From the Beer Writer: Spring is the season most often associated with saisons. Also referred to as farmhouse ales, they derive most of their floral, fruity and spicy flavors from rangy Belgian yeast strains. Sometimes funky, always flavorful, they are often forward if not bold, which is lovely, but can really cut down on drinkability. The two kids at 2kids Brewing seem to have solved that problem with their summer-skewed take on a saison, Rocket Powered Geese. While the beer features a variety of interesting flavor notes – I get lemon and thyme, while owners Sam and Rob Dufau detect pineapple and guava – they don’t overwhelm the beer. Ditto a touch of wheat, which one can detect on the palate, but not as a weighty ingredient. RPG, as it has become commonly known, is extremely light on the palate, drinking more like a mid-four lager than a 6.9% alcohol-by-volume ale. Fruity with a touch of sulfur versus botanical and peppery, it’s smartly conceived and ideal for San Diego’s current climate.
From the Brewer: “Rocket Powered Geese is a pretty classic saison, if a little on the strong side for 2kids. It starts with a simple grist of pilsner, Munich and wheat malts, but is primarily a yeast-driven beer. We turn off the chiller and let our house strain rock as hot as it can possibly get, and it really gives us some amazing flavors. In the past we’ve always done more interesting grists and hop profiles with our saisons, but we really wanted to let the yeast shine and do something classic with this beer, and we were rewarded. We hope to do some variations on RPG, including casks and fruited variants, and hopefully this will become a regular in our arsenal of summertime farmhouse ales. It would be really amazing with some Brett funk, though, so maybe that’s one for the next brewery!”–Sam Dufau, Co-owner & Head Brewer, 2kids Brewing