Boulevard Smokestack Series - Saison-Brett

Brewed by Boulevard Brewing Company
Style: Saison
Kansas City, Missouri USA

Serve in Tulip

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Both the 2006 and 2007 vintages sampled on tap at BCTC. Scores are combined for the 2 beers. Hazy yellow color with a medium sized white head that wouldn’t go away. Funky, herbal aroma of wet straw, citrus, Brett and some black pepper. The ’06 was much more "Bretty", while the ’07 was more floral and citrusy. The flavor of the ’06 had quite a bit of Brett funkiness, along with citrus, wet hay, mild cheese. The ’07 had a "brighter" flavor, with less Brett and more herbal notes and grassiness. Both were quite good but the aged ’06 was a stand out.

Draft @ Boulevard, along with theisti (thanks to both Tim and John!). Color is a hazy yellow with a slight orange tint, ample white head, and good lacing. Aroma was captivating albiet slightly subdued, providing a good dose of spicy earthiness, some mild citrus hops, and just the right amount of funkiness. Flavor was very well balanced and enhanced the aroma nicely. This is one fine creation Boulevard has here, and look forward to the release of all their Smokestack Series later in the fall!

UPDATED: AUG 23, 2012
++++ RE-RATE 22 August 2012 ++++
Three bottle blind tasting of 2012 Batch 1, 2011 Batch 1 (stored in a ~72 degree closet) and 2011 Batch 1 (stored in a ~55 wine fridge). The goal was to determine which version we preferred, as well as attempt to identify which bottle was which.

Bottle 1. Bottle opens with a loud pop. First pour from the bottle. The pour is mostly clear golden, with a one inch white head, that falls pretty quick. The aroma is soft floral hops, soft ahy, fruit sweet, and the light Brett notes. Fresh, alive nose. The taste is hay, floral, clove and the leathery Brett. Aftertaste shows herbal. The palate is soft, active fine carbonation, turns sweet, then finishes dry. (8,4,8,4,17 – 4.1) I predicted this was the 2012, it was in fact the 2011 which had been stored in the wine fridge.

Bottle 2. This bottle also opened with a loud pop. Third pour from the bottle. The pour is soft haze golden, with a foamy three inch white head, falls with nice lace. The aroma is soft Brett, spice yeast, hay, and apricot fruit. The taste is herbal, hay, grass, dry leather of the Brett. The palate is soft, active fine carbonation, light sweetness and then a bone dry finish. This one showed more of the Brett character. (9,4,8,4,17 – 4.2) I predicted this was the 2011 wine fridge, it was in fact the 2011 closet version.

Bottle 3. This bottle opened quietly. Third pour from the bottle. The pour is golden, mostly clear, with some visible chunks floating around. Not too much of a white head. The aroma is leather, soft earthy Brett. The taste is floral honey, hay, lemon citrus and some (almost off tasting) dirty leather Brett yeast. The palate was soft, active carbonation, the sweetness and a dry finish (though probably the least dry of the three samples). (8,4,7,4,15 – 3.8) I predicted this was the 2011 closet, it was in fact the 2012.

This was a really interesting blind tasting. I was surprised I did not properly identify any of the beers, yet my order of preference ended up being what I would have guessed going into the exercise.

++++ Updated Rating - Jan 22, 2009 ++++
2008 Batch. Bottle #08629 of 11950. Let’s check in and see how this one is doing. Bottle purchased in October 2008 and stored in my cellar. Opens with a loud pop. Poured into my Smokestack chalice. Pour is hazed yellow golden with active carbonation and billowy 3 inch white head. Head falls slowly with spidery lacing. Aroma of gentle Brett goodness, earth, horse blanket, flowery - so expressive, so amazing. Wow this is as close to perfect a nose as I can imagine for this beer. Taste is the peppery, earthy, bretty, horse blanket of the nose. Absolutely bone dry. Again, this is tasting really great. Palate is mouth coating yet dry at the same time. Texture is so interesting, really exposes all the amazing flavors. My word has this beer come together. Wonderful, just wonderful. I never thought I would raise my score, but here we go. (10,5,9,4,20 - 4.8)

++++ Original Rating - Sept 1, 2007 ++++
Advanced preview of this beer at the invitation of the Brewery. Draft, on tap at the Brewery. They mentioned this had 6 months or a bit more age on it. Pour is a slightly hazy yellow with a nice white head. Aroma is just stunningly good, citrus (grapefruit) hops, some earthiness, and just the perfect amount of Tart grassy musty Brett. Taste is extremely smooth, with a nice hop brightness at the beginning, moving into the complexity of the Brett and finishing with a really nice dryness. This is just a great Saison enhanced (but not overpowered) by the Brett. I really enjoyed the regular Boulevard Saison and thought it lacked just a bit of character and complexity. The regular Saison would be perfect for everyday, this is perfect for that special treat with a great meal. Phenomenal job Boulevard, and thank you. Can’t wait until this is more regularly available. Thank you John Bryan for allowing me to taste this one! (10,5,9,4,19 - 4.7)

Draft, 2006 vintage, BCTC 2007. Pours a hazy, bright-yellow color; textured, light yellow head with perfect retention and lacing that coats the glass. Tart lemons and grassy notes in the aroma; lots of brett. Fluffy lemons and bretty funk from the beginning; medium mouthfeel: nice dryness, with some spice (coriander) and dough. Lengthy, dry citrus and grass and doughy finish. Excellent.

