Stillwater Classique

Brewed By: Stillwater Artisanal at Dog Brewing Co. in Westminster, MD  

Purchased: 12oz can from a 6-pack bought at Whole Foods in Chicago, IL; 2015

Style/ABV: American Farmhouse Ale/Saison, 4.5%

Reported IBUs: ?

MMM Saisons. About Stillwater Artisanal Ales: 

Stillwater Artisanal Ales are a Gypsy Brewery based out of Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 2009-ish, the beer is brewed by Brian Strumke. You can find more info at the brewery's blog or their website. 

The Classique is "A postmodern deconstruction of the American industrial lager made with naughty ingredients like corn and rice, completed with pilsner malt and lots of your favorite old-school American hops and farmhouse ale yeast.. "your Grandfather's new beer"." It also comes in a can, which is nice.

Stillwater Classique 

This pours into a radiant yellow body, kicking up two fingers of intense, white-colored head. The head retention is fantastic, and the beer leaves incredible lacing. This is well-carbonated as well. It's a good looking beer and inspires confidence and all that good shit. 

The aroma is big clove, Belgian yeast funk, bright hops, citrus, citrus zest, peppercorns, and big biscuit character. It smells really good...words you really never want to type in a beer review.

This is conceptually fantastic. At 4.5%, this delivers an intense range of flavors, and it even dials up the mouthfeel into something that is between light and medium bodied. I'm getting lots of biscuit, cracker, and Pilsner malts, with some suggestive minerality. The beer drops lots of hops as well, with big lemon, lemon leaves, and some citrus zest and white pepper. There is a good amount of Belgian funk from the yeast, and pink peppercorns are lurking in the mix.

This is a flying-under-the-radar brew from Stillwater. I want this to be more readily available, because I would pick this up again. At 4.5%, this is incredibly drinkable, and it keeps the body between light and medium. Palate depth is spot on, and this has good depth and duration. This also has some nice complexity. I've now had a few lighter bodied Saisons, and this is up there. Up front: refreshing lemon, yeast funk, clove; the mids roll into more hops, bright citrus/lemon, citrus zest and white pepper; the back end trails with fading hops, and drops biscuits and cracker and black pepper and minerality. The finish is dry.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. Fantastic stuff...sure this is a simple, straightforward approach to the Saison style. But you know what? It's marketed as a drinkable beer and it comes in cans. I would love to have this available in the Summer months, and I just want to sit down with a nice doughy pizza and chow this down. It brings some Pilsner-like notes into the world of the Saison, and I'm all for that. 

Random Thought: Stillwater can do no wrong.