The Bruery's Award-winning Saison Rue: "I appreciate the gesture, but no thanks."

by Gab

I have been mildly obsessed with Farmhouse Ales lately, so much so that I can no longer bitch about the affair Kathleen had with pumpkin ales this past fall.  Saison Rue from The Bruery is an award-winning, highly-rated Farmhouse Ale (aka Saison) from Orange County, CA.

Absolutely gorgeous color, typical of bottle-conditioned fabulousness. It appeared perfect in every way. As for the taste, it was incredibly smooth with mild citrus and earthy notes mixed with subtle spices and maltiness. (Note that it was lacking the thick, soapy head my beloved E.S. Bam displayed.) Notice the keywords here are smooth, mild, and subtle. There was no SHAZAM that I have experienced with other beers in this class, and I felt let down. It was definitely an exceptionally good, drinkable, beer, though. I sound conflicted, don't I? This beer took home the International Gold in 2008, and Beer Advocate rates it at 91. Don't get me wrong, with an ABV of 8.5% I was happy as I muddled through my do-I-or-don't-I dilemma, but with an IBU of just 30 I forgot to taste the second half of it as I sipped away. I really wanted to like this beer, and I did like it, but I didn't want it. Does that make sense?

Let me give you a better example. Let's say for instance, that I was offered this:

Wow. While this would undoubtedly be a very nice gesture, and I would be flattered as HELL, Ryan Gosling just doesn't do it for me. I think he's very talented and a great actor, and I openly admit to hitting rewind/pause at least 5 times when he took his shirt off in Crazy Stupid Love, but at the end of the day I think he's still kind of eh. For me, Ryan has an IBU of 30. He is smooth, mild, and subtle.

I would actually much rather have this man,

stained shirt and all. 

With an IBU of 90+, The Chadman imparts enough SHAZAM to last 60 years. And for me, hops are the zest of life.

Cheers!

~G~

Great Lakes Brewing Co. Eliot Ness

Great Lakes Brewing Co. Eliot Ness 6.2%

Gab: This handcrafted Amber Lager from Cleveland, Ohio is a real treat. Not too light, not too heavy, just what you would expect from a great lager. I almost always prefer a hop-heavy IPA or a black-as-night Stout, but I will come back to this beer again and again. Great taste, gorgeous amber color, perfect summer-time beer for peeps like me who don’t care as much for the pale ales. I would give this a GBF (Gab Buzz Factor) of 5, not too shabby! My husband and I are expecting company from some loyal Yuengling-lovers in the weeks to come; I think I will be offering my guests Eliot Ness instead.

I wanted to add a brief note about Great Lakes Brewing Co. I'm very impressed by how environmentally-conscious these guys are. The label reads, “In memory of Eliot Ness and his paddy wagon of guilty criminals, we have the “Fatty Wagon” (minus the criminals). Our eco-friendly Fatty Wagon and beer delivery truck both run on straight vegetable oil (SVO),  which results in lower toxic emissions and a 25% savings over the cost of regular diesel fuel”. Nice! Additionally, Eliot Ness is brewed according to the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516: only barley, hops, yeast, and water. I love this beer and look forward to sampling more of what Great Lakes has to offer!

 Kathleen is away for the week, , but we have some fun plans for this weekend. We'll have lots of pics and tales for you!

Cheers!

~G~