Boulevard Saison Brett Returns

From Boulevard:

Saison Brett, one of our most coveted beers, returns in 750ml bottles and on draft starting in the Greater Kansas City Area on April 30^th. Areas that typically see Smokestack Series Limited Release beers like Rye on Rye on Rye and Love Child blends should expect to see Saison Brett in the coming weeks.

Brewed annually since 2008, Saison Brett is a dry-hopped Belgian-style saison that is inoculated with brettanomyces at packaging to create complex suggestions of forest floor, earthy funk and tropical fruit that mingle with fruity Belgian yeast esters, peppery phenolic notes and citrusy hops. Although Saison Brett is aged in our warehouse prior to release, further cellaring (in proper conditions) will allow the brettanomyces character to develop and intensify.

Malt/Fermentables
Pale Malt – 97.3%
Malted Wheat – 2.7%
Dextrose – added during boil for a 3 degree Plato gravity increase

Hops
Magnum – bittering – added 15 minutes into the boil
Cascade – flavor/aroma – added at the end of the boil during transfer to whirlpool
Amarillo – flavor/aroma – added at the end of the boil during transfer to whirlpool
Amarillo – dry-hopping
Calypso – dry-hopping
Citra – dry-hopping

Yeast/Aging
Saison Brett is pitched with our house Belgian yeast strain for primary fermentation. Following filtration and transport to our off-site Smokestack Series bottling line to avoid introducing wild yeast into our main fermentation cellars, Saison Brett is inoculated with brettanomyces bruxellensis in a bottling tank designated to holding funky/sour beers. Champagne yeast (the strain we use for bottle conditioning all Smokestack Series beers) is also added at this time.

After bottling, cases of Saison Brett spend 12+ weeks in the bottle conditioning area of our warehouse at 75 F to allow the brettanomyces time to do its work so that the beer will have pronounced brett character at release. In addition to tasting samples in meetings of our expert tasting panel, our chemist analyzes Saison Brett using a gas chromatograph to measure levels of 4-Ethyphenol and 4-Ethylguaiacol, phenolic compounds that present aromas/flavors of funk/barnyard and clove/spice/smoke respectively.

Following confirmation of brettanomyces characteristics being above the average taster’s threshold, Saison Brett is released to make it out into the world! If you’re interested in learning how Saison Brett ages when stored in proper conditions, check out Saison Brett Vertical Tasting Brewer’s Blog post.

Flavor Profile
Aroma – Crisp citrus, earthy, funky
Malt – Sweet, bready
Hops – Medium bitterness
Balance – Hops/funk
Body – Light to medium

Characteristics
Alcohol by Volume – 8.5%
IBUs – 38
Color – 12 EBC

Pairings
Washed rind cheeses; pasta with creamy mushroom sauce; spicy crab cakes with mango puree; saison steamed mussels with fennel, saffron & lemon; ginger lemon sorbet

– Jeremy Danner, Ambassador Brewer