Photo Credit: Funkwerks

From Flood: “We’re representing the brewery in Houston, Austin and San Antonio, starting with a small shipment of Saison and Tropic King kegs pouring at select bars and restaurants. In early July, we’ll have a full-scale launch with draft and 4pk bottles of Saison, Tropic King, Nelson Sauvin and Raspberry Provincial, as well as launch events with the Funkwerks crew featuring some really limited items. Keep an eye out here for more details on these upcoming events!”

In case you don’t want to wait, Flood has already delivered kegs of Funkwerks Saison and Tropic King, an “imperial” version of Saison brewed with tropical fruit-forward Rakau hops. The initial batch of kegs have gone to the following accounts: Axelrad, Brews Brothers, Conservatory, Flying Saucer Houston, Flying Saucer Sugar Land, Hay Merchant, Hop Scholar, Mongoose vs Cobra, Moon Tower Inn, Nobi Public House, Petrol Station, Rockwell Tavern, Whole Foods Bellaire, Whole Foods Louetta, and Whole Foods Woodlands. Keep an eye on social media, as a lot of these bars already have their kegs. I know firsthand that Axelrad and Nobi have already tapped their kegs of Tropic King.

Later in July, you should be able to find four-packs in the same places you find Jester King and Jolly Pumpkin. Keep an eye out for specialty beers bottled in 750mL bottles, which are also coming soon. According to Flood, four-packs should be in the $9.99 to $10.99 range, although the final price is set by the retailer and will likely vary.

On a personal note, this is incredibly exciting. I’ve been preaching that Houston needs more saisons since day one of Houston Beer Guide. Funkwerks Saison is a very dry and crisp saison perfect for the heat and humidity of Houston. Bottles of Funkwerks Saison have always been a gem at bottle shares, and I was fortunate enough to try the first (and up until recently, I think, the only) kegs of Funkwerks Saison, Tropic King, and Deceit to be available in Houston at the 2015 Houston Funk Fest. All three ranked among my top beers of the festival, and there was some very tough competition. As you may be aware, Funkwerks has already been available in the DFW area for about a year and a half under Andrews Distributing, so seeing Funkwerks expand statewide says a lot about the thirst in the Houston market and the impression being made by independent distributors like Flood.

The post Funkwerks Signs With Flood for Houston Distribution first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Funkwerks Signs With Flood for Houston Distribution appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

On the side label, Buffalo Bayou explains that the name Rotundone comes from the flavor compound that is most often described as “peppery” (referring to black pepper, not the spicy vegetables). This flavor is found in, well, peppercorn, some grape skins, and it is often a flavor produced by Belgian yeast strains during fermentation. While Rotundone likely would have had this peppery flavor from the yeast alone, Buffalo Bayou added green and pink peppercorns to highlight this flavor.

They go on to say that 1 in 5 people are not sensitive to the Rotundone flavor, so your experience with this beer may be entirely different than mine.

While pouring it, a peppery spice aroma wafts up to your nose. I was afraid a beer named after the flavor of pepper, with pepper added, would be a pepper bomb, but that is not the case. The aroma is subtle, but distinct.

It is very hazy, typical of Saisons, which are a little less refined than their British or German counterparts. When pouring the beer, it grows a thick head of foam, but that quickly retreats to a whispy band around the edges of the glass. Eventually, there is only a raft of fine bubbles floating in the center of the glass.

In the first few sips, the pepper was a dominant flavor, with a little bit of sweetness on the finish. As it began to warm, that sweetness transformed into baked apples. A slight hint of lemon began to show through toward the end of the glass. While waiting for it to warm, I took long pauses between sips. During those pauses, an earthy, woody flavor stuck around in my mouth that bordered on savory. This is really the only hint that the pepper flavor comes from something other than the yeast.

The oats give this a full body, and it doesn’t have a lot of carbonation. You won’t find me drinking this by the pool, but it would be a great beer to sit out on the porch with. Something about the old-world flavors make you want to be outside while you enjoy this beer.

Typically, Buffalo Bayou is not known to stick to style guidelines. In this case, they hit very close to the mark. At 8.2%, the ABV is a little high. However, Boulevard’s Tank 7 is often considered one of the primary examples of the style, and it comes in at 8.5% , bringing with it a noticeable alcohol heat. Rotundone has no hint of it’s alcoholic heft, despite being almost as strong as Tank 7.  

