Review: Driftwood Farmhand Saison


Victoria BC's Driftwood Brewing's beers have been really steadily showing up at local LCs ever since the Coast to Coaster event took place back in June, ever since then, a few of Driftwood's beers have been making an appearance here in Brandon. The newest one to the list is Farmhand Saison.

Appearance: Farmhand Saison pours a hazy orangish wheat ale with a really weird reddish hue to it.. it's a bit darker and redder than the typical saison. As I pour the beer in the glass I get a light to moderate amount of carbonation and just a hint of foam on top that only makes a guest appearance.

Aroma: I'm getting notes of straw, Belgian yeast, lots of lemon, hint of coriander, a bit of orange peel. I can say that this is quite a fruity saison so far. I even get a bit of bananas and pear aromas popping up in there.

Taste: I find it to start off very sweet but mellows out immediately. I can only describe it as a candy sweetness that turns into a peppery and yeasty complexity of flavours. I'm getting memories of dad's fried potatoes with way too much pepper on them.. that he will only end up drenching in ketchup. There's a bit of lemon citrus, lots of farm-yard straw maltiness that gives it a bit an earthy/grainy taste to it. Aside from the initial taste, I don't really notice much sweetness anymore - it's pretty mellow and yeasty/bready/peppery. An interesting take on a saison.

Overall Thoughts: It has the earthy farm yard tones that I grew up with and what I'm familiar with in saisons, adds a rich spiciness of black pepper and has a hint of lemon citrus. It's much more fruity in the aroma but that's alright. This is a nice, complex saison that I have been savouring quite a bit lately, more than my typical Blonde de Chambly.

http://driftwoodbeer.com/beers/farmhand-ale/

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