Many, many years ago I shared a bottle of Lindemans faro with @XicanoBeerRun. (How long ago? Long enough that I wasn’t on BA, and hadn’t started tracking my beers.) Flash forward to today and the happy realization that I am just one away from completing a tasting of all 120 styles! And, spoiler alert-it’s faro! I haven’t seen Lindemans in years. Does faro ever show up on tap (or bottle) in the greater SF Bay Area? Come on, BA, help me complete my style goal!
I was hoping maybe someplace like SARA or the Rare Barrel (RIP) might have taken on a faro. I love how brewers run with experimental, one-off, obscure styles and it seems like a faro is just itchin’ for the same treatment.
Bad news or perhaps good news… your best bet is to go to Belgium (or a great beer bar in Europe) who happen to have faro on cask from a traditional lambic producer. Traditional faro isn’t packaged because it contains added sugar and live yeast / micro flora. If it was bottled without pasteurization, it would ferment out the added sugar & likely cause bottles to explode. The examples of the style from Belgium that are bottled are either pasteurized or back sweetened with artificial sweeteners. Whenever I've come across faro on tap / cask, I always get it because it's such a rarity. I can't say I've ever been super happy that I did order it, though! It typically uses younger lambic so not as complex as aged / blended lambics. It tastes like funky sweet iced tea and is a very effective laxative, so I'd recommend you plan your day accordingly. EDIT: Sorry, I should have been more helpful-- I haven't seen Lindemann's Faro in CA in a long time. Here's some places you can order it, though shipping laws might get in the way: https://store.belgianshop.com/modul...estasearch&controller=search&id_lang=4&s=faro https://napavalleybeverageco.com/product/s-10110/p-13675405/buy-faro-lambic
Adding to Patrick's post, you can get it from Belgian Mart if you're game for international shipping. https://belgianmart.com/products/lindemans-faro-4-5-375ml And while I understand wanting to complete the tick list, I'll also say it's been disappointing when I had it. I still regret ordering the Cantillon Faro at Moeder Lambic over the many other options they had the first time I was there.
Hit me up (PM) homeboy. I’m going to brussels in the near future and can try to bring you something back.
