E Nine Brewery Selcouth Barrel Aged Farmhouse Ale

7.0% ABV - Batch No. 1
Beer Advocate score - 4/5 (1 review)
Untappd score 3.88/5

25B. Saison

Most commonly, a pale, refreshing, highly-attenuated, moderately-bitter, moderate-strength Belgian ale with a very dry finish. Typically highly carbonated, and using non-barley cereal grains and optional spices for complexity, as complements the expressive yeast character that is fruity, spicy, and not overly phenolic. Less common variations include both lower-alcohol and higher-alcohol products, as well as darker versions with additional malt character.

In my never ending quest to find new places that sell loads of different kinds of beer, my pursuit brought me to a whole in the wall place called 16 Tons. It's a place you can find a plethora of ever revolving beers to enjoy on premise or take home for the comfort of your own couch or favorite chair. Per square inch, this place has more brands of beer than any other place I have been to. They use there space wisely my friends. This week, I came across E Nine Brewery. They tout to be the first craft brewery in Tacoma, Washington located in an old engine house built in 1907. Sounds pretty cool, I might force my wife to go someday. The brew is called Selcouth, which is a barrel aged farmhouse ale. On to the review!


Aroma: To me, it smells of soft fruit, like an apple or maybe a pear. I also detect a little bit of spice... coriander possibly? I don't detect a big hop aroma, just enough to let you know they used it.    7

Appearance: The color is hazy golden color, which is expected from a Saison (farmhouse ale in American lingo). It also has a nice foamy white head that lasts for quite a long time. When it dissipates, the lacing is what you would expect from a Saison.  8

Flavor: At first sip, I was surprised. It was a sour fruity flavor of apple. I was not expecting the sourness of the brew. It did have a spiciness on the back end that gave way to a slight resinous hop bitterness.  7

Mouthfeel: The brew comes through as a light feel to it. It definitely leaves a crisp and dry feeling. Bubbly, very bubbly.  7

Overall: To be honest, when I picked out this brew, I was not expecting it to have a sour taste to it. It's not a bad thing as I like a good sour... but not from a farmhouse ale. If it were just a tad bit more sweet this brew would be more to my liking from a saison. Not a bad brew but not what I was expecting from it.  7.25

Matt's mark: 3.63/5

Today, I finished my project that I tasked to myself to do. I made my bench! Well, it's not totally complete... it still needs legs. But that is easily remedied by a trip to the Home Depot where I can buy galvanized piping... so I am not worried. After completing a project, I like to finish off the day with a nice brew. Although the brew was not what I was expecting, it was still good and might have scored a little higher (around the Untappd score probably). When I say might, I definitely mean it would have as I like a good sour. If I were expecting a sour, this would have been a good sour. But as everything in this world, the mood that you are in has a overriding factor that creates a bias. Count this as bias created. If you are in the mood for a sour, I recommend the Selcouth. If you want a true farmhouse ale, try something else, like the Colette from Great Divide, one of my all time favorite breweries.

Update! Unfortunately, I was not able to capture a yeast strain from the pear tree in the backyard. I did, however, have a neat science experiment going and did capture a fungus or bacteria! Not worth the money I spent on it though. I will try again, oh yes, I will try again.