Le Merle: One Interesting Bird
Interesting. It’s a word Minnesotans often use to be nice. A former coworker and I had a joke about “interesting” and “different.” They’re words a segment of the population uses to avoid saying, “It was crap” or “I didn’t like it” or “Why would you ever put mayonnaise, snickers AND celery in the same fruit salad?”
So…I feel a little guilt calling Le Merle (the Blackbird) interesting, but that’s what I’d say about it. There are a couple of notable reasons I find it interesting: first, it pours a little darker than most saisons - more straw gold than pale yellow. Second and more importantly, it’s got a different yeast character.
You see there is A yeast for brewing saisons - THE yeast. It’s the yeast that gives the beer a big part of its saisoniness. So, to use a different yeast is bold, like white linen pants in early-May, flaunting tradition and making a statement.
I would guess North Coast is doing this at least partially in the name of efficiency, using a more standard Belgian strain and the same one they use in their Prankster.
But, here’s the deal: it works.
While the yeast character is slightly different, the beer is distinctly saison: bone dry and effervescent.
Ms. BeerGeek and I had ours tonight with Tilapia sloppy joes. The dryness cut nicely through the sweet-spicy BBQ sauce and refreshed the palate. So, it’s interesting - in a good way. That’s contrasted to the snickers, mayo and celery fruit salad - I’m still puzzling over that one.
