Crooked Stave Vieille Artisanal
Artisan ale aged in oak barrels
Translated from French as “old-tradition”, Vieille is our barrel-aged classical saison. Using time-honored techniques, our saisons employ traditional methods to restore complexity and the rustic character lost in modern day saison. Saisons were the original wild ales, brewed for the farmhands to be a refreshing and sustaining beverage. Each batch of Vieille takes on a soft Brettanomyces character and a complex acidity while conditioning in our large oak foeders. After conditioning in oak, we lightly dry hop the beer to finish it, lending a subtle citrusy hop aroma. Leading with lemon and lime citrusy hop notes, a subtle herbal spice, and a crisp tart finish, Vieille’s character epitomizes artisan saison.
Translated from French as “old-tradition”, Vieille is our barrel-aged classical saison. Using time-honored techniques, our saisons employ traditional methods to restore complexity and the rustic character lost in modern day saison. Saisons were the original wild ales, brewed for the farmhands to be a refreshing and sustaining beverage. Each batch of Vieille takes on a soft Brettanomyces character and a complex acidity while conditioning in our large oak foeders. After conditioning in oak, we lightly dry hop the beer to finish it, lending a subtle citrusy hop aroma. Leading with lemon and lime citrusy hop notes, a subtle herbal spice, and a crisp tart finish, Vieille’s character epitomizes artisan saison.
3.8
627 reviews
Denver, United States
Community reviews
Pours a hazy golden colour with with a foamy head and some good lacing. Grassy hop nose with some lemon notes, sourness. The taste shows the same with the lemon zest mixed with the juices - so light bitterness, light sourness. This is pretty good, for a light beer. Nicely done saison.
Can from Canal's. Pour pale yellow, very slightly hazy but also glows a bit neon, head is super bright white soap. Nose very subtle, barely-there. Taste in-mouth sour but bright and fresh, lively, zinging; light and nearly watery body, smooth and a bit filmy but not milky; lactic with light tangerine, spritz of white wine, but there's a feeling of being stripped here. Oak character is very faint but the mouthfeel contribution isn't, dries quickly and significantly, lightly and pleasantly tannic. Little bit of rustic lemon-lime soda here, just a little clean bitterness in the finish and a hint of Bretty rubber (not bad at all), but otherwise a dry, classy adult Sprite. Extremely, extremely drinkable and repeatable, a perfect beer for the dog days. [2018.08.09: 3.7]
You're reading me evolve while drinking the original can. No alcohol but very refreshing and there's another layer of complexity with volume. Throw away your LaCroix, here's your new tonic! [4.1]
Slightly hazy golden and light colour. Smell is funky and oak, dry, bretty and hoppy scent.Taste is really nice delicate and yeasty, a bit of a metallic note but not in a bad way, very bretty, prickles the tongue a little bit, dry hoppiness and an understated juiciness. Light body, a grainy flavour, nice long aftertaste. Very good for the light body, great depth of flavour while remaining light, subtle.
12.7 oz. bottle. January 2015. Label has an old tractor on it and it looks like my family’s 51’ John Deere B, dad would put coffee cans on the exhaust and muffler to keep the rain out, just like the label. Pour was light gold/straw, minimal white head. Aroma was funky, sour citrus, lemon/lime. Taste was sour, sugar sweet, brett, lime. Nice.
12.7floz bottle, no date, sale priced at $2, tulip glass. Appears hazy gold with funky phenolic aromas. It is pretty acridic, medicinal and lemon rind flavors produce sour and bitter palate. Ok, but my thing.
Bottle at Hopaholic, Budapest. Cloudy yellow with white head. The aroma is funky with notes of citrus, brett, wood, spices, herbs, horse farm, sage and lemon grass. The flavor is mild sour and mild bitter, a bit salty with notes of brett, funk, spices, lemon grass, sage, citrus peels, herbs and wood. Dry, medium-bodied.
Bottle. Cloudy gold in color. A tad more funky and dry than most Saison's I've had in the past but overall not bad.
Bottle @ home. Hazy pale yellow with a large white head. Smells Brett, dusty, oak, sweet, grains. Tastes sour, dusty, oak, grassy, brett. Thin to medium body, very soft carbo.
Bottle from the lcbo online store. Cloudy yellow pour, large white head. Spectacular Aroma is funky wheat, pepper, light spice, lemon zest and sharp grasses. Mouth feel and carb are spot on. Finish is crisp, and refreshing. Clean cereals, zesty hops, light grasses and hints of funk, and malted wheat. What a great example of a classic table saison.
Bottle from Downtown Wine & Spirits. I thought I had rated this before? Oh well. It's really good. Wine, oak, nicely tart. Clean grassy hops in the finish.
At FunkFest. Sunshine yellow with a finely bubbled white head. Big citrus and Brett aroma. Taste is lightly tart citrus, lovely Brett funk, light sourness. Fantastic.
Draft at brewery
Dry hopped with motueka
Crowler fill from CopenRoss. Possibly bad fill. Hazy, pale golden, fizzy foamy head. Faint yeasty aroma, bready notes. Taste too seems thin. Was expecting bigger, brighter notes, but this dull, boring, weak. Brand New place might have screwed up the fill. Relooked at this as it warmed and it got a bit better. Lemon zest and peaches, kind of tangy. Brett notes more apparent nearer to room temperature.