UPDATED: SEP 5, 2007 BCTC 2007. Drank alot of this with the Boulevard crew & Tomme Arthur after things were shut down. One of the best I had there. Had both the 06 & 07. Both were phenominal. Cloudy, hazy, citrusy, some of the "horse blanket" aspect that I dont seem to grasp. Absolutely loved this stuff

UPDATED: JUN 18, 2012 2006 vintage poured at the BCTC festival. I probably drank about three pints of this by the end of the session, as they were being pretty generous with the pours and were basically filling up my tulip (smelled way better than in the festival tasting glass). Perfect appearance, with cascading ripples of white lace slowly crawling down the sides of the glass, and a 60-70% opaque yellow glowing body. The nose of this saison is just incredible, in fact it’s likely one of the most pure funky and bretty aromas I’ve experienced, even more so than 100% brettanomyces beer. The funk is intense and sharp, like stinky, old feta cheese and fluffy hay and barnyard scents... then an amazing grassiness and floral hop quality. Texture is very smooth and mellow, and the flavors are heavily perfumy, with brett potpourri and lavendar flowers mixed in as well. The best beer at the festival by far, and one of the few beers I look back on and easily say it was one of my favorites of all time.

UPDATED: JUN 13, 2011 I can’t believe I have never updated my rating of this - have had in the bottle many times and have always been impressed - I recently had the opportunity to try a three year old bottle (thanks, Eugene!) and was completely floored - soooo dry and delicious - funky, but not in a way that interferes with the refreshing nature of the beer - superbly balanced - I must buy a bunch and age them for a few years - a beautiful beer - [BCTC ’07] 2006 vintage, 3.9- had this last year and failed to rate it - I must say that one year later this beer has gotten much more complex than I remember - huge brett aroma, with a nice floral character and dried herbs - very grassy and earthy, complimented by the barnyardy brett funkiness - herbal and lemony, with a background cheesy flavor that I usually only taste in really complex lambics (ie. Cantillon) - really nice stuff.

UPDATED: JUN 14, 2011 BCTC - 2007 version on tap. Probably the highlight of the fest for me, I am not saying top rated but the highlight for sure. Yellow murky with a small head. Aroma is all damn brett and fresh as hell (what I like to refer as cherry juice with sourness) it completely dominates. Taste is herbal and grassy outside of the sourness, a nice dichotomy. Very light and quaffable though. I had the 06 version as well (no notes) and I remember it less grassy.8/4/7/3/16.

Re-rate: JB shared an 2006 version, 3 years old (consumed 01/2009) at Indra’s Strong Ale tasting. This was a bottled, in-house and it was so damn bretty at this point. Lots of general funk with thick musky floral aspects. Aged very nicely so far and give me much hope for my bottles.9/4/8/3/17.

My first rating from a bottle but I have had this a lot. 2008 bottle number 12000 out of 11950 (hilarious, I know). This was a 3-year old bottle that was split three ways including notalush. Popped the cork and the head rushed up the neck, just enough to turtle but did not gush out. Perfectly done Blvd. The beer is a beautiful orange-ish glow to the beer, too thick to see through, and has a large, foamy head. Otherwise, its all amazing tropical and wild brett. Absolutely no sign of age. Love this damn beer. 9/5/9/4/18.

Final score is an amalgamation of the different ratings. This beer just gets better with age.

UPDATED: MAY 9, 2013 [BCTC 07] Sampled 2006, 2007 side by side - Poured a hazy, dark golden color with a small, white head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma of funky brett, citrus fruits, vanilla, toffee, flowers, and orange peel. Taste was bretty (especially in the 06!) with citrus, vanilla, orange peel, dry yeast, tart grapes, a bit of coriander, and pineapple.

UPDATED: OCT 29, 2009 sampled on tap at the 5th Boulder Strong Ale Fest. I’m thinking this was the version at the fest because the description said it was fermented with bret and their other saison doesn’t seem to be. nose was very chardonay like, funky brett notes. flavor is nice and crisp, sour, dry, funky, and refreshing. a very tasty saison. 4.0

1/3/08, 750ml bottle. not too much brett in this one yet, needs 6-12months.3.7. 10/2009, thanks to holdenn for sharing a bottle with about 11months age on it, gushed bretty goodness in my glass, lots of brett but not super dried out yet. i think these brett golden beers should be available and acceptable to drink any where in life.