105. The Bruery Saison Rue

Our first beer from the Bruery in Placentia, CA, Saison Rue is brewed with rye and brettanomyces. Bring on the funk! According to the website, the seemingly confusing name is a combintion of “brewery” with the family name, Rue. They also have a blog, which lovingly tells me all about the stuff I am missing at their brew pub. Oh, you have Oude Tart, a red wine barrel-aged Flemish Red on tap? Thanks for taunting me!

Saison Rue has a spicy and peppery nose with some yeast ester aromas and a bit of mustiness—there is not a lot of malt and no hop aroma. With a cloudy tan color and a creamy white almost rocky head, Saison Rue laces the glass from top to bottom. The front begins with malt and candy flavors with rising spiciness from either (or possibly all) the rye, the yeast esters, or the spices in the middle, and ends with pepper, licorice, and yeast flavors. The flavors do linger a bit—it could have a cleaner finish. Saison Rue was light bodied with a dry yet creamy mouthfeel. The carbonation bites on the front of the mouth, and there are no discernable hop characteristics or flavors. There is an excellent depth and range of flavor across the palate; however, it doesn’t quite come together yet, and the finish could use a bit of work. Saison Rue goes well with food—it worked nicely with our spicy rice and beans for dinner, with the creaminess helping to cut down the heat of the dish. It is most certainly a beer that is worth another try at some point in the future.

From the bottle: “Our rustic, deep golden California farmhouse ale is brewed just a few times a year to celebrate the change of the season. Enjoy!”

From the Bruery’s website: “Saison Rue is an unfiltered, bottle conditioned, Belgian/French-style farmhouse ale. This is a beer of subtlety and complexity, with malted rye, spicy, fruity yeast notes, biscuit-like malt backbone, and a slight citrus hop character. With age, this beer will dry out and will become more complex with rustic notes of leather and earth from the contribution of a wild yeast strain. Being a Saison, Saison Rue is ambiguous unto itself as it is a different beer when fresh and when aged. We hope you enjoy it in all of its incarnations.”

ABV: 8.5%
IBU: 30

(10/13/2009)