Monday, February 21, 2011

Saint Arnold Farmhouse Brown Debuts Today

The next entry in Saint Arnold's "Moveable Yeast" series debuts today. Still haven't had one of these, need to hunt this one down, especially since I love saisons. (And by the way, as I post this, I'm enjoying a Divine Reserve No.9, the pumpkin imperial stout, aged about a year and a half. Yum.) Press release from StA:

Saint Arnold Brewing Co. Releases Saint Arnold Farmer Brown’s Ale

Moveable Yeast series offers alternate version of Saint Arnold Brown with saison yeast

HOUSTON, Feb. 21, 2011 – Saint Arnold Brewing Company (www.saintarnold.com), the oldest craft brewery in Texas, today announced plans to release the third brew of its “Movable Yeast” series: Saint Arnold Farmer Brown’s Ale. It is an alternate version of Saint Arnold Brown Ale made with Saison Yeast. A limited supply of 60 barrels (approximately 20,000 12-ounce servings) of Saint Arnold Farmer Brown’s Ale is being released today and will be available on tap at the brewery (for weekday tours only) and at select bars and restaurants throughout Texas.

The concept behind the Movable Yeast series is to focus on the flavor contribution of yeast. This release was created by brewing a regular batch of Saint Arnold Brown Ale, which was originally released in 1995, and splitting the wort (unfermented beer) into two 60 barrel fermenters. One fermenter was pitched with the usual Saint Arnold yeast to make Saint Arnold Brown Ale and the second fermenter was pitched with saison yeast to create Saint Arnold Farmer Brown’s Ale.

“I encourage craft beer lovers to try Farmer Brown’s Ale side-by-side with Saint Arnold Brown Ale to get the full impact of the saison yeast,” said Saint Arnold founder/brewer Brock Wagner. “Saint Arnold Farmer Brown’s Ale has pleasantly spicy and earthy notes, nice fruitiness, a dry finish but with a nice malt flavor to stand up to all of the yeast notes. We were so pleased with how it turned out that we moved it up from its planned release this spring.”

The previous brews in the Moveable Yeast series have been greeted with rave reviews and strong demand. Both Saint Arnold Weedwacker and Saint Arnold Altared Amber showcased the significant role yeast plays in influencing the aroma and flavor of craft beer. Supplies tend to last just a few weeks.

Saint Arnold Farmer Brown’s Ale will be available at Saint Arnold’s downtown Houston brewery for weekday tours starting today at 3 p.m. Saint Arnold Farmer Brown’s Ale will start showing up on draft in select bars and restaurants throughout Texas this week, although some accounts may choose to hold off on tapping their kegs.

5 comments:

AlisonWillis said...

Where can I find one of those delicious Pumpkin Stouts?

Lee said...

Alison: Sorry, you can't, unless you have a friend who saved some or know of a bar that is saving a keg. Saint Arnold's Divine Reserve series (http://saintarnold.com/beers/divine.html) is an occasional, limited-edition release, and each batch is a different recipe. The Pumpkin Stout (No.9) was released in November of 2009, and they only made 1500 cases, 23 kegs, and 20 small kegs.

I don't know what style the next Divine Reserve will be, but I suggest you subscribe to the Saint Arnold newsletter to get the scoop on when it will be released.

Dan Keeney said...

Alison and Lee: Saint Arnold hasn't released specifics yet, but the brewery has whispered about plans to release "Pumpkinator" as a seasonal sometime around the holidays. It will be the first of the DRs to earn a regular spot in the rotation.

Luis said...

Can't wait to give it a try... I've missed out on the 1st 2 in the series.

Lee said...

Thanks for the info, Dan! You know, I was thinking just the other day that StA should make that an annual seasonal. Would be a smart move, that's a winner of a recipe.