Smuttynose Big Beer Series: Farmhouse Ale
Farmhouse ales are less of a style and more of a loose branch on the beer family tree, originating in the agrarian borderland shared by France and Belgium. When farm owners needed to provide nourishment and compensation to seasonal farm workers, beer was an obvious part of the package, since they were already growing many of the ingredients. The humble origins of these beers meant that they were brewed with whatever ingredients were on hand. This lack of convention has lead to a wide range of expressions of the style and even breweries that specialize in or brew saisons exclusively, like Oxbow in Maine and Fantome in Belgium. We’ve tweaked the recipe for our Farmhouse Ale a little bit this year, adding a small amount of pineapple sage. The result is slightly amplified fruit character, that really adds to the flavor (but don’t be afraid that we’ve completely recreated the beer). Cheers!
3.5
478 reviews
Hampton, United States
Community reviews
Bottle at home. Pours hazy orange with a medium sized bubbly white head, short retention leaving a thin top film and the rest receding to the edge; light lacing. Aroma is pear esters and perfume alcohol initially with medium cracker and Pils malt and light earthy hops. Flavor is medium pear esters and yeast spices, lightly spicy alcohol, light spicy hops and light hop bitterness, medium cracker and Pils malt, balance is to the esters and yeast spices with a dry finish. Medium body, moderate carbonation, medium alcohol warmth and prickly.
2013 bottling. Clear golden color with white sheen. Fruity, bready, spicy Belgian yeast aromas. Medium bodied with average carbonation. Dusty pale malt base brew with big spicy earthy yeast, dough, and white grape fruitage___warming alcohol twang to finish---good.
Bottled. Slightly pale gold. Particulate. Charismatic floral sugary saison aroma. Light hops, pretty credible.
Appearance: lightly hazed light yellow, with a thin, quickly vanishing creamy white head. Aroma: nose of yeasty esters, citrus, banana, light funk, uncooked pie crust, clove, banana, and a whiff of herb garden. Taste: extremely sweet, with strong notes of banana, orange, and vanilla cream over a lightly peppery yeasty note which includes clove; then there’s some light floral honey notes and a hint of dried herbs. Finish: surprisingly dry, with that herbal sage note shucking and jiving in the background under the slowly fading yeast. Notes: Definitely on the sweet side for a saison, with some straight up hefeweizen characteristics. Then the sage comes out, really drying the palate. Alcohol was extremely well hidden.
On tap @ Good Beer NYC. Hazy yellow color. Earthy barnyard funk & lemon in the nose, slight twang in the taste but very very sweet & yeasty. Light/med mouthfeel, really really surprisingly high ABV given the taste & mouthfeel.
It has a hazy orange body with a small one finger white head. The head quickly fades to a thin filmy layer which still makes lots of spotty lacing on the glass as I drink. The yeast notes really come though here in the nose. It has both a fruity estery character with notes of orange zest and a funky earthy character with notes of wet earth and light spice. Its firm medium body is loaded with complex yeast notes, boozy sweetness and mild hop bitterness. There are some notes of tropical fruit esters, dry spice and funky earthy barnyard from the yeast. This is mixed with a malty sweet boozy base and there is a good battle back and forth between dry funk and sweet malt with sweetness coming out on top. In the finish I get some hops coming in and adding some light bitterness and dryness but overall sweetness still pulls through on the tongue. Carbonation is active yet still smooth in the overall texture.
WTWBA 2014. The aroma is like a farmhouse, hay, manure. The appearance hazy yellow. The flavor is farmhouse, earthy. The finish is the same. Decent.
Reviewed from notes.
This was poured into a pint glass and a tulip. There were any significant differences between the two glasses.
The appearance was a gentle light to hazy pale orange color with some decent golden yellow tinges sliding in and around the edges of the beer. The head had a one finger white foamy presence that dissipated within less than a minute. The lacing was fairly thin and it slid for the most part right on into the beer.
The smell seemed slightly stale, however, there was some light flavorings of lemon to yeast. It seemed weaker than other saisons I’ve had.
The taste was semi-sweet but had a dampened earthy/herbalness running through the flavoring.
On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium in body with somewhat of a sessionable aspect about it.
Overall, this was actually not one of my more favorite saisons on the market. I don’t miss this one.
Hazy golden color. Small white head. Not much in the way of lacing. Nose is citrusy with malt and yeast notes. Taste is a peppery blast up front followed by the malt and yeast. Some citrus lingers.
Bomber. Very good overall -- nice balance with a little sweetness, but lots of yeast, a little spice & fruit. Medium palate, soft finish.
bomber vintage of 2013 into le Duvel - nose is crazy hay, floral and yeastie. Smooth and a tad flat. Just not doing it. I’ve been impressed with the last few of the Big Beer series bombers but this one is womp womp. Can’t detect the high ABV. On the sweetish side.
Pours a murky golden color with a nice aroma. Really good saison and you can really taste the belgian yeast.
mid orange pour. aroma of wheat, sage, yeast tang. tastes barnyard yeast, herbs. nice dry finish
600 ml bottle. Pours a very cloudy pale golden with an orangeish tint and a thick, resilient white head. Aroma is very spicy, as well as citrusy and earthy. Flavor is very spicy, peach, nectarine and pear. Finish is earthy and lemoney. Lingering earthy, biscuit and banana flavors. Light body, creamy mouthfeel, average to strong carbonation.
