What does the term "Farmhouse" mean to you?

I thought it was a fraternity.

 

I think that lots of people are afraid of mispronouncing (or uttering entirely) French-sounding words and would therefore be more comfortable using a word like Farmhouse. It's more rustic and American sounding. Like it ties back to our agrarian heritage.

As far as tastes go? I would say a nice hazy golden straw color. Little bit of funk. Distinct bitterness. Dry finish. That's just me. I haven't looked up the style guidelines and could certainly be well off stylistically.

 

This is what I was thinking and probably the best answer here.

 

I think one of the threads that you speak of, I started. My take on "Farmhouse ale" is either (a) beer produced on a farm, where brewing operation is only part of the business, that also includes crops and/or livestock and uses terroir such as wild yeast in beer production or (b) a brewery that focuses its efforts and most all of its beer on traditional Franco-Belgian style beers such as: Saison, Biere de Garde, Belgian Blonde, Wild ale and uses either proprietary funky yeast or cultures from traditional brewers such as Fantome, Dupont, Fonteinen, Saint-Sylvestre, Duyck, etc alone or in combination with bacteria and barrel aging methods that produce complex, rustic, and old-world style beer.

 

I was talking to a brewery owner by me last Friday night and he literally wants to purchase a farm here and brew his beer on the farm, plus grow his own hops. Thought that this was a bit ambitious.

 

You're just misunderstanding that all that makes a farmhouse ale, "farmhouse" is the yeast. That's why they come in a wide range of abv, and with a wide range of flavor profiles. It's just the yeast. No bastardization.

 

one of the few sensible things said in this thread. it's really not confusing.

 

Ostentatious if American. & usually overpriced/overrated.

 

I see a lot of new breweries coming out with farmhouse style. Their lack of experience and sanitation leads them to produce beers that taste like they were brewed in a farmhouse.

Farmhouse or saison beers are probably the broadest style of beer. I personally feel that most saison's are beers that a brewery screwed up and wishes to sell.

 

Can be true, but does not necessarily need to be true. Fermenting with saison yeast at a lower temperature is a great way to (1) leave more residual sugars if you're using Brett and/or bacteria and (2) create more phenols for Brett to transform.

 

Cluster flies alas!

 

You need to ferment hot with saison yeasts for them to elaborate their own esters and phenols and to create the correct flavor profile. One can mash high to get an increased number of dextrins, though Brett doesn't need dextrins alone to create their flavors. As you mentioned, they can use esters and phenols made by the high fermentation temperature. Saisons fermented cool taste bland.

 

There is little we can do....but brew them.

 

This isn't necessarily the case. Of course, all strains are different, but in general lower oxygen levels and lower fermentation temperatures will produce fewer esters and tend more toward phenols, especially in terms of perception. See here for commentary from Chris White and others on the subject.

Temperature is most certainly not a factor that should be considered in whether something is a "farmhouse" beer. The character ultimately achieved from fermentation is much more important, and there are different ways to go about things depending on what you're shooting for.

As for Brett, the dextrins aren't nearly as important as people often make them out to be. In terms of achieving the traditional "farmhouse" character, rather than more bright, fruity characteristics, Brett does much more with Sacch's byproducts than it does with any sugars that it ferments itself. Chad Y, Gabe F, and others have said this time and time again, and it's clear when comparing beers fermented in different manners.

 

and brew a farmhouse lager... farmhouse is the yeast ale is the temp. Now if you just mean a lower temp on the ale spectrum, that would still fall under high temp, IMHO.

 

Smellier beer farts