This is a very well made beer, and I enjoyed it a lot. Unfortunately, Buffalo Bayou is not known for re-brewing many of their beers. (They only recently brewed the second batch of Chai Porter, one of their earliest releases.)

What did you think of this beer?

Let me know on Twitter or in the comments below.

The post Tasting Review: Rotundone from Buffalo Bayou first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Tasting Review: Rotundone from Buffalo Bayou appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

I’m talking about the Saison*. A style criminally underrated and underrepresented in Houston.

There are guidelines for official judging, but in practice the Saison is a “you know it when you see it” style. Historically, it was brewed in the Wallonia region by Belgian and French farmers from excess grain at the end of the fall harvest. It was fermented and stored over the winter to be served to laborers during the next harvest season. Over the long storage time, the yeast and other organisms would ferment all of the available sugars, resulting in a light bodied, dry beer.

Based on this historical practice, Belgian commercial brewers began to brew their own variations of Saisons. According to Phil Markowski, who literally wrote the book on Belgian Farmhouse brewing history, Belgian brewers considered themselves first artists, then brewers. Like artists, they tended to eschew guidelines and put a spin on the Saisons brewed by their predecessors. This led to a variation in ingredients and as a result, flavors.

In my opinion, these characteristics make it the perfect craft beer style. It is light in body and delicately flavored, making it a great gateway beer for those that don’t like thick stouts or dissolve-your-tongue-bitter IPAs. It’s also the perfect style for beer nerds. Each version is more unique than the next. They can run the color gambit from bright yellow to brown with flavors such as apple, banana, orange, lemon, clove, black pepper, sour, tart, and funky. There are even “Black Saisons” brewed with dark roasted grains, but I’ve found the roast, fruit, and pepper flavors don’t usually work well together. It can be brewed from 100% barley, like Saison Dupont, or it can have wheat, rye, or spelt. Or heck, Jester King just put hay into one**.

I would love to see more Saisons being brewed in Houston.

• Karbach’s Barn Burner is the most popular of the Farmhouse Ales*** brewed in Houston. It’s heavy on the citrus, lightly carbonated, and finishes sweet. I love taking cans to the beach where the salty sea air helps me imagine I’m one of the early Belgian laborers enjoying my daily refreshment as I wipe sweat from my brow. And maybe I’m a sucker for marketing, but it sure tastes good around a campfire.

• Southern Star’s Walloon does justice to it’s eponymous region. The fruity esters offer up flavors of lemon, banana and apple, and the spice is perfectly balanced. With similar flavors, I can’t help but compare Walloon to Saison Dupont, often regarded as the benchmark of the Saison Style.

• Saint Arnold’s 2013 Icon Gold: “Biere de Saison”, created by brewer Aaron Inkrott, is more of a “Winter Saison”. Much darker than most versions of the style, Icon Gold had more body and mellow, subdued flavors when compared to its counterparts, skirting the line between Saison and Biere de Garde. I think Icon Gold has been the best beer to come out of the Icon series, I’m holding out hope we’ll see it again. Until then, I have 1 bottle left.

• Coincidentally while I was writing this article, Buffalo Bayou announced their new Saison, Rotundone. It comes out next Wednesday, April 22. It is brewed with Wheat and Oats, with Green and Pink Peppercorns added. Although I think adding the peppercorns, rather than getting the pepper flavor from the yeast is cheating, you’d better believe that’s what I’ll be drinking on April 22nd. Look for a review in a future article!

*For the craft beer police, I know much of what I’m saying also applies to the Biere de Garde style, and I could use “Farmhouse Ales” instead of Saison to be more accurate. But I’m specifically talking about the lighter bodied and more carbonated farmhouse ales, which we can agree is closer to a Saison than a Biere de Garde. I’ll also be talking a little bit about Biere de Gardes later in the article, don’t worry.

**Yes, I know, “Jester King brews farmhouse ales, not Saisons”. I told you I was going to call them Saisons for the sake

***I know they call it a saison, but it doesn’t quite fit into my definition, and I’m about to talk about non-saisons as well. Chill out.

The post Houston’s Ideal Beer is the Saison first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Houston’s Ideal Beer is the Saison appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.