Bottle from Craft Brewed. Pours a clearish gold with a full finger of foam that lingers. Striking lemon zest-driven nose with undertones of wet hay, Brett and horseblanket. Tart passion fruit as it warms up with cracked wheat / spelt aromas as well. Tart on the palate, with spritzy carbonation. Thin on the palate with mineral notes, lemon and more wet hay. Finish has some peppery argula, more hay and dried lemon. Nice table beer.
(Bottle) Golden colour, slightly hazy, with foamy white head. Fruity, slightly sourish nose with notes of tropical fruit, lemon peel, grapefruit, grass and spicy yeast. Fruity, slightly tart taste with lemon, grapefruit, unripe pineapple, grass, white bread, yeast, hay and a balanced citric bitterness in a dry finish. Medium body, dry. Tasty and refreshing, with a fresh hop character and some spicy yeast. Really well made and very nice.
375 ml bottle. Pours amber with light bubbly head. Aromas of oak, light Brett, citrus, stoned fruit and a bit of potpourri. Flavours of fruity Belgian yeast, soft Brett and farmyard, wine gums, sweet lemon and tart green fruit with a light wheat malt base. Very good.
Unholy gusher of a bottle, leaving me with about six ounces to drink and the rest pooling on the kitchen counter. Strong citric-yeasty nose with traces of floral hops and oak. Pour comes out a hazed straw yellow with a modest white head (surprising for how much foam went streaming out of the bottle) and the slightest bit of lace. Mellow sour notes mix with traditional saison grassiness, undertones of clove and wheat offering a nice balance to the tart citrus. Oak adds a vanilla layer to the back end, while the fade mixes a modest hop bitterness with a woodsy flourish. Unexpectedly mellow, yet the beer evolves nicely as it warms, turning into a pleasant old-school wild saison.
Delicious - had at torst
375ml bottle. Yellowish blonde with a thin frothy white head. Slight haze. Flavors are crackery malt, hay, lemon, peach, herbs, oak and funk with earthy and light tart notes. Light body, moderate to good carbonation, slick texture.
Darker orange hue, not much carbo. Nose refreshingly sour, even a bit herbal maybe. Grassy sour if it makes sense. Taste is dry sour and refreshing, quite a lot of fresh cut grass, bitter apple peel fermentation. Brett. Dry sticky finish. Good one but maybe not enough depth? Do I really need that depth when I enjoy this beer that much as I do?
Shared bottle. Hazy pale yellow colour, white head. Aroma of barnyard, berry, pale fruits. Taste is dry, light to medium sour, barnyard, hay, berry, lime, lemon, light spice. Tart, lemony finish. Light to medium body, soft to average carbonation. Tasty, funky, pleasant to drink.
Big brett sour nose with oak, apricot and cherries. Creamy mouth, tart, oak, apricot crumble. Very refreshing. More tart than I would exepected, but great balance and depth
Bottle at home. Hazy golden with white head. Sweet malts, dry malts, cow parsley, grass, hay, wild flowers, weeds, citrus juice, light brett. Light sweet and bitter. Medium body and soft carbonation. Juicy feel. Very nice.
Piwo ma złota barwę, nalewa się z białą intensywną i średnio trwałą pianą.
Aromat jest lekko kwaśny, kojarzący się z cytryną, do tego białe pieczywo i niuanse pieprzowe.
W smaku bardzo wytrawne. Podbudowa słodowa w postaci chleba, cytrusowa kwaskowatość i cierpki, ściągający, nieco przyprawowy finisz. Niezwykle orzeźwiające.
Draught. Pours gold with a moderate white head. Aroma is lightly tart, oaky, spicy, lemony, and slightly herbal. Taste is lightly tart; lemon, light pepper, earth, wood, and hay. Very mellow. Light body. Soft carbonation. Mouthfeel is a little oily and a little watery.
Bottle. Hazy straw yellow. One finger tall white head. Low retention. A: rich fruit, bretts, sourish yeast. Fine. Light body. Bone dry taste. Light sourness. Fruity. Minimal bretts on ending. Low to light bitterness. Extremely refreshing and delicious.
Pours a hazy orange closer to yellow orange. Close to 2 fingers of foam. Wait, looking at my glass, that’s lacing for aboot half.
Saison notes of cloves, pepper and coriander. Then, it gets all hoppy and funky with a suggestion of tartness.
Taste =nose. Plus it’s a dry son of a gun. I gots the cotton mouth. Joking.
Heavy side of light bodied. Good job for a beer that’s the same abv as your average light/lite beer. Very very nice.
Bottle from Wine Rack, West Byfleet. Pretty intense citrus aroma. Medium gold. Slightly opaque. 5mm of creamy white head. Sour - a tart citrus hit. Underlying saltiness. Relatively light bodied. Watery but leaves a slick residue. Long dry finish. All about the citrus.
bottle @ home
hazy pale orange, minimal white head
cellar, dust, light hops, cardamon, bretta, cereals, zesty, citric
citric, bretta, light bitter hoppy ending
very very drinkable
Pours a cloudy, dark golden with quick white foam that leaves slight traces on the glass. Sour, woody nose with some hints of herbs. Tart, dry earthy flavor to start that slowly brings out a dry, fruity aspect. The Brettanomyces is there, but it is muted by the strong, sour lemony notes. The hops are faint, but mingle well with the citrusy flavors. Medium body, active fizz with a vinous finish. The long, sour finish tends to obscure the conventional yeasty mustiness, but not fatally. It is tempting to call it a hybrid sour / saison, that does not quite fit the brewer’s description