OAST HOUSE ~ BIERE DE MARS 

SWEET'N SOW’R

A bottle of this at my local bar was my celebratory drink for starting summer holidays. The price is quite steep, so this was a once in a blue moon treat. The beer is one of Oast house’s bottle conditioned saisons. This one is a Biere de Mars, because traditionally this beer would be brewed in March to be ready for the farm hands in the summer. The bottle we enjoyed had been aging in the bottle since March 2015. Sampled for a 750mL caged and corked bottle, the beer poured a hazy orangey amber colour with plenty of creamy head, and lots of snap and crackle. The head left impressive lacing as it receded into a cap. The nose had lots of sherry, orchard fruits, especially peach, lemony citrus, Belgian yeasts, peppery spice, and tartness with a little astringency. The beer had a nice complexity and funky peach and other orchard fruits, melon, brown sugar, some herbals, slight sourness, and a hint of oak. Sweet fruits and mild caramel malts developed as the beer warmed. The sweet and sour were well balanced as was the dry mouthfeel at the end. The finish reminded me of champagne or cider. The carbonation was fairly lively and the body was medium. This a very approachable beer, lovely to sip on in the warm summer months, when you are feeling like a splurge.

5.5% from Niagara on the Lake, Ontario