Midwest Charm Farmhouse Ale

Filtered by yours truly. We spent all Saturday canning this beer. Fortunately, we had a persistent flow of volunteers to help can and sleeve the Farmhouse, while sleeving the stout as well. I reviewed this in a Snifter later that night after running home, a brief session of yoga and while waiting for our dinner party guests to arrive.

Appearance: Bright clarity with a crystal amber quality. Certainly darker in color than my perception of a Saison Carbonation looks to be very consistent and prominent. The head takes on a 2" character with a foamy off white consistency. Lacing is wet and speckled. Carbonation persists long after the beer has sat.

Aroma: There is a very apparent funk about this beer, similar to goat sweat, but not with a negative connotation (it's a present quality of saison). I don't get very much ginger. Some floralness to it, and a minimal element of phenols from the yeast of cloves.

Taste: The front is sweet with a brief note of kilned amber and Munich. Lacking in any fruit esters. This beer falls within a parameter of dryness with hardly any malt to the backbone. Attenuated entirely. The second half really packs the complexity. I find notes of banana and clove from the phenolic byproducts of the unique strain of Saison yeast, complemented with a barnyard funkiness that remains interestingly attractive. I even can draw subtle hints of bubblegum, though that's negligible. The finish finally exposes some of the hops, fuggle or northern brewer, perhaps; taking a rather neutral flavor, though tannic.

Mouthfeel: Light body and overtly dry, but sufficient in flavor. Carbonation is strong, but balanced to the extent that it provides a nice parallel between the phenolic end and the hop bittering dryness at the finish. Very crisp and refreshing!

Overall Impression: I actually liked this beer the best out of the four Boji beer's I've tried. This may be because it's out of season or it's because it has been a while since I've had saison. However, with the ample amounts of ginger we added to this beer, I'm surprised it is so masked out by the farm funk yeastiness. Nevertheless, hellofabeer!