They love to play around with the saison style at Hobart Brewing Co and the start of 2019 has seen them release a couple in quick succession – both aged in wine barrels inoculated with Brettanomyces. The Brett Saison, which comes in 750ml bottles, is a beer seemingly after my heart delivering, as one member of the Crafty team put it: "subtle complexity". That it does, balancing a little Bretty pong with a relatively luscious bready malt sweetness, a touch of spice and a mouthwatering juiciness. Delicate, yet with plenty going on.
Strawberry Fields Forever, on the other hand, says: "Subtlety be damned!" A three-way collab with Hobart venue Tom McHugo's and Littlewood Berry Farm, it's a saison aged for nine months on strawberries in wine barrels. The lack of head combined with a haze and colour reminiscent of a French farmhouse cider suggests it's going to be a fair distance removed from its stablemate; indeed, the hefty funk suggests it's spent time rolling around in said stable. A potent acidity places it more in funky Belgian sour than saison territory, with a little stone fruit character sat amid the pungent oomph.
James Smith
Published March 27, 2019 2019-03-27 00:00:00
