Boulevard Brewing Co. - Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale

Saisons and I have a kind of strange relationship. The first one I ever had, Saison Dupont, had me head over heels for the style. I bought just about all of the saisons I came across for a while after that only to find that most of them weren't that good. It's not that every one of them was gross, but none of them came close to Saison Dupont. American breweries in particular seemed to have a really difficult time with the style. Every one I tried felt really one-dimensional and lacked the funk and complexity of the Dupont. So I kind of wrote American breweries off as far as the style was concerned. Then, a few weeks ago, I happened upon a beer from Kansas City's Boulevard Brewing Company. Boulevard just recently started distributing beers this way and I had heard really good things about them. Their best known beer is a saison called Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale, so I decided to give that a try first.

Tank 7 pours a slightly hazy glowing golden color with an absolute monster of a cream colored head. Kind of like the Saison Dupont, the head swelled up in the glass on the pour and took forever to recede. The smell was a bit faint, but really struck a good note with me. I caught earthy, peppery, floral and citrusy notes all at once. The blend was incredibly complex without feeling heavy. Some faint candied mango, orange peel, barnyard funk and white pepper lurked in the background. This was already the best American saison I'd come across, and I hadn't even taken a sip yet.

A light and peppery hop bite hits first with some smooth bready malt carrying it through. This is followed by grapefruit zest, a touch of grass, some chalky yeast and a smooth finish with notes of lemon zest and pepper. I was really impressed by this beer and it left me with a lot of hope for American saisons. I don't know if this one can match Saison Dupont, but it's a really fantastic beer.

Final Grade: A

Top 100 Beers Tasted: 45