Review: Jester King Detritivore Saison (Batch 6)

The 2019 RateBeer's Best awards were released this month and one thing that surprised me was that not only Saskatchewan was completely ignored but the Quality Beer Store wasn't listed for best beer store for Manitoba - there were none. That being said, the RateBeer Best ratings all have to hit a certain threshold in order to get nominated in the first place.. and in Manitoba, there's less than half a dozen people who regularly review beer as most beer drinkers I know who post reviews about beer will do it exclusively on Untappd. I was shocked that Red Racer IPA won the best beer in BC seeing how insanely great their beer scene is.. but as I said, there's a certain threshold to be met and that was probably one of the only beers that had enough ratings to make it to RateBeer's best.

Today I'm checking out Texas-based Jester King's Detritivore Saison. Detritivore is a Farmhouse Ale refermented with cherries. The beer is brewed with Hill Country Well Water, Malted Barley, Flaked Wheat, Sour Cherries, Hops, Mixed Culture of Brewers Yeast and Native Yeast and bacteria. On the label, they described the notes as "Detritivore is a dry unspiced farmhouse ale refermented with cherries already once used in the fermentation of Jester King Montmorency vs. Balaton. Native yeast and bacteria impart a sense of place to this unfiltered, unpasturized, 100% naturally conditioned beer." 5.6% ABV

Appearance: I didn't look up anything about this beer before writing this so I wasn't expecting it to be a bright and cloudy reddish pink.. almost like a raspberry beer or the colour of grapefruit. The head is snow white, fairly moderate and has a soapy appearance to it, good amount of lacing on the side of the glass.

Aroma: Sour, sweet and mildly funky. I get notes of tart cherries right from the first sniff, There's a bit of sour dough, and a hint of wild yeast to give it a slight funkiness to it. There's a bit of a sweet syrupy aroma that reminds me a bit of Jolly Rancher candies. 

Taste: Sour the second the beer is in proximity of my mouth - it's a combination of lemon and sour cherries. The sourness lingers on the palate for a moment and then fizzles away. Not as funky as the aroma, more so just sour. There's a mild sweetness in this beer from the cherries. Fairly dry for mouthfeel, good amount of carbonation. Light breadiness and a hint of pear for aftertaste (and sour cherry).

Overall Thoughts: Decent Farmhouse Ale - More sour than most Farmhouses I've had in recent history but nowhere near as barnyard funk as many either. A tad pricey for what it is but I'm glad I got to try it.