Along with my new found love for Porters another style that sits well with me is a dark saison or dark farmhouse Ale. One very well made notable dark saison is Dieu Du Ciel’s Isseki Nicho. More on that later, another notable dark saison is from one of my favourite Quebec breweries Microbrasserie Le Castor located in Rigaud, Quebec, just an hour north east of Montreal en route to Ottawa. Le Castor has stolen my beer heart in a way I can’t describe. Well. It’s kind of like when you finally land on something that satisfies your taste buds and realize that it was what you’ve been yearning and searching for. The dark farmhouse style is one that I fell in love with really quickly. And Le Castor’s dark farmhouse was a gateway that opened the doors to a whole new world, a new fantastic point of view. (Wait did I just quote Aladdin?).
For this beer I consumed one straight after purchase, and the second I had after one month. There is a third sitting in my fridge and I do not think I can resist but open it soon!
Dark Saison
Availability: Rotational, but often.
ABV: 6%
IBU: –
Bottled: October 29 2015
Consumed: Jan 17, 2016
Bought: Jan 13, 2016
Smell is very rustic and roasted malts, it really attacks you. Taste is very smooth with a roasted malt start followed by a rustic finish and a mild tartness. Very enjoyable. They’ve done an amazing job pairing a season with a roasted malt dark beer. It’s almost as though you wouldn’t expect two polar opposites to go well together but they dance together like magic. The rustiness can be a bit much though, but that is the style and after the beer is all gone you miss it. Very well executed and I expected nothing less!
4.25/5
Aged 1 month after purchased
Bottle date: October 29, 2015
Consumed: Feb 18, 2016
After sitting for one month the beer has gotten a lot more rustic. Most other saisons tend to get a sharper sour note to them but with this Dark Farmhouse the malts have really come out more. Which is not a bad thing, I love it. Those malts, with a little bit of that tart/sour flavour, are what make this beer style so enjoyable. I would say it has aged fairly well but it hasn’t been long enough to say how far you could age it. It has a great rustic and malty flavour that really defines this beer. In terms of a dark farmhouse it is very different from Hill Farmstead Edith, Edith was a bit more tart and sour rather than malty. It’s like licking a rusty pole but in a very good way. You know those kids liking poles in the winter and getting their tongue frozen? Well mines frozen on this. Was a bit better fresh though, but still maintains it’s beauty with age.
4/5
Written by HopCitizen. Photography by HopCitizen.
Citizen
HopCitizen 