Ferme De La Ville Provision, a taste of history

Today we realased Ferme de la Ville Provsion, or The City Farm. This ale has been over 15 months in the making, our nod to the Belgian Farmhouse ales of yesteryear. But before the brew, before the aging, there was the research.

You would be hard pressed to get me to read a fictional book, but throw down some good old beer history pages and I become mesmerized. I love to crack open an inspirational brew and pull out the old brewing books, talk with beer enthusiasts or spend time deep searching the internet.

Farmhouse ales were brewed on the farms of the French speaking Wallonia region of Belgium. It is said that the farm hands were allotted up to five liters of beer per day! The beer was brewed with malted barley and other various grains lying around the farm. Hops from the region were used as was the local yeast. It was common for farms to share yeast and brewing equipment. Traditionally the beer was lower in alcohol, hoppy, spicy from the yeast, and refreshing. As the farms were frugal, left over beer from the previous season was blended with the young beer of the current season. During this storage time undoubtedly wild yeast and bacteria from the area found their way into the barrels. Over time notes of the wild yeast and bacteria transformed the ale, sometimes to the point of being referenced to a gueze.

Our nod to this style began in the spring of 2009 when we stored a barrel of our farmhouse ale and introduced wild yeast isolated from Belgium. Over the next twelve months the yeast slowly transformed the hoppy farmhouse ale to a wonderful tropical, funky, dry, and tart beer.

This past spring we brewed a young batch and blended with the old barrel. The young farmhouse ale was brewed with malted barley and other grains left around our brewery; malted rye, wheat, golden naked oats and local honey. Farmhouse yeast fermented the beer and the addition of noble hops provided a nice crisp refreshing finish. The blend at first was nice crisp ale, hoppy, with just a hint of wild yeast character. Now, three months later, the ale has transformed to a whole new experience. I can detect notes of tropical fruit, honey, and light barnyard in the nose. Lightly tart, the ale is very refreshing and dry yet complex and vinous with subtle hop presence.

Originally, we were going to bottle a portion of this batch, though the bureaucratic bullshit wheel for label approval has turned much slower then anticipated. Next years barrels are aging and the plan is to have bottles ready in July. Until then swing by our pub and enjoy this glass of history. Also, I am taking a small amount to Portland (Bailey’s and Saraveza ), and Eugene (The Bier Stein ).

Comment

1. Tyler Treadwell · Monday September 6, 2010 · 1

   Thank you for having this beer at Seravesa. This is getting close to gueze. Very complex. Save some of this and blend the three years and you might be on to matching something like cantillon. Thanks again.

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