinctive. cooked pear, green gooseberry, granny smith apple, verdant fruitiness from the hops before more of a white tea and bitter back end. lovely mouthfeel too, oats add an almost creaminess to it, but the light astringency of the ferment cuts this off quick and fast, dry and refreshing, effervescence helps with that too, and this is super drinkable, about as flavorful a beer at this abv as ive ever known, and really its masterfully done. great ingredients but a great process too, put these guys on the map, this is wicked impressive!