Citrus, banana, and clove in the aroma. Flavor is fruity and spicy, with a little citrus bitterness and peppery spice in the finish. Certainly good, but not as good as some of the other big beers from Smuttynose.
Bottle, shared at the Boxing Day tasting at TimE’s place in Calgary. Hazy golden body with a thick white head. Esters of soft banana, spices, sweet candyish malt. Belgian blonde yes, Saison no. Disappointing.
Bottle - Apricot, grass and and some light citrus with some spice. Cloudy yellow and a thin white head. Banana esters, grass and a bit if coriander. More like a German Hefeweizen.
Dark yellow. Funky pear scent. Flat, dry. Pear juice without sugar. Sad. Good tasting. Good friends. Not so good beer.
Golden color. White head. Sage, soap, wheaty nose, malty, but too sweet for the style. Really not that impressive but ok, though not to style.
22oz bottle. Pours a hazy light yellow with a thin white head. Clove aroma. Predominant lemon and pepper flavors. Not very complex but pretty solid saison overall.
Light gold with a white head. Earthy, musty aroma. Spicy flavor with lemon and citrus notes. Light body with moderate carbonation and a dry finish.
22oz bottle pours a hazy yellow with some creamy white head. Nose is mostly yeast, straw, cheese rind, light cracker, grass, perfume. Flavor is nice, sweet, perfume, a little booze, some tropical fruit, honey, straw, yeast. Medium bodied, dry finish.
Bomber. Hazy gold pour, white head. Juicy aroma, banana, lemon, fruity hops, really estery, quite a bit of banana. Flavor is fruity, quite sweet, way too sweet for the style, a tad boozy. Palate is sweet, balanced by good carbonation at least. Flawed american interpretation of the style, but still enjoyable.
(bottle) pours a slightly hazy golden colour with a frothy white head. aroma of peaches, powdered sugar, light bubble gum, marzipan and brown sugar. flavour is mostly just heavy cooked vegetables and alcohol, with a light hint of starchy pale malts, powdered sugar and herbal hops. heavy-bodied with average carbonation.
22 oz bottle into a tulip.
A: Pours a hazy golden color. The head isn’t as towering as some saisons, but it is a one finger white shade. Retention isn’t great, however.
S: This actually has a nice whiff of funk to it. It takes a while for it to really hit the nose, though - upon opening, it’s mostly comprised of white wine with a spicy undertone. There are also some candied sugar notes buried in there. Aside from being a little sweet for my style preferences, it hits upon the major aspects well. Swirling it, in particular, will really allow all that stank-ass cheesiness to hit the nose.
T: It starts off with a wave of spiciness. Earthiness is also prevalent - especially around the middle - but some of the funk notes are a bit subdued next to the aroma. When sufficiently warmed up, swirling the glass will cause some of the funkiness to reappear more vividly - not just on the aroma, but on the flavor as well. The finish is bready and (perhaps) slightly too sugary. Definitely a good saison that’s only let down by occasional overt sweetness.
M: An initial fizz helps to lift the (rather dense) body off of the tongue fairly well. After the swallow, though, it leaves a bit too much sweetness on the back palate. Even worse, it also leaves a bit too much astringency on the front of the palate, making it slightly harsh. That’s never good. Otherwise, it’s easy to drink.
O: This one’s nice, but not my ideal saison. With a little less sweetness, this could have been killer. Still solid, still worth a try.
Poured from 22 oz. bottle in a Smuttynose beer class ar The Bistro in Old Line Wine in Beltsville, MD.
Hazy, yellow-amber with an off-white head and very good lacing.
Aroma of light fruit (orange, pineapple, peach, lemon et al), sage, spice and yeast.
Taste of light fruit (lemon, peach, apricot, orange, pineapple et al), sage, spice and yeast.
Light/medium body and high carbonization.
750ml bottle from Total Wine in Boca Raton, FL. American pint glass. Pours a golden yellow with a medium white head. Aroma of spices, cereal, bread. A little wet dog. Taste is pleasant with spices, coriander, sage, light citrus and bread. It has the typical Belgian Saison yeast taste. Not the best blended flavors ever but not bad.
Sampled at Portsmouth Brewery. Pours light golden with a white head. Aroma of light spice and light fruits, pale malts, and floral hops. Flavor the same. Average texture. Not the best combo of the flavors.
Pours hazy gold with a very thin white head. Aroma is spicy, earthy, hay and yeast. Taste is sweet and spicy. Medium bodied with some warming on the finish. Very soft carbonation.
Pour is a clear yellow with a large white head. Aroma is a nice dusty lemon with a bit coriander and spice. Flavor is a nice big fresh juicy fruit with a bit of dry spice and pepper bringing things up in the end. Lots of fruit esters are left on the tongue after the swallow. Very tasty and very dry. My bottle said 7% abv and this better fits the style rather than the 9% it used to be.