From the Beer Writer: I recently attended the first-ever beer-pairing dinner held at Council Brewing Company. It was fantastic, and you’ll read all about it in my Plates and Pints column in the April edition of West Coaster. Numerous barrel-aged and otherwise rare beers from the Kearny Mesa business were paired with fine cuisine that night, but one of my very favorite was a beer that was served all on its own—Council Les Saisons. Presented as the welcome-beer, it poured with a great big, fluffy head, the retention of which was so profound, it gave me plenty of time to take in the aromas before getting to my first sip. The idea behind the beer was to convey the scents and flavors of spring, and it comes through on both fronts. The nose is like damp hay, grass and spring citrus, while the flavor is slightly tart, moderately funky and green as a freshly cut lawn. It has a number of qualities that evoke memories of authentic Belgian farmhouse ales enjoyed in their homeland. I was pleased to find out this beer is being bottled and will be available to the general public starting today.
From the Brewer: “Translated from French, les saisons means ‘the seasons.’ Our first release from this series features a Brett saison, Brett Brux from White Labs, well known for providing farmhouse notes that call to mind the smell of damp earth after a spring storm. The dry hop addition of East Kent Goldings contributes traditional floral notes. For a New World twist, we used Hallertau Blanc, which helped us to achieve a fresh, bright, fruit flavor. After aging the beer in oak barrels for months and then allowing further development in the bottle, we are happy to release Les Saisons—Spring 2016. On a side-note, we enjoyed this beer so much, we will be filling one of our new 30-barrel oak foeders with a future release.”—The Council Brewing Team