Prairie Artisan Ales Truncheon

I struck out on Heady Topper cans when Jo and I were in Vermont, but I did get to stop at a store named Hunger Mountain Co-op and pick up a few interesting bottles. One of them was Prairie Artisan Ales Truncheon, a wine barrel aged saison. I don't have any more information than that since that's all the bottle said, but it had to have been some sort of white wine barrel considering the color and flavor.

The nose had a lot of white wine character mixed with a little saison spiciness. At first, the body was mostly sweet grape with only some of the saison peaking through. Similar to the nose though a bit sweeter. As I drank more, the flavors meshed a bit more and the sweetness lessened. Still, I wish it had been a little drier with the saison half being a little more pronounced. As it stands, it wasn't bad, but I don't think I'd buy it again.

Prairie Artisan Ales Prairie Hop

I've been slacking in my updates lately which I'm not terribly happy about but at least I can blame it on our unborn son. Never too early to start blaming things on your children, right? Also, unlike last week when I lied about it being my last post for a bit, this really will be my last one until at least after Memorial Day. So, for my last one, I'll talk about Prairie Artisan Ales Prairie Hop. I think to reference this beer you really need to use the whole brewery name just so you don't say Prairie Prairie Hop. Just doesn't sound right to me. Also, I've discovered the word prairie is very difficult to type, who knew.

I'd been hearing a bit about this brewery and was excited to try this. Powerful, bright nose. Straight orange citrus with a hint of saison spiciness. Very yum. On the first sip my reaction was that it tasted very nearly like orange juice. My wife thought it was super bitter so results may vary. Things continued with a strong mix of orange sweetness and a little bitterness in the finish to clean things up. Incredibly solid and delicious and I look forward to trying more from them.

Since this is my last post for this week, I'll mention Philly Beer Week. It starts next Friday which is quite exciting. Unfortunately (well really fortunately as I'm excited to have a kid and all but you know) I won't be able to attend anywhere near the number of events I usually do. No big, but it means picking some good ones. The Beer Garden is always fun so you should check that out if you have more time than me. Cigar City events should be cool, Dark Horse is always a good choice and it's at the Cambridge this year, and there are a bunch of Goose Island events that should be great. I'll try to post my schedule next week but we'll see how things work out. Looking forward to seeing everyone at least once!