Look, I'm not going to lie: there are few beer styles on the planet I love as much as a barrel-aged, Bretty saison, so unless this was a total screw-up there's a good chance I'd be saying nice things about it. To make sure my inherent bias was tempered, I shared the bottle with a few industry mates – brewers, reps, writers – and let's just say there was no desire among the group to temper anything.
If you were to take Otto – their barrel-fermented kolsch as a starting point, this is a case of walking a few more steps along the path with the shepherd. There's more complexity, a more lifted, livelier nature to the aroma, plenty of classic saison esters , including a touch of spice, and a touch of acid too. It's delicate, dry and, for the sake of both alliteration and accuracy, delicious.
James Smith
