Sunday Night Suds - Samuel Adams Rustic Saison

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Samuel Adams' Rustic Saison.

I first got tipped off to this beer when I was in Costco after Pesach and I got an e-mail from my buddy Dan R who saw me and wanted to know about the two new beers in the Samuel Adams Beers of Summer mix box - Rustic Saison and East West Kolsch. Since the LOC for Samuel Adams posted on the Star-K website at the time was from September 2010, these were obviously not on them. But thanks to a quick set of emails back and forth with the Star-K, a new LOC was posted to their website (http://www.star-k.org/loc/kosher_letter_6635_bostonbeercompany.pdf) which included these two newcomers, along with some other beers which were new to the approved list. With this green light, I went out and bought a 12 pack.

So what is a Rustic Saison? I can honestly tell you that I have no idea. The beer label says that it a "Belgian Style Farmhouse Beer Brewed With Honey." This was also not helpful to me as farmhouse beer sounds like something made in a barn, not a brewery.

I went to the Beer Advocate website which had this to say about the style:

Saisons are sturdy farmhouse ale that was traditionally brewed in the winter, to be consumed throughout the summer months. Not so long ago it was close to being an endangered style, but over recent years there's been a massive revival; especially in the US.

This is a very complex style; many are very fruity in the aroma and flavor. Look for earthy yeast tones, mild to moderate tartness. Lots of spice and with a medium bitterness. They tend to be semi-dry with many only having touch of sweetness.

The Samuel Adams Rustic Saison poured a pale yellow with a good deal of foam and some lacing on the glass. The banana like phenols were prominent and the dominant taste in the brew. If there was honey in this beer it was lost on me as I tasted a lot of spice, but not very much sweetness.

Samuel Adams Rustic Saison is under the Kosher Supervision of the Star-K. Like many other Samuel Adams brews, this bottle does not have the Star-K certification mark on the label. The kashruth can be confirmed by clicking on the link to the Star-K LOC above.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about the Rustic Saison, please follow this link - http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/67044.

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver.

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