Jester King Gotlandsdricka

Brewery:  Jester King Craft Brewery
Location: Austin, TX
Style: Smoked Farmhouse Ale
ABV: 6.6%
Price: Unknown (Given as Gift)

Jester King is Texas' premier brewer of farmhouse ales. They've put out a variety of creatively inspired beers in their short existence and have built quite a reputation for themselves nationwide.

I received this bottle from a couple of friends in Houston and have been curious to try it, though I didn't know too much about this beer. I checked out Jester King's site, and this is their description of Gotlandsdricka:

Gotlandsdricka, meaning “Drink of the Land of Goths”, is believed to have been the beer of the Vikings. Our rendition of this ancient style is inspired by the traditional farmhouse ales once brewed on the island of Gotland off the coast of Sweden. Gotlandsdricka (6.6% alcohol by volume) is brewed with birchwood smoked malt, juniper, sweet gale and rye. It’s unfiltered, unpasteurized and naturally carbonated through re-fermentation in the bottle.

This beer pours a light yellow hue that's slightly cloudy. It appears to be a light-bodied beer judging from the color and how rapidly the carbonation rushes to the top of the glass.

The aroma is spicy--like a solid witbier. It's earthy and yeasty.

I'll admit, I was immediately turned off after the first sip. The birchwood smoked malt that Jester King brewed this beer with is over-powering and completely takes over. All of the flavors I was expecting to taste from the nose play second fiddle to the deep smokiness of this beer. To make matters worse, the body is so light that as the beer warms, it starts to taste a little skunky.

Unfortunately, the flavors just don't work in this. Although I was able to get past the smoked malt after about half a glass, sadly I didn't even enjoy the flavors that are beyond the smoke. If this is what the Vikings drank, than there's no wonder why they were so aggressively seeking new lands...likely in search of a new beer recipe.

This one's not for me, but I appreciate what Jester King does and look forward to trying more of their beers.

Stillwater Artisanal Autumnal

Brewery: Stillwater Artisanal Ales
Location: Baltimore, MD
Style: Farmhouse Saison
ABV: 7.2%
Price: $12.99 750ml

Before I sampled this beer, I did some research to learn the origins of farmhouse ales and to gain an understanding of what is the desired outcome of brewing this style. A simple search on the World Wide Web led me to discover plenty of articles about farmhouse ales. One article in particular was pretty straight forward and gave me some of the historical context that's behind this type of beer.

To synthesize my learning, a farmhouse ale is historically a style of beer that uses whatever is "around the farm." Unlike many other craft beer styles, farmhouse ales (also called "saisons") are imperfect. They're a bit messy and unclean. Farmhouse ales do not have the same well-groomed hygiene as their craft counterparts. The yeasts are often wild and erratic. The grains may be a hodgepodge of leftovers.

Basically, farmhouse ales represent a time when farmers used whatever resources they had to produce something that closely resembled the type of beer they could drink at the local saloon. Note: I don't actually know that for sure; this is my archetype of a 19th Century farmer. Hard-working alcoholics. All of them.

Now that we know how cool farmhouse ales are, let's talk about Stillwater's Autumnal.This beer is a dark amber in color. The carbonation is evident in the pour as it left about three-fingers worth of head. Lots of lacing on the glass. Fortunately, the head dissipates quickly.

Lots of spice, yeast, and sweet fruits on the nose. As the beer warmed, I could pick up some caramel in the aroma as well.

The taste is a Belgian bomb of sugar, spices, and dark fruits. Slightly sour. Grape, ginger, and figs are the dominant flavors up front before the Belgian funk shows up. This beer has a creamy caramel finish that took my by surprise. With all the carbonation that hits the tongue up front, I wasn't expecting such a creamy finish. The carbonation fades in the mouth and allows this beer to end with a smooth coating on the tongue.

At first, I wanted to write about how this is a decent beer, but sort of forgettable, and then I remembered what I learned about farmhouse ales. These are brewed to "get by" on the farm. They aren't meant to blow your socks off with a bag of tricks. They come from a time of simplicity and hard work. They're rustic. And when I think about that, I think Autumnal successfully embodies this style. It's not the best beer I've tasted, but it's satisfying. I think that's all it needs to be.